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Terry Shames

Goodreads Author

Born

Orlando, FL, The United States

Website

http://terryshames.com/

Genre

Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Member Since

July 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/terryshames

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Terry Shames is the award-winning, best-selling author of eleven Samuel Craddock mysteries. Her first book, A Killing at Cotton Hill won the Macavity Award for Best First novel Her books have been shortlisted for the Strand Critics Award, Lefty awards, and won the RT Reviews Critics award. The eleventh in the series, The Troubling Death of Maddy Benson, October, 2024, was an Amazon Editor's Pick and won a starred review in Library Journal.

In 2024, she debuted the Jessie Madison thriller series, with Perilous Waters. In March, 2025, she published Out of Control, a suspense novel.

Terry is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.

She lives in Southern California with her husband, her dog M ...more

2323 posts
Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds

Never Write Alone

How do you findother like-minded writers to form a writer’s group, or become beta readers?What are the advantages or disadvantages of sharing your work prior topublication.

For me finding my writinggroup, the Literary Llamas, was my real entry into the writing world. Beforethem, I was just floundering around with a bunch of unformed ideas gathering inmy head with no real place Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 01, 2025 00:00

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Terry Shames’s books

Average rating: 4.01 · 4,702 ratings · 751 reviews · 19 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Killing at Cotton Hill (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #1) 3.96 avg rating — 1,016 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Death of Jack Harbin (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #2) 4.02 avg rating — 590 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #5) 3.97 avg rating — 592 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #3) 3.96 avg rating — 466 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #4) 4.06 avg rating — 410 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #6) 4.15 avg rating — 377 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Reckoning in the Back Country: A Samuel Craddock Mystery 4.12 avg rating — 289 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #8) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 276 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder at the Jubilee Rally (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #9) 3.95 avg rating — 189 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Guilt Strikes at Granger's Store (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #10) 4.08 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 2023 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Terry Shames

Samuel Craddock Mystery (10 books)
by

Terry Shames (Goodreads Author)

4.01 avg rating — 4,359 ratings

Jessie Madison (2 books)
by

Terry Shames (Goodreads Author)

3.76 avg rating — 160 ratings

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Terry’s Recent Updates

Terry Shames wrote a new blog post Never Write Alone How do you findother like-minded writers to form a writer’s group, or become beta readers?What are the advantages or disadvantages of sharing you Read more of this blog post »
Dec 01, 2025 03:34AM · like
Terry Shames rated a book it was amazing Hell or High Winter (Holy Trinity, 1) by Andrew Rubin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Hell or High Water is the most imaginative book I’ve read in years. At base it’s a retelling of the myth of Hermes and Persephone, but it’s actually much more. It’s an exploration of what it means to be a god. Many of the gods have grown old and they ...more
Oct 21, 2025 12:28PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hell or High Winter by Andrew Rubin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hell or High Winter by Andrew Rubin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Terry Shames finished reading A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary (Samuel Craddock Mystery, #8) by Terry Shames (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 09, 2025 10:20AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary by Terry Shames. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary by Terry Shames <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Terry Shames (?)

“ropy arms and longish dishwater-blond hair that doesn’t”
― Terry Shames, Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek: A Samuel Craddock Mystery

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