The Leah Nash Series in Order

About the Leah Nash series

Series Premise

The core premise follows Leah Nash, a former investigative journalist who returns to her hometown of River Heights, Wisconsin, after a personal and professional crisis. Burned out from big-city reporting and reeling from a painful divorce, Leah buys the local weekly newspaper, the River Heights Journal, with the hope of running a quiet small-town paper. Instead, she is repeatedly pulled into murder investigations when friends, colleagues, or community members are affected by violent deaths that the police either overlook or mishandle.

Each book presents a standalone mystery: a suspicious death initially ruled accidental or natural, a missing person case with dark undertones, a cold case resurfacing, or a new murder tied to old secrets. Leah's journalistic instincts—dogged research, interviewing sources, following paper trails, and refusing to accept easy answers—drive her to uncover the truth. She often works in parallel (and sometimes in conflict) with local law enforcement, using her access to people and records to expose lies, hidden motives, and corruption.

The crimes are personal and community-based—family betrayals, domestic violence, greed over inheritance, workplace secrets, or past sins coming to light. Leah’s investigations frequently intersect with her own life: protecting friends, confronting her past, or dealing with her complicated family. While each novel delivers a complete mystery with resolution, the series is strongly interconnected through Leah’s personal arc, recurring characters, evolving relationships, and the ongoing life of the newspaper and town. The books should be read in publication order (Dangerous Habits, Cold Truth, No Good Deed, Not a Prayer, Dangerous Deeds, Give Up the Dead, Tell No Lies, One Little Lie) to follow Leah’s growth, her shifting relationships, and the cumulative impact of past cases on her life and the community.

Main Characters

Leah Nash anchors the series: a mid-forties investigative journalist who returns to River Heights after a failed marriage and burnout in Detroit. Smart, stubborn, loyal, and often impatient, Leah is driven by a fierce sense of justice and a need to protect the vulnerable. She is sarcastic, independent, and deeply caring—especially toward her close friends and her mother. Her flaws (impulsiveness, tendency to push people away) make her relatable and human.



Miguel Santos: Leah’s best friend and co-worker at the Journal—a warm, witty, openly gay man who provides emotional support, humor, and occasional investigative help. Their platonic friendship is one of the series’ strongest and most endearing elements.



Courtnee (Courtney) DeGroot: Leah’s young, quirky, and occasionally exasperating assistant at the paper—enthusiastic, naive, and loyal.



Gabe: Leah’s on-again, off-again romantic interest (a police officer/detective)—steady, principled, and quietly in love with Leah despite their complicated history.



Leah’s mother, Joy: A strong, loving woman whose health struggles and past add emotional weight.

Setting

The series is set in River Heights, Wisconsin, a fictional small town in the heart of the Midwest, inspired by real communities in the Driftless Area and along the Mississippi River. River Heights is a classic American small town: a Main Street with a diner, hardware store, library, and the River Heights Journal office; modest homes, farms, and wooded countryside; a river that runs through the area; and a mix of longtime residents and newcomers.



The setting feels authentic and lived-in—harsh winters with snow and ice, humid summers, fall colors, small-town festivals, high school sports, church suppers, and the tight-knit (sometimes claustrophobic) nature of community life. The town is small enough that everyone knows (or thinks they know) everyone else’s business, yet large enough to hide secrets. Leah’s investigations often take her to neighboring towns, farms, lakes, or isolated properties, but River Heights remains the emotional center—its familiarity and flaws make it both a refuge and a place where truth is hard to escape.

Tone & Themes

The tone is intelligent, wry, and emotionally grounded, with a warm undercurrent of hope and humanity. Susan Hunter’s prose is crisp, conversational, and often humorous—Leah’s first-person narration delivers sharp observations, self-deprecating wit, and sarcastic commentary on small-town politics, human behavior, and her own stubbornness. The humor is dry and character-driven—banter with friends, ironic reflections on life, and Leah’s impatience with fools provide consistent levity.

Suspense is steady and compelling rather than frantic—tension builds through Leah’s dogged pursuit of truth, mounting clues, and occasional danger—while violence remains off-page or understated. Emotional depth comes from Leah’s personal struggles (grief, guilt, loneliness, family tensions) and the very human motives behind the crimes. The mood is satisfying and ultimately optimistic: evil exists, secrets hurt, but courage, friendship, and persistence can bring light and justice. The series balances serious themes (domestic abuse, addiction, betrayal, loss) with warmth, humor, and the comfort of loyal relationships.

The Leah Nash Mystery series by Susan Hunter delivers intelligent, emotionally resonant small-town mysteries that combine sharp plotting with deep character development and a strong sense of place. Through Leah’s relentless pursuit of truth and her evolving relationships in River Heights, the books explore justice, friendship, family, and the courage it takes to face hard realities. While best read in order to follow Leah’s personal journey and the town’s interconnected lives, each novel stands alone as a satisfying, twisty whodunit. The series remains a standout for its authentic voice, warm humor, and the compelling reminder that even in a small town, one determined person can make a difference—and that truth, however painful, is worth uncovering.