The Walker Papers
#4614.01 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 9 books Status Complete 2005–2014 Reading commitment High C. E. Murphy Last reviewed 2026-10-30
Overview
C. E. Murphy's The Walker Papers is a series of nine urban fantasy novels published by Luna Books from 2005 to 2014, beginning with Urban Shaman and ending with Shaman Rises. The protagonist is Joanne Walker, a Seattle police officer and mechanic of mixed Irish and Native American heritage, who discovers she is a shaman. In the first book she has three days to learn her powers and stop the Wild Hunt. Her spirit guide Coyote and her boss Captain Mike Morrison recur through the books, and the story moves from Seattle to Ireland and a Cherokee reservation. Shorter pieces published between the novels are not counted here. The ninth novel is the final book of the series.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (9 works) counts toward ranking
The Walker Papers C. E. Murphy
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Urban Shaman | 2005 | 1 | core | 3.75 (15,441 ratings) |
 | Thunderbird Falls | 2006 | 2 | core | 3.88 (7,201 ratings) |
 | Coyote Dreams | 2007 | 3 | core | 4.02 (7,086 ratings) |
 | Walking Dead | 2009 | 4 | core | 4.12 (6,036 ratings) |
 | Demon Hunts | 2010 | 5 | core | 4.16 (4,845 ratings) |
 | Spirit Dances | 2011 | 6 | core | 4.24 (5,524 ratings) |
 | Raven Calls | 2012 | 7 | core | 4.19 (4,294 ratings) |
 | Mountain Echoes | 2013 | 8 | core | 4.31 (3,535 ratings) |
 | Shaman Rises; Later reissued by MIRA (ISBN 9780778316916). | 2014 | 9 | core | 4.25 (2,370 ratings) |
Nine novels following Seattle police officer and shaman Joanne Walker, published by Luna from 2005 to 2014.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Walker Papers? The Walker Papers's Core Canon is 9 books.
- What is the reading order for The Walker Papers? Publication order, starting with Urban Shaman. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Walker Papers finished? Complete (2005–2014).
- How much reading does The Walker Papers take? High reading commitment (estimated from 9 Core Canon books).
- How is The Walker Papers ranked? #461 in this site's official ranking, based on 56,332 reader ratings across 9 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #461?
Ranked #461 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.01 across 9 core books.
- A smaller readership (56,332 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.75 to 4.31.
- 0.03 behind #460, The Initiate Brother.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 9 books · Complete · 56k ratings · Ranks #461 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (9 Core Canon books)
- Urban Shaman (2005)
- Thunderbird Falls (2006)
- Coyote Dreams (2007)
- Walking Dead (2009)
- Demon Hunts (2010)
- Spirit Dances (2011)
- Raven Calls (2012)
- Mountain Echoes (2013)
- Shaman Rises (2014)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.01 across 56,332 ratings on 9 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: Women of the Otherworld, Weather Warden, The Morganville Vampires, The Walker Papers, Jane Yellowrock, Mithgar, Opowieści z meekhańskiego pogranicza, Tarean and Woran-Saga accepted 2026-10-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: C. E. Murphy Tier 2
- Fantastic Fiction: C. E. Murphy Tier 2
- Romance Wiki, University of Birmingham Tier 2
- Rising Shadow Tier 2
- Publishers Weekly Tier 2
- ThriftBooks series listing Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-30
Rule: Core Canon = the nine Walker Papers novels from Urban Shaman (2005) to Shaman Rises (2014); novellas, short stories, anthology appearances and omnibus editions are excluded.