Loreth Anne White’s catalog is easiest to enjoy when you treat it as several separate “lanes”: modern psychological thrillers (standalones), two small crime series, and earlier romantic-suspense series.
Most books are written to work on their own, but the series entries land best in order because relationship and career fallout carries forward.
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Start here if you don’t want to think about it
Best “first book” for most readers:
The Maid’s Diary (2023): A live-in maid becomes the hinge point in a wealthy household’s collapse, where the tension comes from how easily “help” can vanish, and what they might know.
If you want a procedural edge with a continuing lead:
The Drowned Girls (2017): A disgraced ex-cop turned PI takes a case that won’t stay buried, launching Angie Pallorino’s arc and her most important relationship thread.
If you want locked-room survival suspense:
In the Dark (2019): A group of strangers trapped by a blizzard realizes the real threat is inside the house, turning isolation into a pressure-cooker of secrets.
Continuity map (so you don’t mix the wrong books)
Read in order (recommended):
- Angie Pallorino (3 books)
- Dark Lure (2 books)
Can read in any order (standalones):
- Most of the modern psychological suspense titles (listed below)
- Several earlier romantic-suspense novels and series (listed below)
Optional extras:
- Short-story/anthology contributions (clearly labeled)
Modern psychological thrillers & suspense (standalones)
These are separate stories. Choose by premise.
The Unquiet Bones (2024): A remote setting and an old tragedy collide with a new investigation, where landscape, memory, and motive all feel equally dangerous.
The Maid’s Diary (2023): A missing maid and a “perfect” family home become a puzzle of competing truths, where the most believable version of events is also the most manipulative.
The Patient’s Secret (2022): A respected therapist’s life unravels when a patient’s confession doesn’t stay contained, forcing a choice between self-protection and telling the truth.
Beneath Devil’s Bridge (2021): A past case drags a present investigation into colder, deeper waters, pushing the story toward procedural pressure and personal consequence.
In the Deep (2020): A wilderness retreat turns into a test of who’s lying and who’s trapped, where the environment helps the wrong person keep control.
In the Dark (2019): A snowbound house turns into a closed-room threat, escalating from suspicion to survival as the guests realize “help” isn’t coming.
The Swimmer (Coming soon): A new suspense setup centered on a seemingly ordinary figure with the wrong kind of access, positioned as a next-step modern thriller entry. (Listed as “coming soon” in the author’s official ordering list.)
Angie Pallorino series (read in order)
This is the cleanest “series experience” in White’s thriller catalog: recurring leads, relationship continuity, and consequences that stack.
The Drowned Girls (2017): A vanished-girls case forces PI Angie Pallorino to confront the kinds of predators that thrive on silence, setting the series’ moral line and its core partnership.
The Lullaby Girl (2017): A new investigation exposes how easily past violence repeats under a new mask, widening Angie’s risks while deepening the series’ emotional carryover.
The Girl in the Moss (2018): A shallow grave turns into the series’ sharpest reckoning with history, pushing Angie toward hard closure rather than clean resolution.
Dark Lure series (read in order)
A tighter, darker two-book run with a strong “place as threat” atmosphere.
A Dark Lure (2015): An isolated community and a drawn-out danger pull the protagonist into escalating dread, establishing the series’ moody, traplike sense of setting.
The Dark Bones (2019): A new threat forces old truths into daylight, raising the stakes from personal jeopardy to consequences that reach beyond one victim.
Snowy Creek books (connected setting; best in order)
Often grouped together for shared tone and place.
The Slow Burn of Silence (2013) (also published as Pieces of You): A woman’s disappearance becomes a long-tail mystery of grief and suspicion, where the community’s “certainty” hides what matters.
In the Waning Light (2015): A new crisis re-ignites old tensions, turning the setting into a web of loyalties where truth costs more than people admit.
Additional thriller/suspense standalones (read anytime)
These are commonly listed separately from the Montlake-era standalones above but still sit in White’s suspense lane.
In the Barren Ground (2016): A harsh landscape amplifies a hunt for answers, where survival pressure turns small choices into irreversible outcomes.
Earlier romantic suspense series (separate continuity)
If you came to White through thrillers, these are a different “mode”: more romance-forward, often with action/adventure structures. Order is usually helpful but not always mandatory.
Shadow Soldiers (read in order)
The Heart of a Mercenary (2006): A dangerous assignment pairs mistrust with attraction, setting the series’ mix of action risk and personal leverage.
A Sultan’s Ransom (2006): A rescue-and-negotiation plot turns intimate fast, where power dynamics become part of the danger.
Rules of Re-Engagement (2006): A second-chance setup collides with a new threat, forcing the leads to work together before they’re ready.
Seducing the Mercenary (2007): A mission-driven romance tightens into a survival test, escalating the “who can you trust?” pressure.
The Heart of a Renegade (2008): The series pushes toward its biggest emotional and operational payoff, where loyalty finally becomes a choice rather than a reflex.
Wild Country (read in order)
Manhunter (2008): A pursuit story where the hunter’s certainty becomes the first thing to crack, launching the duet’s wilderness intensity.
Cold Case Affair (2009): A reopened case turns personal, where the past isn’t just motive, it’s a weapon.
Sahara Kings (read in order)
The Sheik’s Command (2010): Authority, danger, and attraction collide under high external pressure.
Sheik’s Revenge (2012): A retaliation-driven setup tightens the emotional stakes while raising the physical risk.
Surgeon Sheik’s Rescue (2012): A medical-rescue framework turns into a test of competence and trust under threat.
Guarding the Princess (2012): Protection duty becomes an escalating target scenario, pushing the series toward higher-stakes confrontation.
Early romantic suspense novels (standalones)
Melting the Ice (2003): A romance-forward suspense setup where proximity and danger rise together.
Safe Passage (2004): A protective journey becomes the plot engine, where the route is as threatening as the people chasing them.
The Sheikh Who Loved Me (2005): Glamour and danger intersect, with romance as both vulnerability and leverage.
Short fiction and anthology work (Optional)
The Ghost Writer (2024): A standalone short thriller built around a ghostwriting assignment and a celebrated author’s secrets, designed as an extra rather than required continuity reading.
Latest release status and what’s next
Most recently listed new novel: The Unquiet Bones (2024).
Next titles widely listed:
- The Black Orchid (2026): A luxury voyage setting turns lethal, positioned as a major new thriller release.
- The Swimmer (Coming soon): Announced as forthcoming, but the publication timing varies by listing; treat the date as unconfirmed until it appears on final publisher metadata.
A low-friction recommended path
If you want a clean, representative tour without overcommitting:
- The Maid’s Diary (2023): A modern domestic-suspense entry with sharp pace and clear standalone payoff.
- In the Dark (2019): A closed-room survival suspense pick to sample a different tension style.
- The Drowned Girls (2017): Start the Angie Pallorino series if you want ongoing character continuity.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.