Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Dangerous Road | 2000 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 2 | Smoke-Filled Rooms | 2001 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 3 | Thin Walls | 2002 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 4 | Stone Cribs | 2004 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 5 | War at Home | 2005 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 6 | Days of Rage | 2006 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 7 | Family Affair | 2009 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 8 | Street Justice | 2013 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 9 | Guarding Lacey | 2012 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
| 10 | Sob Sisters | 2013 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Buy |
The Smokey Dalton series, written under the Kris Nelscott pen name, is Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s historical mystery series set during the late 1960s civil rights era. Smokey Dalton is a Black private investigator in Memphis who witnesses the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and subsequently relocates to Chicago, where he continues taking cases while navigating the racial tensions of the time.
With ten books published from 2000 to 2013, the series grounds its mystery plots in well-researched historical detail. The first book, A Dangerous Road, was nominated for an Edgar Award. Rusch uses the mystery genre to explore the realities of race in 1960s America, and Smokey Dalton is a compelling protagonist whose personal history intersects with the major events of his era.