Janes Standalone Series., Elizabeth / Elle / Buffy Mitchell

Crime fiction based in the fictional town of Janes, OR.

To buy the books, shop here.

Unlike most series, the Janes standalone series doesn’t necessarily follow the same people in each book. That’s not to say they won’t be there—the same detectives work the cases, and who knows who may make surprise appearances throughout the series—but each book is a contained story.

I am ordering them for the simple fact that time moves forward in the city of Janes, OR. The people that live there will hear of the news stories from other books/cases, talk about the same restaurants, go down the same streets, hear about places closing down, etc. There is no obligation to read them in order, but I cannot promise there won’t be a spoiler or two along the way—nothing that would ruin your experience with previous books, though. People gossip, and those in my books are no exception.

It’s also important to mention that the sub-genres of the books may be different, depending on the story. Dark is a throughway. Crime is a throughway. Beyond that, it’s up to the characters and plot.

Here’s a quick rundown of the series so far:

#0.5. sweethearts—novel. psychological suspense (this takes place in an adjacent town + the crime is referenced in later books in passing)

#1. Our Tragedy—novel. domestic suspense mystery

#2. Am I Olive?—novella. psychological fiction

#3. Another Elizabeth—novel. psychological horror

#4. What’s Underneath—short story collection. dark fiction

*(Short story collection(

*(Novel)

(Novella)

*(Novel)

*Janes adjacent (Novel)

To buy the books, shop here.

A fun fact about Janes, OR:

It’s a fictional city I made that’s a little smaller than Portland, OR with the same smaller-than-it-is feel. If you’ve lived in Portland, you know what I mean. If not, here’s an idea: recently, I went to a cold-reading of a play. The author was a woman I was introduced to as a piano player first, writer second. She is, in fact, an author first. She also knows a lot of my writing circle. Beyond that, one of the actresses reading her play and I chatted, and I found out she and a friend of mine have been in the same circus classes for years (think silks in Cirque du Soleil). I find myself constantly saying, “Small world.” Considering how many parts of Portland there are, that’s pretty neat. Strange, but neat.

That’s Janes, in a way. It’s further South, though. I didn’t replace Portland, in my world. One day, I may share my messy map making skills so you can see exactly where I put it in Oregon.