Order of Jessa Maxwell Books

Jessa Maxwell is an author of mystery novels. She is the author of The Golden Spoon and I Need You to Read This. In addition to her fiction, Maxwell has written and illustrated picture books, and her comics and cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband and their pets.

Jessa Maxwell made her debut as a novelist in 2023 with The Golden Spoon. Below is a list of Jessa Maxwell’s books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

If You Like Jessa Maxwell Books, You’ll Love…

• Alex Finlay
• Riley Sager
• Richard Osman

Jessa Maxwell Synopses: The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell is a standalone novel. For a decade, Grafton Estate has opened its manicured Vermont grounds to six hopeful bakers each summer, all eager to compete on the beloved television phenomenon “Bake Week.” The sprawling property is more than a filming location; it is the childhood home of the show’s iconic host, Betsy Martin, the cookbook queen America adores.

On camera, Betsy is the picture of warmth and grandmotherly charm. Off camera, she is far less forgiving. Perfection is her expectation, and she has always gotten it. But this season, something feels wrong. The atmosphere is tense, the staff is on edge, and the contestants sense that the usual friendly competition has taken a darker turn.

Small mishaps begin to plague the tent. Ingredients mysteriously swapped. Equipment tampered with. Ovens behaving in ways no oven should. At first, it seems like petty sabotage meant to rattle the bakers.

Then someone turns up dead.

With the estate sealed off and suspicion rising like over‑proofed dough, every contestant, crew member, and even Betsy herself becomes a potential culprit. And as the week spirals into chaos, one thing becomes clear: this year’s Bake Week is serving up more than pastries.

It is serving up a killer.

I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell is a standalone title. Years ago, Alex Marks left her old life behind and moved to New York City. She keeps her routine simple: work her copywriting job, stop by her usual diner, and avoid anything that might complicate her quiet existence. That changes when Francis Keen, the advice columnist Alex admired throughout her childhood, is murdered.

When the newspaper advertises an opening for Francis’s replacement, Alex applies on impulse and is surprised to be hired. Soon after she starts, unsettling letters begin arriving at the office. With Francis’s killer still unidentified, Alex becomes wary of everyone around her, including her editor, Howard Dimitri, whose late nights and heavy drinking make him difficult to read.

As Alex digs deeper into the circumstances surrounding Francis’s death, she uncovers details that pull her into the case more than she ever intended. Her own past begins to surface, and the line between her life and her predecessor’s grows increasingly blurred. The search for answers leads her from Manhattan’s newsroom offices to the remote summer house where Francis was found, and where the danger may not be over.

In Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell, Faith arrives on Hadley Island expecting a summer defined by comfort and ease. On her first day, she finds an expensive ring tucked away in David Clarke’s family home. David, heir to a billionaire fortune and her boyfriend, has invited her to spend the season at his family’s “cottage,” a place far more lavish than the word suggests. Marriage was never part of Faith’s plans, but the lifestyle is difficult to ignore.

Hadley Island’s polished surface hides a more complicated history. A man once close to the Clarkes now lives alone at the shoreline, cut off from the community. David’s childhood circle included two girls: one who died during a Fourth of July party at the Clarke estate, and another who left the island abruptly and never returned. When a new disappearance unsettles the island, old stories begin to resurface.

The wealthy may value Hadley Island for its privacy, but small places remember their past. And the things buried along the coast have a way of coming back with the tide.