Where to Start with Bob Avey
If you are new to Bob Avey's thrillers, the best starting point is undoubtedly the Detective Kenny Elliot series. Beginning with Twisted Perception, this series offers a classic detective procedural experience blended with rich psychological depth and a distinct Oklahoma atmosphere. Reading this series in order allows you to follow Kenny Elliot’s career progression and his evolving personal battles with past trauma and local crimes.
For readers who prefer speculative fiction, his standalone novel Sandcastle for Pegasus offers an entirely different flavor, dealing with time travel and alternate realities rather than traditional police investigation.
Detective Kenny Elliot Series in Reading Order
This series is best read in order of publication, as Kenny's life, career, and personal struggles develop chronologically across the books. The books in the series are:
- Twisted Perception (2005): Introduces Tulsa police detective Kenny Elliot as he returns to his hometown of Porter, Oklahoma. He must confront childhood trauma while investigating a local murder case.
- Beneath a Buried House (2008): Follows Elliot as he investigates the death of a transient, leading him into a complex web of deceit and a suspicious cult.
- Footprints of a Dancer (2012): Elliot dives into a dark, ritualistic murder case of a journalism student that features elements of Aztec mythology.
- Identity Theft (2020): Now retired from the police force, Elliot is drawn back into a highly personal case involving a fellow officer and a local pastor.
Standalone Novels and Anthologies
Once you finish the Kenny Elliot books, you can explore Avey's other writings, which branch out into different genres:
- Mystery in the Wind (2009): A mystery anthology edited by Deborah J. Ledford featuring a collection of short stories, including a contribution by Bob Avey.
- Sandcastle for Pegasus (2021): A standalone urban fantasy thriller. The plot follows Martin Taylor, who must navigate a shifting timeline and travel through time to save his mentally challenged son from a traveler who wants to undo the births of individuals who do not meet their standards.
What to Know Before You Start
Bob Avey's crime fiction is deeply rooted in his home state of Oklahoma. The city of Tulsa and the small town of Porter provide a realistic, atmospheric backdrop for his mysteries. His background as an accountant in the petroleum industry contributes to the meticulous detail and precise plotting found throughout his police procedurals. While the early books function as standard hardboiled detective novels, the later entries like Footprints of a Dancer introduce ritualistic and mythological elements, and the final book Identity Theft transitions Kenny Elliot from an active detective into a private investigator role.