Books set in New Mexico
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 New Mexico 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.
The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee, #1)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: January 1, 1970
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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Death Comes for the Archbishop
- Author: Willa Cather
- Published: January 1, 1927
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Literature
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Hearts of the Missing
- Author: Carol Potenza
- Published: December 4, 2018
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller
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Bless Me, Ultima
- Author: Rudolfo Anaya
- Published: January 1, 1972
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Magical Realism, Young Adult
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The Milagro Beanfield War
- Author: John Nichols
- Published: January 1, 1974
- Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Humor
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
- Author: Dee Brown
- Published: April 1, 1970
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Classics
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The Monkey Wrench Gang (Monkey Wrench Gang, #1)
- Author: Edward Abbey
- Published: January 1, 1975
- Genres: Fiction, Nature, Environment, Classics
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Brave New World
- Author: Aldous Huxley
- Published: January 1, 1932
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia
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First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)
- Author: Darynda Jones
- Published: February 1, 2011
- Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Romance
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Skinwalkers (Leaphorn & Chee, #7)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: December 1, 1986
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
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Georgia O'Keeffe: One Hundred Flowers
- Author: Georgia O'Keeffe
- Published: January 1, 1987
- Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, Biography
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Hillerman Country: A Journey Through the Southwest with Tony Hillerman
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: October 1, 1991
- Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Geography, Mystery
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The Green Glass Sea (Green Glass, #1)
- Author: Ellen Klages
- Published: October 19, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade
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Where They Bury You
- Author: Steven W. Kohlhagen
- Published: February 1, 2013
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Fiction, Mystery
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Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West
- Author: Hampton Sides
- Published: October 3, 2006
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography
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The Wives of Los Alamos
- Author: TaraShea Nesbit
- Published: April 24, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Historical
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Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout
- Author: Philip Connors
- Published: March 10, 2011
- Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Memoir, Environment
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Sacred Clowns (Leaphorn & Chee, #11)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: October 1, 1993
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
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The Sinister Pig (Leaphorn & Chee, #16)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: May 6, 2003
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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The Great Taos Bank Robbery and other True Stories of the Southwest
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: January 1, 1973
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mystery, Short Stories
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The Shape Shifter (Leaphorn & Chee, #18)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: November 21, 2006
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
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Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson, #2)
- Author: Darynda Jones
- Published: August 16, 2011
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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Rosary Without Beads
- Author: Diana Holguin-Balogh
- Published: October 1, 2018
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns
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Meet Josefina: An American Girl (American Girls: Josefina, #1)
- Author: Valerie Tripp
- Published: January 1, 1997
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Historical
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Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1)
- Author: Rebecca Roanhorse
- Published: June 26, 2018
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Dystopia
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Tularosa (Kevin Kerney, #1)
- Author: Michael McGarrity
- Published: April 17, 1996
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Westerns, Crime
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Alburquerque
- Author: Rudolfo Anaya
- Published: August 1, 1992
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Magical Realism, Classics
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Red Sky at Morning
- Author: Richard Bradford
- Published: January 1, 1968
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Coming Of Age
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Tiger Eyes
- Author: Judy Blume
- Published: January 1, 1981
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Realistic Fiction
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Rock with Wings (Leaphorn & Chee, #20)
- Author: Anne Hillerman
- Published: May 5, 2015
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Westerns
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You Brought Me the Ocean
- Author: Alex Sanchez
- Published: June 9, 2020
- Genres: Graphic Novels, LGBT, Young Adult, Comics
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Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society
- Author: Brian M. Fagan
- Published: April 15, 2005
- Genres: History, Archaeology, Nonfiction, Anthropology
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The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends, and Lore
- Author: David Dary
- Published: November 1, 2000
- Genres: History, American History, Westerns, Nonfiction
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The Joe Leaphorn Mysteries: The Blessing Way / Dance Hall of the Dead / Listening Woman (Leaphorn & Chee, #1-3)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: January 1, 1989
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Westerns
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Tony Hillerman: The Leaphorn Chee Novels: Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, Coyote Waits
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: May 3, 2005
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Westerns, Crime
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Los Alamos
- Author: Joseph Kanon
- Published: May 5, 1997
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
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The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn
- Author: John Nichols
- Published: May 31, 1982
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir
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Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson, #3)
- Author: Darynda Jones
- Published: January 31, 2012
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion that Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest
- Author: David Roberts
- Published: January 1, 2004
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Westerns, War
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The Staircase
- Author: Ann Rinaldi
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical
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The Fallen Man (Navajo Mysteries, #12)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: November 19, 1996
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Westerns
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Dance Hall of the Dead (Leaphorn & Chee, #2)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: January 1, 1973
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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Hunting Badger (Navajo Mysteries, #14)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: November 9, 1999
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Westerns, Crime
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Hermit's Peak (Kevin Kerney, #4)
- Author: Michael McGarrity
- Published: June 1, 1999
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Westerns
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Hannah's War
- Author: Jan Eliasberg
- Published: March 3, 2020
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads
The Maverick Cookbook: Iconic Recipes & Tales from New Mexico
- Author: Lynn Cline
- Published: September 1, 2015
- Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking
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109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos
- Author: Jennet Conant
- Published: January 1, 2005
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Biography
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Listening Woman (Leaphorn & Chee, #3)
- Author: Tony Hillerman
- Published: April 1, 1978
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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The Plumed Serpent
- Author: D.H. Lawrence
- Published: January 1, 1926
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Novels
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