The best books set in Santa Fe begin with Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), the luminous novel of the territorial city, and run through Ruth Laughlin's The Wind Leaves No Shadow, Paul Horgan's The Centuries of Santa Fe, and Michael McGarrity's modern Kerney mysteries. Few American cities of Santa Fe's size have inspired so much serious writing — a consequence of four hundred years of layered history and a twentieth-century art colony that turned the place into a magnet for writers. This is a focused reading list for that city; for the whole state, see Best Books Set in New Mexico.
Published June 2026 · Curated by Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project
Clearing a Santa Fe bookshelf? My covered 24/7 drop box is in Albuquerque on Edith Blvd NE, open any hour, so books can come down with you on your next trip. Inside the Albuquerque metro I do free pickup, scheduled by route; outside it, the box or mail-in works.
Death Comes for the Archbishop — Willa Cather
The essential Santa Fe novel. Cather follows Bishop Jean Latour — modeled on the real Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy — as he builds a diocese across the newly American territory, culminating in the cathedral that still anchors the plaza. The desert light, the old parishes, and the city's Spanish-colonial bones have never been rendered more beautifully.
The Wind Leaves No Shadow — Ruth Laughlin
The novel of Doña Gertrudis Barceló — "La Tules," the gambler and saloon-keeper who ran the monte tables of 1840s Santa Fe on the eve of the American conquest. A vivid recreation of the Mexican-period capital and one of the first novels to center a New Mexican woman.
The Centuries of Santa Fe — Paul Horgan
A narrative history of the city told through representative lives across its four centuries, by the two-time Pulitzer winner who also wrote the Rio Grande epic Great River. The best single book for understanding how Santa Fe became Santa Fe.
Lamy of Santa Fe · Paul Horgan
The life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the French-born churchman who became Santa Fe's first archbishop and the model for Cather's Bishop Latour, from his missionary journeys to the building of the stone cathedral that still stands a block east of the Plaza. It won Horgan his second Pulitzer Prize for History in 1976. Read it after Cather to set the novel beside the documented life.
Blood and Thunder — Hampton Sides
Sides, a Santa Fe-based narrative historian, tells the story of Kit Carson and the American conquest of the Southwest, much of it turning on Santa Fe as the territorial seat. Propulsive popular history that puts the city in its continental context. For more of the state's past, see the best books about New Mexico history.
The Kevin Kerney novels — Michael McGarrity
Beginning with Tularosa (1996), McGarrity, a former Santa Fe County deputy sheriff, follows lawman Kevin Kerney through contemporary Santa Fe and the wider state. The procedural backbone is wrapped around a real, lived-in northern New Mexico, and it is the best modern crime fiction rooted in the city. More series in my guide to New Mexico mystery novels.
Santa Fe Rules · Stuart Woods
A Hollywood producer reads his own obituary after a triple murder in Santa Fe, and the district attorney decides he is the killer. Woods's fast thriller, with criminal lawyer Ed Eagle defending him, is pure entertainment and a popular page-turner set in the modern city.
My Penitente Land — Fray Angélico Chávez
The Franciscan priest, poet, and foremost historian of Hispano New Mexico reflects on the land and faith of his people. For readers who want the city's deep Hispano-Catholic roots from an insider's pen, Fray Angélico is the indispensable Santa Fe voice.
Where to find them in Santa Fe
Santa Fe remains a great book town. Collected Works Bookstore downtown is the city's literary anchor and reading venue, and the city's used and antiquarian shops keep the older titles above in steady circulation. For the wider literary geography, the New Mexico Literary Atlas maps the writers and bookshops of Santa Fe and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best novel set in Santa Fe?
Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), set in the territorial city, is widely considered the greatest novel set in Santa Fe.
Are there mystery novels set in Santa Fe?
Yes. Michael McGarrity's Kevin Kerney novels, which began with Tularosa in 1996, are the best-known crime series rooted in Santa Fe, written by a former Santa Fe County deputy sheriff. Stuart Woods's Santa Fe Rules (1992) is a faster, lighter thriller set in the city.
What should I read before visiting Santa Fe?
Death Comes for the Archbishop for the city's soul, The Wind Leaves No Shadow for the 1840s, and The Centuries of Santa Fe for the history.
Is Death Comes for the Archbishop based on a real person?
Yes. Cather modeled Bishop Jean Marie Latour on Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the French-born churchman who became Santa Fe's first archbishop and oversaw the building of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Paul Horgan's Lamy of Santa Fe (1975), winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for History, tells the real story.
Cite This Guide
Eldred, J. (June 2026). Best Books Set in Santa Fe. New Mexico Literacy Project.
https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/best-books-set-in-santa-fe
Original curation by Josh Eldred. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.