Desiree Cooper books

Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and fiction writer from Detroit whose work explores race, gender, and identity through short fiction and flash prose.

Akashic Noir Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
San Francisco Noir 2002 Buy
Seattle Noir 2003 Buy
Bronx Noir 2003 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 2004 Buy
Hasidic Noir 2004 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 2 2005 Buy
Chicago Noir 2005 Buy
Dublin Noir 2005 Buy
Manhattan Noir 2006 Buy
Miami Noir 2006 Buy
D.C. Noir 2006 Buy
Baltimore Noir 2006 Buy
Twin Cities Noir 2006 Buy
London Noir 2006 Buy
New Orleans Noir 2007 Buy
Los Angeles Noir 2007 Buy
Wall Street Noir 2007 Buy
Havana Noir 2007 Buy
Detroit Noir 2007 Buy
Queens Noir 2008 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth 2008 Buy
Toronto Noir 2008 Buy
Las Vegas Noir 2008 Buy
Trinidad Noir 2008 Buy
D.C. Noir 2 2008 Buy
Manhattan Noir 2 2008 Buy
Paris Noir 2008 Buy
Istanbul Noir 2008 Buy
Boston Noir 2009 Buy
Rome Noir 2009 Buy
San Francisco Noir 2 2009 Buy
Portland Noir 2009 Buy
Delhi Noir 2009 Buy
Phoenix Noir 2009 Buy
Los Angeles Noir 2 2010 Buy
Mexico City Noir 2010 Buy
Richmond Noir 2010 Buy
Orange County Noir 2010 Buy
Indian Country Noir 2010 Buy
Moscow Noir 2010 Buy
Lone Star Noir 2010 Buy
Philadelphia Noir 2010 Buy
Haiti Noir 2010 Buy
Copenhagen Noir 2010 Buy
Pittsburgh Noir 2011 Buy
San Diego Noir 2011 Buy
Barcelona Noir 2011 Buy
Cape Cod Noir 2011 Buy
New Jersey Noir 2011 Buy
Staten Island Noir 2012 Buy
Mumbai Noir 2012 Buy
Long Island Noir 2012 Buy
Venice Noir 2012 Buy
Kingston Noir 2012 Buy
St. Petersburg Noir 2012 Buy
Kansas City Noir 2012 Buy
Boston Noir 2 2012 Buy
USA Noir 2013 Buy
Manila Noir 2013 Buy
Buffalo Noir 2013 Buy
Dallas Noir 2013 Buy
Haiti Noir 2 2013 Buy
Singapore Noir 2014 Buy
Prison Noir 2014 Buy
Tel Aviv Noir 2014 Buy
Tehran Noir 2014 Buy
Belfast Noir 2014 Buy
Helsinki Noir 2014 Buy
Rio Noir 2014 Buy
Providence Noir 2015 Buy
Chicago Noir: The Classics 2015 Buy
Memphis Noir 2015 Buy
Zagreb Noir 2015 Buy
Marseille Noir 2015 Buy
Beirut Noir 2015 Buy
New Orleans Noir: The Classics 2016 Buy
Stockholm Noir 2016 Buy
Brussels Noir 2016 Buy
Mississippi Noir 2016 Buy
St. Louis Noir 2016 Buy
Prague Noir 2016 Buy
San Juan Noir 2016 Buy
Oakland Noir 2017 Buy
Trinidad Noir: The Classics 2017 Buy
Atlanta Noir 2017 Buy
New Haven Noir 2017 Buy
Montana Noir 2017 Buy
Buenos Aires Noir 2017 Buy
Montreal Noir 2017 Buy
Berlin Noir 2018 Buy
São Paulo Noir 2018 Buy
Santa Cruz Noir 2018 Buy
Lagos Noir 2018 Buy
Marrakech Noir 2018 Buy
Baghdad Noir 2018 Buy
Vancouver Noir 2018 Buy
Sydney Noir 2018 Buy
Hong Kong Noir 2018 Buy
Amsterdam Noir 2019 Buy
Milwaukee Noir 2019 Buy
Houston Noir 2019 Buy
Nairobi Noir 2020 Buy
Columbus Noir 2020 Buy
Santa Fe Noir 2020 Buy
Alabama Noir 2020 Buy
Berkeley Noir 2020 Buy
Addis Ababa Noir 2020 Buy
Tampa Bay Noir 2020 Buy
Miami Noir: The Classics 2020 Buy
Accra Noir 2020 Buy
Belgrade Noir 2020 Buy
Palm Springs Noir 2021 Buy
Paris Noir: The Suburbs 2022 Buy
Denver Noir 2022 Buy
South Central Noir 2022 Buy
Cleveland Noir 2023 Buy
East Jerusalem Noir 2023 Buy
West Jerusalem Noir 2023 Buy
Honolulu Noir 2024 Buy
Sacramento Noir 2025 Buy
Hamburg Noir 2025 Buy

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
A Detroit Anthology 2014 Buy
I Know What’s Best for You 2022 Buy

Belt City Anthologies Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Cleveland Anthology 2014 Buy
A Detroit Anthology 2014 Buy
Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology 2015 Buy
The Pittsburgh Anthology 2015 Buy
Right Here, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology 2016 Buy
The Akron Anthology 2016 Buy
Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology 2017 Buy
Love in the Tubes: A Romantic Comedy 2019 Buy
The Milwaukee Anthology 2019 Buy
Under Purple Skies 2019 Buy
The St. Louis Anthology 2019 Buy
The Louisville Anthology 2020 Buy
The Gary Anthology 2020 Buy
The Dayton Anthology 2021 Buy
The Indianapolis Anthology 2021 Buy

Made in Michigan Writers Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Blue-Tail Fly 2006 Buy
Broken Symmetry 2006 Buy
The Women Were Leaving the Men 2007 Buy
After-Music 2008 Buy
Wide Awake in Someone Else’s Dream 2008 Buy
Trespassing 2008 Buy
The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit 2009 Buy
If the World Becomes So Bright 2009 Buy
American Salvage 2009 Buy
By Cold Water 2009 Buy
As If We Were Prey 2010 Buy
Birth of a Notion; Or, the Half Ain’t Never Been Told 2010 Buy
Voices of the Lost and Found 2010 Buy
An American Map 2010 Buy
In Which Brief Stories Are Told 2011 Buy
At The Bureau of Divine Music 2011 Buy
Love/Imperfect 2011 Buy
The Light Between 2012 Buy
To Embroider the Ground with Prayer 2012 Buy
The World of a Few Minutes Ago 2012 Buy
Allegiance 2012 Buy
Booker T & Them 2012 Buy
Practicing to Walk Like a Heron 2013 Buy
Earth Again 2013 Buy
Living Together 2013 Buy
Making Callaloo in Detroit 2014 Buy
Quality Snacks 2014 Buy
Love, Sex, and 4-H 2015 Buy
Know the Mother 2016 Buy
Sharp Blue Search of Flame 2016 Buy
I Want to Be Once 2016 Buy
States of Motion 2017 Buy
The Forgetting Tree 2017 Buy
The Lake Michigan Mermaid 2018 Buy
Field Recordings 2018 Buy
Meet Behind Mars 2018 Buy
Eden Springs 2018 Buy
I Got To Keep Moving 2018 Buy
Welcome to Replica Dodge 2019 Buy
Ragged Anthem 2019 Buy
Unblinking 2019 Buy
The Desk on the Sea 2019 Buy
Shades: Detroit Love Stories 2019 Buy
Gut Botany 2020 Buy
You’re in the Wrong Place 2020 Buy
A Fine Canopy 2020 Buy
You Are My Joy and Pain 2020 Buy
How Other People Make Love 2021 Buy
When the Heart Needs a Stunt Double 2021 Buy
Gun/Shy 2021 Buy
The Lake Huron Mermaid 2024 Buy

Short Stories/Novellas

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Nothing Special 2022 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Know the Mother 2016 Buy

Desiree Cooper is a Detroit-based author, journalist, and attorney whose writing career spans newspaper columns, flash fiction, and short stories. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary during her years as a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Her fiction debut, Know the Mother (2016), is a collection of flash fiction that examines the interior lives of women facing questions about race, motherhood, and personal freedom.

Beyond her solo work, Cooper has been involved with several large anthology projects. She contributed to the Akashic Noir series, which pairs cities around the world with original crime fiction from local writers. She also has ties to the Belt City Anthologies, a series of essay collections that document life in Rust Belt and Midwestern cities, and to the Made in Michigan Writers series published by Wayne State University Press. Her follow-up fiction work, Nothing Special (2022), continued her exploration of identity and belonging through short prose.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Desiree Cooper written?

Desiree Cooper has written 191 books across six series.

What was Desiree Cooper's first book?

Desiree Cooper’s first book is San Francisco Noir, published in 2002.

What is Desiree Cooper best known for writing?

Cooper is best known for her debut fiction collection Know the Mother (2016), which won the Hopwood Award and was published by Wayne State University Press as part of the Made in Michigan Writers series. She is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and has contributed to several multi-author anthology series including Akashic Noir and Belt City Anthologies.

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