Books set in Maryland

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September 27, 2022
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Books set in Maryland

Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford's series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?

What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in "their" state.

Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard's "In Zanesville," respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.

Stacker compiled a list of books set in Maryland from Goodreads. Whether you're looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you're looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you're already familiar with, we've got you covered.

Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan #1)

- Rating: 3.53 (12,696 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: February 1, 1997
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook
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Jacob Have I Loved

- Rating: 3.68 (32,806 ratings)
- Author: Katherine Paterson
- Published: January 1, 1980
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Childrens
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The Accidental Tourist

- Rating: 3.90 (102,395 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: August 12, 1985
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Romance
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

- Rating: 4.08 (112,489 ratings)
- Author: Frederick Douglass
- Published: January 1, 1845
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics, Biography
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Breathing Lessons

- Rating: 3.67 (27,503 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: August 12, 1988
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Novels
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Digging to America

- Rating: 3.57 (21,406 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: May 2, 2006
- Genres: Fiction, Adoption, Contemporary, Novels
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Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

- Rating: 3.81 (28,538 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: March 12, 1982
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Novels
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The Great Gilly Hopkins

- Rating: 3.84 (22,034 ratings)
- Author: Katherine Paterson
- Published: March 29, 1978
- Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Young Adult
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Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

- Rating: 4.34 (18,210 ratings)
- Author: David Simon
- Published: June 1, 1991
- Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, History
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Chesapeake Blue (Chesapeake Bay Saga, #4)

- Rating: 4.18 (33,202 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: November 4, 2002
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary
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The Amateur Marriage

- Rating: 3.65 (17,049 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: January 6, 2004
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
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Charm City (Tess Monaghan #2)

- Rating: 3.63 (6,705 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 1997
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime
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The Girl in the Green Raincoat (Tess Monaghan, #11)

- Rating: 3.45 (6,846 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 11, 2011
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook
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Chesapeake

- Rating: 4.20 (24,209 ratings)
- Author: James A. Michener
- Published: January 1, 1978
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, American History
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Kindred

- Rating: 4.29 (152,797 ratings)
- Author: Octavia E. Butler
- Published: June 1, 1979
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy
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Sea Swept (Chesapeake Bay Saga, #1)

- Rating: 4.23 (59,430 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
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Digital Fortress

- Rating: 3.68 (607,991 ratings)
- Author: Dan Brown
- Published: February 1, 1998
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
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Butchers Hill (Tess Monaghan #3)

- Rating: 3.76 (5,462 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

- Rating: 4.09 (673,080 ratings)
- Author: Rebecca Skloot
- Published: February 2, 2010
- Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Biography
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The Hearse You Came in On (Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries, #1)

- Rating: 3.65 (805 ratings)
- Author: Tim Cockey
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Sisterhood, #1)

- Rating: 3.82 (673,071 ratings)
- Author: Ann Brashares
- Published: September 11, 2001
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary
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My Bondage and My Freedom

- Rating: 4.37 (11,289 ratings)
- Author: Frederick Douglass
- Published: January 1, 1855
- Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Classics
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Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

- Rating: 4.14 (29,762 ratings)
- Author: James L. Swanson
- Published: February 6, 2006
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Civil War, True Crime
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The Clock Winder

- Rating: 3.73 (4,343 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: January 1, 1972
- Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Womens
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The Sugar House (Tess Monaghan #5)

- Rating: 3.80 (4,701 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

B Is for Blue Crab: A Maryland Alphabet

- Rating: 4.09 (53 ratings)
- Author: Shirley C. Menendez
- Published: September 22, 2004
- Genres: Picture Books, Childrens
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In a Strange City (Tess Monaghan, #6)

- Rating: 3.68 (3,805 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 2001
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Mystery Thriller
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What the Dead Know

- Rating: 3.57 (23,061 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: March 13, 2007
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller
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Ghetto Medic: A Father in the 'Hood

- Rating: 3.47 (123 ratings)
- Author: Rachel Hennick
- Published: July 1, 2012
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
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Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack: A Boyhood Year During World War II

- Rating: 3.43 (173 ratings)
- Author: Charles Osgood
- Published: May 12, 2004
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Autobiography
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Blue Smoke

- Rating: 4.03 (33,314 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: October 4, 2005
- Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Inner Harbor (Chesapeake Bay Saga, #3)

- Rating: 4.18 (32,948 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: January 1, 1999
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay

- Rating: 4.13 (1,296 ratings)
- Author: William W. Warner
- Published: February 1, 1976
- Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, History
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Bewitching Hannah

- Rating: 4.50 (18 ratings)
- Author: Leigh Goff
- Published: September 17, 2017
- Genres: Young Adult, Witches, Paranormal, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

Chadwick the Crab

- Rating: 3.68 (57 ratings)
- Author: Priscilla Cummings
- Published: May 1, 1986
- Genres: Childrens
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Blindsided

- Rating: 3.88 (2,251 ratings)
- Author: Priscilla Cummings
- Published: July 8, 2010
- Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Disability
- Read more on Goodreads

Jarrettsville

- Rating: 3.77 (506 ratings)
- Author: Cornelia Nixon
- Published: September 1, 2009
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Civil War, Fiction
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Red Kayak

- Rating: 3.92 (9,811 ratings)
- Author: Priscilla Cummings
- Published: September 23, 2004
- Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Survival of the Fittest: The Last Hope for the Human Race

- Rating: 4.40 (53 ratings)
- Author: Michael Taylor
- Published: January 1, 2011
- Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Young Adult
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Life Sentences

- Rating: 3.14 (4,783 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
- Read more on Goodreads

Song Yet Sung

- Rating: 3.98 (4,792 ratings)
- Author: James McBride
- Published: February 5, 2008
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, African American, Historical
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The Tidewater Tales

- Rating: 4.03 (437 ratings)
- Author: John Barth
- Published: January 1, 1987
- Genres: Fiction, Literature, Short Stories, American
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Homicide: Life on the Streets--the Unofficial Companion

- Rating: 3.85 (47 ratings)
- Author: David P. Kalat
- Published: July 15, 1998
- Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Crime
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Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland

- Rating: 3.98 (1,213 ratings)
- Author: Sally M. Walker
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

Baltimore, Vol. 1: The Plague Ships

- Rating: 3.87 (2,594 ratings)
- Author: Mike Mignola
- Published: June 28, 2011
- Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy
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And When She Was Good

- Rating: 3.50 (13,449 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: August 1, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
- Read more on Goodreads

The Most Dangerous Thing

- Rating: 3.30 (6,776 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: January 1, 2011
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

The Other Wes Moore: The Story Of One Name And Two Fates

- Rating: 3.84 (44,879 ratings)
- Author: Wes Moore
- Published: April 27, 2010
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, School
- Read more on Goodreads

The Beginner's Goodbye

- Rating: 3.62 (18,857 ratings)
- Author: Anne Tyler
- Published: April 3, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Last Place (Tess Monaghan #7)

- Rating: 3.83 (3,704 ratings)
- Author: Laura Lippman
- Published: October 1, 2002
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

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