The Well Bookshop
Series · thriller

Barnaby and Hooker

by Janet Evanovich

The Barnaby and Hooker series by Janet Evanovich has 2 known books (2 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Metro Girl (2004). Motor Mouth is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.

Books
2 known books (2 novels)
Published
2
First published
2004
Status
completed
Shelved under
Thriller
Start here: Metro Girl (2004) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of Metro Girl
Metro Girl (2004)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Metro Girl

    Novel
    Metro Girl is the novel that opens Barnaby and Hooker, Janet Evanovich's series, first published in 2004. The series runs to 2 books in this catalogue; from here it continues with Motor Mouth.
    View book

  2. Motor Mouth

    Novel
    Motor Mouth is the 2nd entry in Barnaby and Hooker, by Janet Evanovich, published in 2006 at 276 pages. It follows Metro Girl in this catalogue's reading order.
    View book

Key facts about the Barnaby and Hooker series

Our list has 2 books in the Barnaby and Hooker series. Since all 2 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with Metro Girl, since it opens the publication order in 2004. Motor Mouth is book 2, from 2006.

The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions.

Motor Mouth is the latest book with a full release date, out on 3 October 2006. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 2004 and 2006, while their length runs from 276 to 312 pages. That is a run of 2 years.

Janet Evanovich has 58 books on our list. Additionally, they write Elsie Hawkins, Stephanie Plum and Lizzy and Diesel, plus 3 more series. We shelve the books under thriller.

About the Barnaby and Hooker series

Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby is a laid-off Miami auto mechanic turned amateur investigator who ropes hotshot NASCAR driver Sam Hooker into helping her track down her missing, possibly criminal uncle and a fortune in sunken Cuban treasure. Metro Girl and its sequel Motor Mouth are Evanovich's venture into NASCAR-flavored romantic suspense: fast cars, insurance-fraud schemes, and a slow-burn will-they-won't-they between Barney and Hooker that runs on the same comic chemistry as Stephanie Plum and Ranger, transplanted from Trenton bail bonds to the Daytona/Miami racing circuit. Hooker's celebrity-driver ego and Barney's blue-collar practicality generate the same fish-out-of-water banter Evanovich fans expect, wrapped around plots that lean more caper-thriller than straight mystery.

Published in 2004 and 2006, the two novels stand as a complete prose duology; Evanovich continued Barney and Hooker's story afterward in Troublemaker, a graphic novel published by Dark Horse Comics rather than prose fiction, which this site does not track as a book entry. No further prose novels featuring the characters have followed. Readers who enjoy Evanovich's Jersey wisecracking but want a change of setting -- speedway garages and sunbaked Florida instead of Trenton -- are the natural audience here.

Frequently asked questions

How many Barnaby and Hooker books are there?

Two prose novels: Metro Girl (2004) and Motor Mouth (2006), also marketed as the Alexandra Barnaby series.

What order should I read them in?

Publication order: Metro Girl, then Motor Mouth.

Is there a third Barnaby and Hooker novel?

No further prose novel followed Motor Mouth; the story continued only in the graphic novel Troublemaker, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Is Barnaby and Hooker connected to Stephanie Plum?

No, separate characters and setting (NASCAR racing rather than Trenton bail bonds), though it shares Evanovich's comic, banter-driven style.

Who is Sam Hooker?

A NASCAR driver who partners with -- and squabbles and flirts with -- mechanic Alexandra Barnaby across both novels.

Last updated

All series