Michael McGarrity

In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office.[2] He worked on rehabilitating prison programs after the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot in 1980. McGarrity has taught at several colleges and universities as well as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.[3] As a social worker[2] he published a number of articles in professional journals on a wide range of topics, ranging from therapy programs for children, to program assessment and evaluation, and drug treatment interventions.

McGarrity's crime novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the protagonist. The settings are vividly evoked[4] and range from the Tularosa Basin and Lincoln County to Hermit's Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe. "Hard Country," "Backlands," and "The Last Ranch" form a sweeping trilogy tracing the Kerney family's history in New Mexico from 1875 through the end of the Vietnam War. A ground breaking prequel trilogy, all three books are set on the Tularosa Basin of south central New Mexico.

• Tularosa (1996) — White Sands Missile Range, Tularosa Basin[4]
• Mexican Hat (1997) — Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico[7][8]
• Serpent Gate (1998) — Mountainair[9][10][11] and Santa Fe
• Hermit's Peak (1999) — Hermit's Peak and Las Vegas, New Mexico[12]
• The Judas Judge (2000) — Central and southeastern New Mexico
• Under the Color of Law (2001) — Santa Fe[13][14] and western New Mexico
• The Big Gamble (2002) — Lincoln and Santa Fe counties[15][16]
• Everyone Dies (2003) — Santa Fe[17][18]
• Slow Kill (2004) — California and New Mexico[19][20]
• Nothing But Trouble (2005) — Bootheel, the extreme southwestern New Mexico[21][22][23]
• Death Song (2007) — Lincoln County and Santa Fe[24][25]
• Dead or Alive (2008) — Northeastern New Mexico
• Residue (2018) — Southwestern New Mexico
• Head Wounds (2020) - Las Cruces, New Mexico

• Hard Country (2012)
• Backlands (2014)
• The Last Ranch (2016)

• The Long Ago (2023)