Quill and Packet Mystery Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Bury the Lead | 2024 | Buy |
| Widows and Orphans | 2025 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Hole in the Middle | 2013 | Buy |
| Just Like Family | 2017 | Buy |
| Better Luck Next Time: A Novel | 2020 | Buy |
Kate Hilton is a Canadian author who writes both contemporary literary fiction and cozy mysteries. She started with The Hole in the Middle (2013), a novel about a working mother trying to hold together her career, family, and personal life. Her early standalone novels explore similar themes of modern domesticity, relationships, and the pressures women face when balancing multiple roles.
In 2024, Hilton launched the Quill and Packet Mystery series with Bury the Lead, set in a small Ontario town where a local newspaper editor finds herself investigating a murder. The second book, Widows and Orphans (2025), continues the series. The shift to cozy mystery marked a new direction for Hilton, though her sharp observations about small-town social life carry over from her earlier fiction.
Hilton holds a law degree and has worked as a lawyer and communications professional, experiences that inform the professional settings and interpersonal conflicts in her novels.