Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson Series in Order
Author photo by Allen Johnson
This urban fantasy series from Patricia Briggs stars shape-shifting mechanic Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson—who can take the form of a coyote at will. She’s an observer of the supernatural community, but not part of it: the perfect intermediary between the things that go bump in the night—and the things that bump back…
Mercy lives and works in a version of the Tri-Cities that also includes werewolves, vampires, and an assortment of fae. There’s also a spin off series named Alpha and Omega that takes place in the same universe.
Introduced in the 2006 novel Moon Called, Mercy Thompson is often called upon to use her wits—instead of superpowers. This comes from the author’s mission to keep her supernatural characters from growing too powerful:
“I actively avoid power creep. I think that underpowered characters make much better protagonists. It’s much easier to get them into trouble and it’s much easier to make people understand that their lives are at risk.” (READ: Urban Fantasy Author Patricia Briggs—Walking The Line)
Patricia Briggs has since written more than a dozen Mercy Thompson urban fantasy novels. Below is a complete list to date of the books in the series…
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Article originally posted March 2020. Revised February 2024.
Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs
Mercy gives a job to a homeless boy—who happens to be a werewolf. When he turns up murdered, she vows to figure out who did it.
Briggs says the Mercy Thompson series started when her editor called and asked, Hey, Patty, you know those books you like? The modern paranormal fantasy with vampires and werewolves?
Soon she was writing a new series about a coyote shapeshifter who’s also a pretty decent mechanic. “Mercy’s world looks a lot like ours,” the author says. “Except that the Otherworld is beginning to be forced out of hiding by our modern technologies.”
REVIEW: “I recommend this book for its fast-paced, exciting adventure story, as well as its well-written characters. Anyone who likes fantasy fiction set in an alternative present day setting with a strong female lead character will love this book.” (Love Vampires)
Find Moon Called on Amazon (affiliate link)
Stephan is a vampire with a thing for Scooby-Doo, and Mercy owes him a favor. There's a new vampire in town, who can apparently alter the memories of those around him. Since Mercy is resistant to vampiric magic, she's brought along as an impartial observer. What could go wrong?
According to Briggs, earlier in her writing career—when she didn’t sell her stories only after she had finished them—getting anywhere was half the fun. But then her publisher told her to submit at least something about the plot of the books she was writing. She says that change in the writing process became complicated whenever an unexpected character or plot twist popped up.
“Blood Bound did that to me more than most,” Briggs says. “After the first few panicked moments, though, I realize that those unexpected turns make it a better story (as long as I clean up behind me), for two reasons. First, the story becomes unpredictable for the reader—and second, the story takes on a realism it didn’t have before. Those unexpected changes are almost always sparked by something I didn’t know about the characters or the world when I sat down to write the outline six months to a year earlier.”
REVIEW: “When an author of a fantasy book can make you believe her truths, that’s a great book. Mercy Thompson’s world is just like ours, only a bit more dangerous and a bit more sexy.” (Dear Author)
Find Blood Bound on Amazon (affiliate link)
A series of murders on the fae reservation is being quietly investigated, and Mercy is asked to use her coyote-sharp nose to do a bit of sniffing around. Zee ends up framed for murder, and our coyote heroine shows she’s willing to put her neck on the line to save him.
“Like most of my books,” Briggs says, “this one held a lot of surprises for me. I had intended for Mercy to choose her man in this book, but I didn’t expect it to happen the way it did.
“I also found out a few things I didn’t know about some of the characters. It made me like some of them more and others less. It also made me realize that one of the terrific things about writing a series is the ability to get to know more about the bit players. In a single book, or even a duology, there are only so many pages to develop characters and I have to restrict myself to only a few. A series is not so restrictive.”
REVIEW: “By far the most gut wrenching of the Mercy Thompson novels to date. A stellar novel leaving you wanting more.” (Fantasy Book Review)
Find Iron Kissed on Amazon (affiliate link)
The vampire queen has figured out who killed one of her favorite vampires, and things get ugly. An old acquaintance shows up with ghost troubles, and Mercy follows her to Spokane. Of course, nothing is ever that simple in Mercy’s world…
“As an author, I sometimes feel like the wicked witch,” Briggs says. “My job is to find someone happily minding their own business, and mess up their happy little lives until they're upset enough to get off their rump and go change something. It’s seldom a good thing in a character’s life when the author looks at them and says, You’re happy, aren't you? My goodness, you’re trying to slip off into a quiet happily-ever-after! Well, don’t get too comfortable my pretty, because I’ve got plans for your future. The evil cackle is optional, of course, but I find it refreshing.”
REVIEW: “A riveting read. The plotting is superb and we get more of those characters we have grown to love. I couldn’t put this book down.” (The Book Smugglers)
Find Bone Crossed on Amazon (affiliate link)
In Iron Kissed, Mercy had borrowed a little book about fae artifacts. When she tries to return it, she finds the shop closed—and discovers that there are some other folks who want it… and they don’t mind killing a few people to get it.
Briggs says that the bookstore where Mercy borrows a book—Brewster’s Library—is one of the few things in Mercy’s world based on a real place. Unfortunately, the real store closed.
“But for the Mercy series it didn’t really matter,” Briggs says. “I usually make up important locations—mostly so that, for instance, churches don’t have people ask them if they are haunted or have vampires in the basement. Then I thought, what if Mercy tries to return the book—and finds no one at the bookstore?”
REVIEW: “Woohoo! Another MERCY THOMPSON book from Patricia Briggs. Fans of the series will not be disappointed in Silver Borne, and new readers should start MERCY THOMPSON now before they get too far behind.” (Fantasy Literature)
Find Silver Borne on Amazon (affiliate link)
Mercy and Adam finally take a little personal time, a little getaway for two in a quiet campground on the Columbia river near their Tri-Cities home. Of course, where Mercy goes trouble is sure to follow. This time, Mercy will learn more about her Native American heritage, and what it means to be a “walker.”
Briggs says that River Marked was a book she had been planning for a long time. “I had known, almost from the beginning of the series, that I would need to work in more walkers and the Native American culture in our area. However, I puzzled about how to do it justice.”
Then she decided to do exactly what she had with other cultures’ myths, traditions and histories. “I mined the treasure trove of stories, treated them with due respect, but used them in ways they were never meant to be used. I am not attempting to preserve culture, or record actual events or stories. Instead I bow my head in gratitude to those storytellers who have gone before and paved a way for me play in their stomping grounds.”
REVIEW: “A more-than-acceptable example of an extremely popular subgenre of urban fantasy.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Find River Marked on Amazon (affiliate link)
Mercy takes her new stepdaughter Jesse out shopping on Black Friday. They’re involved in a fender-bender which should have been simply annoying, except that the whole pack has gone missing in their absence. With few allies outside the pack, and unknown enemies, Mercy’s got her work cut out for her.
“I don’t remember who decided it would be a good time to try Black Friday shopping,” Briggs says. “Let’s just say that I’d put my eye out with a spoon before I’d do it again. However, as grist for the mill it was awesome. The opening scene in Frost Burned is based on real events—how I suffer for my art.”
REVIEW: “This author portrays so well how a shifter world would integrate into a human world and is really careful with the details. And that is something I really appreciate with this series. As well as the fabulous characters – all of them, even the small supporting ones add so much to each book. Such a well done urban fantasy world. I really enjoyed.” (Smexy Books)
Find Frost Burned on Amazon (affiliate link)
Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8)
Adam’s ex-wife calls with a problem: She’s acquired a stalker, she’s scared, and she wants to come “home.”
In Mercy’s world, nothing is ever simple. The stalker isn’t human, and is far more dangerous than anyone knows. Just to keep things interesting, the fae have decided they would like Mercy’s walking stick back, and have added an ominous “or else” to their request. But Mercy gave the walking stick to Coyote—and she has no idea how to contact him.
“I’ve had a lot of requests for supernatural beings outside of the mythology of Europe and Asia,” Briggs says. “The one I picked for Night Broken is, at the very least, not one of the more commonly found creatures and I had a lot of fun doing research for him—not something I usually have to do a lot of when dealing with more Celtic/European or Native American supernatural creatures. I also read a lot of history of an area of the world I haven’t explored much. So I was a happy camper when I set out to write this—and the book just got more and more fun as I wrote.”
REVIEW: “The pace is swift, the incidents suitably full of action, and the tension mounts appropriately to a bloody and desperate conclusion. All in all, a perfectly cromulent novel, and one that should more than satisfy fans of the series.” (Tor Book Reviews)
Find Night Broken on Amazon (affiliate link)
Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9)
A troll attacks a bridge, bringing Mercy and the pack to the defense of the Humans.
After the battle, an enigmatic fae boy is found begging for asylum. The Fae want him back, badly, but Mercy offers the boy sanctuary, placing the whole town under pack protection. Rash moves have consequences, and Adam and the pack are soon cut off from outside help, while the situation in the Tri-Cities heats up. Soon, they’re engaged in a rescue mission to Underhill herself while things outside escalate toward the flash point.
Briggs notes how in Fire Touched, Mercy’s world was changing. She points how it was partly because of happenstance, partly because of Mercy’s friendship with the fae who was once the Dark Smith of Dronheim. “But mostly it is because any author who wants to write interesting stories needs to be willing to torture their characters.”
REVIEW: “Action-packed and with more than a few satisfying emotional payoffs, FIRE TOUCHED is Patricia Briggs at the top of her game.” (Speculative Herald)
Find Fire Touched on Amazon (affiliate link)
Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires.
Briggs says she started out Silence Fallen with a list of unresolved details from previous books in the series… which turned into a whole thing. “It is no secret that I’m a pantser rather than a plotter. But I do plan a bit. I usually know where I want the story to go, I usually have a sense of how I’m going to get there—and I have a very good idea of what the next four or five scenes are going to be. But when a story takes off on me? I run with it—and I’m so glad I did.”
REVIEW: “Briggs delivers her usual action and danger in the 10th Mercy Thompson urban fantasy, and adds a surprising playfulness.” (Publishers Weekly)
Find Silence Fallen on Amazon (affiliate link)
Mercy and her pack have taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens in their territory but the reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death. But they are pack, and they have given their word. They will die to keep it.
“This book is about the Black Witches,” Briggs shared at a panel at Emerald City Comic-Con. “And the Black Witches in my world are very creepy, scary things. I had a really good time writing this book. It’s pretty creepy.”
She also shared that writing a series—as opposed to standalone novels—offers more room to develop some characters more fully. “I have side characters that people love better than my main characters. And I have characters that I love that I would never have been able to do in a regular-sized novel.”
REVIEW: “Some very dark magics come into play and the tone gets quite dark by the end, but lots of banter and some interesting character developments keep things from getting too grim and should please series fans in particular.” (Locus Magazine)
Find Storm Cursed on Amazon (affiliate link)
Something has escaped from Underhill and it’s on a killing spree in Columbia Basin pack territory. The problem is that it can look like anyone and once it bites you it controls you. Mercy will do anything to stop it and she has the pack at her back but will it be enough?
In a conversation with author Charlaine Harris, Briggs talked about how part of writing stories is shared mysteries. “You leave people with questions. You understand that there’s some things going on underneath that whatever narrator is telling the story at the time doesn’t know.”
REVIEW: “Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer...I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!” (Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series)
Find Smoke Bitten on Amazon (affiliate link)
The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of “fun” is stalking Mercy, some may see it as no great loss. But when he disappears, the Tri-Cities pack is blamed. The mistress of the vampire seethe informs Mercy that the pack must produce Wulfe to prove their innocence, or the loose alliance between the local vampires and werewolves is over.
So Mercy goes out to find her stalker—and discovers more than just Wulfe have disappeared. Who is taking them? As Mercy investigates, she learns of the legend of the Harvester, who travels by less-trodden paths and reaps the souls that are ripe with a great black scythe....
“I have to keep reintroducing the characters for the new readers,” Briggs told J.D. Blackrose at DragonCon 2022. “Or people who haven’t read the last book in the series for a year or two—while not alienating the loyal readers by boring them. It’s a challenge.”
REVIEW: “Soul Taken, while quieter than some of its predecessors, was just as fun, action-packed, and slow burn sexy as the rest.” (Books for the Beach)
Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson #14) 2024
Mercy Thompson must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions...
“In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.
“My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.
“But I’m not alone anymore.
“Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world....”
More Patricia Briggs Online
Charlaine Harris Interviews Patricia Briggs
Charlaine Harris Interviews Patricia Briggs
As part of a video series, Charlaine Harris talked with Patricia Briggs about her Mercy Thompson book Smoke Bitten. The authors also shared their pets, and joined in for a panel discussion about Worldbuilding—with an emphasis on Urban Fantasy. Return to the Mercy Thompson series page.
What Is “Urban Fantasy”?
Sometimes, it can be a bit tricky to parse whether or not something is a work of “urban fantasy” and/or a related category like horror, paranormal romance, or magical realism. In a nutshell, urban fantasy is a sub-category of fantasy which infuses monsters or the supernatural into a contemporary or everyday setting. So—vampires, werewolves, magical beings, and the like. In these stories, the fantastical elements might operate in secret or they might operate out in the open and are known to the public.
In a way, you can track the origins of the urban fantasy category back for several decades. Depending on whom you ask, milestones include Manly Wade Wellman’s occult detective stories in the 1940s, the Chicago-set TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker in the 1970s, the supernatural comedy films Ghostbusters and Teen Wolf in the 1980s, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film and TV) and the X-Files in the 1990s.
What Authors Write Urban Fantasy?
The category of urban fantasy has exploded in the past couple of decades, so there are quite a few authors who write it. Below, you’ll find a list featuring wide assortment of some of the best authors, including Patricia Briggs, Nalini Singh, Jim Butcher, Jessica Cage, Dana Fredsti, Kiran Manral, Faith Hunter, Nalo Hopkinson, Ben Aaronovitch, Zoraida Cordova, Kelley Armstrong, Rebecca Roanhorse, Neil Gaiman, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Maurice Broaddus, Kim Harrison, and many more.
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