Julia Golding Books in Order (Updated March 5, 2026)

Julia Golding writes across historical adventure, myth-and-magic fantasy, and Regency-era mysteries. Some of her work is standalone, but several of her best-known books sit in tight, spoiler-sensitive series, where reading out of order blunts reveals and character turns.

This guide is organized by continuity islands. Pick the island you want, then read straight through it.

---

The “pick one and go” starter guide

If you don’t want a giant list first, choose a starting point by vibe:

• Georgian theatre adventure (historical, fast, serial): start The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal #1).
• Modern girl + mythical creatures (fantasy, structured quest): start Secret of the Sirens (Companions Quartet #1).
• Darker, older-skewing fantasy (trilogy arc): start Dragonfly (Dragonfly Trilogy #1).
• Regency mystery-adventure (newer, adult-leaning): start The Persephone Code (Regency Secrets #1).

---

Cat Royal Adventures (historical series) – read in order

1. The Diamond of Drury Lane (2006): Orphan actress Cat Royal is pulled into a theatre-centered mystery, establishing her found family and the danger that follows her into every new city.
2. Cat Among the Pigeons (2006): A threat from Pedro’s past turns London into a trap, and Cat learns how quickly loyalty becomes a life-or-death choice.
3. Den of Thieves (2007): Cat goes undercover in Paris and is dragged into criminal politics, widening the series from stage intrigues to international stakes.
4. Cat O’Nine Tails (2007): A forced voyage detonates Cat’s plans, pushing the cast into survival mode far from any home rules.
5. Black Heart of Jamaica (2008): Cat and friends confront the brutality beneath “adventure,” with the story leaning hard into moral urgency and consequences.
6. The Middle Passage (2010, novella): A short interlude that still matters emotionally, placing Cat in a smaller mystery that bridges travel, trust, and shifting loyalties.
7. Cat’s Cradle (2011): Cat returns to London with new scars and new questions, chasing family truth that reframes what “belonging” has meant all along.

Safest order: the numbered list above (it’s both publication-forward and spoiler-safe).

---

Companions Quartet (mythical-creature fantasy) – read in order

1. Secret of the Sirens (2006): Connie discovers a hidden society protecting mythical creatures, and her bond with a companion creature becomes the key to everything.
2. The Gorgon’s Gaze (2006): The world expands and the rules sharpen, forcing Connie to choose between safety and the responsibility she didn’t ask for.
3. Mines of the Minotaur (2007): The quest structure tightens as dangers get more physical, and the series starts demanding real sacrifice for each “win.”
4. The Chimera’s Curse (2007): The payoff book that leans into consequence, bringing earlier creature lore and human politics into a final collision.

---

Dragonfly Trilogy (fantasy) – read in order

1. Dragonfly (2008): A girl with a dangerous gift is hunted and used, and the story sets up a long arc about power, survival, and identity.
2. The Glass Swallow (2010): Alliances shift and costs rise, moving from escape story to a more strategic fight for control of the future.
3. Ragged Wolf (2019): The trilogy closes with a harsher edge, where earlier wounds and bargains finally demand repayment.

---

Darcie Lock (modern thriller/mystery) – read in order

1. Ringmaster (2007): A high-risk, tightly controlled world fractures, and Darcie is pushed into an investigation where performance and danger blur.
2. Empty Quarter (2008): The pressure escalates as the case expands, turning a personal danger into something with wider reach.
3. Deadlock (2011): The trilogy’s closing squeeze, where previous choices narrow the options and the final outcome becomes unavoidable.

---

Young Knights (fantasy trilogy) – read in order

1. Young Knights of the Round Table (2013): A modern reworking of Arthurian energy, where “knightly” ideals clash with messy, present-day consequences.
2. Pendragon (2013): The stakes widen beyond the immediate friend-group conflicts, forcing leadership and loyalty decisions under real threat.
3. Merlin (2014): The endgame volume that brings mythic forces to the front, paying off the trilogy’s biggest promises.

---

Mel Foster (middle-grade adventure) – read in order

1. Mel Foster and the Demon Butler (2015): A classic “ordinary kid meets impossible household” setup, with humor masking a genuine mystery engine.
2. Mel Foster and the Time Machine (2016): The premise turns more ambitious, using time-travel chaos to test friendships and responsibility.

---

Jane Austen Investigates (historical mystery series) – read in order

1. The Abbey Mystery (2021): A younger Jane Austen is placed in a mystery that treats observation and social insight as investigative tools.
2. The Burglar’s Ball (2021): A sharper, more public case where reputation becomes evidence and the wrong whisper can ruin the wrong person.
3. The Convict’s Canal (2022): The series goes grittier, tying crime to social systems and making Jane’s curiosity feel riskier than before.

---

Regency Secrets (Regency mystery-adventure) – read in order

1. The Persephone Code (2024): A case with literary-and-society undercurrents kicks off the series’ investigative duo and its core tone: elegance with teeth.
2. The Elgin Conspiracy (2024): The hunt broadens into politics and power, where the “why” matters as much as the “who.”
3. The Wordsworth Key (2025): Manuscripts, motives, and misdirection stack up, and the series starts rewarding close attention to patterns.
4. The Austen Intrigue (2025): A higher-profile mystery where scandal and violence intersect, leaning into the series’ biggest social stakes so far.

---

Standalones and one-offs (read anytime)

These don’t require series context:

• The Ship Between the Worlds (2007): A standalone that uses a liminal, in-between setting to force characters into choices they can’t undo.
• Wolf Cry (2009) (also published as The Silver Sea): A survival-leaning story where landscape and danger shape the emotional reality as much as any antagonist.
• The Curious Crime (2018): A lighter mystery setup that plays with “what looks harmless isn’t,” built around the pleasures of noticing details.
• The Tigers in the Tower (2020): A historical-tinged standalone with a contained setting, where secrets compound until they become physical danger.
• Queen’s Wardrobe: The Story of Queen Elizabeth II and Her Clothes (2021, nonfiction): A focused nonfiction work using clothing as a lens for public image, continuity, and change over time.

---

Educational / shorter-format series (optional, separate from the novels)

If you’re here for story-first fiction, you can skip these without missing continuity.

Curious Science Quest – read in order if you’re collecting them

• Cave Discovery (2018): A science-forward adventure framed as a quest, designed to keep facts moving through narrative.
• Greek Adventure (2018): Myth-and-history-adjacent problem-solving that keeps the pace brisk while teaching concepts.
• Rocky Road to Galileo (2018): Science history presented as a sequence of discoveries with story momentum.
• Hunt with Newton (2018): A “clue trail” through ideas, using curiosity as the engine rather than danger.
• Modern Flights (2019): Innovation-focused exploration that keeps the learning concrete and situational.
• Victorian Voyages (2019): A travel-and-invention angle where the period setting supports the science theme.

Rapid Plus (short readers) – order doesn’t matter much

• Second Chance (2012): A short, levelled reader built for quick comprehension and clean plot beats.
• The Choice (2012): Another compact reader where the central decision is the plot’s main fuel.

Beowulf (short retellings) – can be read in either order

• Beowulf and the Beast (2012): A punchy, accessible take on the legend that prioritizes momentum.
• Beowulf Meets His Match (2012): A continuation-style follow-up that keeps the tone brisk and reader-friendly.

---

A calm “do-this-next” recommendation

If you want one clean plan without jumping genres:

1. Cat Royal (start at book 1 and read through the novella and finale)
2. Companions Quartet
3. Dragonfly Trilogy
4. Regency Secrets (newest ongoing-feeling strand)

That path moves from the most serial, character-led adventure into the newer mystery line without whiplash.