Author Alex Kava & her Westie Maggie O'Dell

Alex Kava is the New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of twenty-four novels that include the critically acclaimed series featuring K9 handler Ryder Creed and the international bestselling series with FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell.

She’s been awarded two Nebraska Book Awards, a Florida Book Award and the Mari Sandoz Award.

Published in thirty-five countries, her novels have sold seven+ million copies and have appeared on bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Poland, Italy and Japan.

When she’s not writing, Alex enjoys spending time with her pack of Westies. and one Jack Russell Terrorist.  They are definitely not as well trained as Ryder Creed’s dogs.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am always working on “a book”… whether it is an FBI Maggie O’Dell or a Ryder Creed K-9 Mystery. And there are several other projects in the hopper as well.

CHASING CREED, Ryder Creed book #9 is scheduled for retail release in Sepetember 2026. If you buy DIRECT from my website, you’ll receive your copy the one week prior to it dropping in retail stores…depending on USPS shipping – I have zero control over that! If you read on electronic device, you will get it immediately.    Become a  member of my V.I. R. Club to receive an update the minute it goes on sale!

No, each book is written to be enjoyed as a stand-alone, so you won’t be lost if you start in the middle or at the end. But there are some continuing characters and minor storylines that are probably enhanced if you start at the beginning.

I introduced Maggie O’Dell to Ryder Creed and his special K-9 scent pup Grace in STRANDED.

The Maggie O’Dell Series:

2000 A Perfect Evil
2001 Split Second
2002 The Soul Catcher
2003 At The Stroke of Madness
2006 A Necessary Evil
2008 Exposed
2009 Black Friday
2010 Damaged
2011 HotWire
2012 Fireproof
2013 Stranded
2017 Before Evil (The Prequel)

The Ryder Creed Series:

2015 Breaking Creed
2015 Silent Creed
2016 Reckless Creed
2018 Lost Creed
2019 Desperate Creed
2020 Hidden Creed
2022 Fallen Creed
2023 Midnight Creed
2025 Chasing Creed
And the stand-alone novels are:
2004 One False Move
2007 Whitewash

eBook Novellas:
2010 A Breath of Hot Air – with Patricia A. Bremmer
2012 Slices of Night – with Erica Spindler & J.T. Ellison
2013 Storm Season –  with Erica Spindler & J.T. Ellison

FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell Collection:
2016 Off the Grid – a collection of short stories and one novella featuring Maggie O’Dell

BEFORE EVIL is the actual prequel featuring Albert Stucky. He was written to give a point of reference to some of Maggie’s inner conflicts in her earlier books.

No, and thank you for considering me.

Part of the fun of writing is coming up with the ideas. The grueling part is writing it down. If you have a great idea/story, you really should consider writing it — only you can do your idea justice. (*Business Manager Deb adds: “We’ve been legally advised not to accept any such correspondence.”)

Well, funny you should ask.

In my webshop, I have FIRST EDITION hardcovers (very limited amounts) available as well as reprints of my earlier novels.

My previous publishers have chosen to allow my early novels to go out-of-print, meaning they will only be available digitally. I wanted to keep those stories in circulation for readers who are just finding Maggie O’Dell or prefer a print copy in their hands. So I started my own publishing company with my business manager to assure they would be available to libraries, book clubs and collectors.

Check it out here.

I love speaking to different groups and try to include several each year during my book tour. Unfortunately, I can’t fit in every request or I’d never have enough time to write. You can email Deb Carlin to check about availability and fees. CLICK to email Deb

In all honesty, I take a while to reply to e-mails, and I receive so many that it is hard to answer all of them and keep on a writing schedule. I receive quite a few bounced e-mails to my replies, where the mailbox is full or the address is bad. Spam filters can also be at fault sometimes for people not seeing my email answers.

If you just wrote to tell me that you love my books, thank you!! I might not have written back to you but please know that I read and appreciate very much hearing that from all of my readers. If you wrote to tell me that you don’t like something I did in one of my books, I may not have written you back depending on how upset you sounded in your e-mail. I respect your right to feel what you feel, and I’m not going to try to talk you out of your feelings.