Karen Rose Books in Order - Series Guide

Karen Rose is an American romantic suspense author best known for her Romantic Suspense universe, with connected crime-and-romance novels set across U.S. cities including Chicago, Raleigh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Sacramento, New Orleans, and San Diego. She is a New York Times and #1 international bestselling author whose books have also appeared on the Sunday Times, Irish Times, Der Spiegel, South African, and Australian bestseller lists ever since her debut novel, Don’t Tell, was published in 2003.

What makes Karen Rose’s booklist useful to read in order is the way the books are set in one shared world. Each subseries has its own location, its own main case and romantic couple, but investigators, survivors, relatives, partners, and friends appear in other series as well.

This page lists all Karen Rose books in order, including the full Romantic Suspense series, location-based subseries, novellas, short stories, anthologies, and standalone books.

Reading order last verified: July 2026

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Latest Karen Rose Books

**The One Who Walked Away**, August 2026

More upcoming releases:

Fatal Twist (March 2027)

Where to Start with Karen Rose

→ New to Karen Rose? Start with Don’t Tell (Chicago #1). It is the first book in the connected universe and the easiest way to start if you want to meet characters who return later.
→ Want a smaller arc first? Try Die for Me (Philadelphia/Atlanta #1). That trilogy has one of the clearest internal arcs and is best read in order.
→ Prefer a newer entry point? Start with Say You’re Sorry (Sacramento #1), Quarter to Midnight (New Orleans #1), or Cold Blooded Liar (San Diego Case Files #1). Each begins a newer city arc, though returning characters may appear.
→ The city arcs can be read separately, but publication order gives the fullest picture because the world keeps expanding in the background.

How the Series Connect

Karen Rose writes one connected romantic suspense universe. Each city arc has its own main characters, investigation, and central romance, but earlier characters often cross into later books, sometimes as background support and sometimes become more important as the series go on.

Most city arcs are independent enough to start without having read a previous one. The exception is within each arc: the Philadelphia/Atlanta trilogy (Die for Me, Scream for Me, Kill for Me) and the Sacramento trilogy (Say You’re Sorry, Say No More, Say Goodbye) each have an ongoing story thread across all three books, so those are best read in sequence within the same subseries, even if you haven’t read the previous city arcs.

Romantic Suspense Series (Books in Order)

The Romantic Suspense series takes place in a shared universe, with recurring characters and storylines connecting more than 30 novels and short stories set in multiple cities. Although each city-based subseries has its own story arc, the best reading order follows the overall chronology rather than grouping the books by setting.

Reading Order

Reading notes:

Dirty Secrets (#4.5) is a standalone novella set in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is not part of any location-based subseries but fits chronologically here in the overall reading order.

Chicago Series (Books in Order)

The Chicago series is the beginning of Karen Rose’s Romantic Suspense universe. The books follow detectives, lawyers, and survivors in Chicago’s underworld. Each book has its own pair of investigators with a central romance theme. The characters have to leave their risky pasts behind if they want to survive. It’s best to start with “Don’t Tell” since it introduces key characters who appear throughout the series.

Raleigh Series (Books in Order)

The Raleigh book follows State Bureau of Investigation agent Steven Thatcher in North Carolina as he works a serial-murder case involving abducted teenage girls. Technically, it is a standalone novel set in a separate location, but it is part of Karen Rose’s larger Romantic Suspense universe.

Have You Seen Her?, 2004

Philadelphia / Atlanta Series (Books in Order)

The Philadelphia/Atlanta series follows Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent Daniel Vartanian and Philadelphia homicide detective Vito Ciccotelli as they work separate but connected cases that involve elaborate, ritualized murders. The first book is set in Philadelphia, while the following two move to Atlanta as Vartanian’s storyline becomes more prominent here. The three-book arc is best read in order, as Daniel Vartanian’s storyline continues in all three novels. A later short story, The White Picket Fence, revisits the Ciccotelli family through Vito’s brother Tino.

Minneapolis Series (Books in Order)

The Minneapolis series follows investigators dealing with crimes where technology, online identities, surveillance, and digital evidence are important in the case. The two books still have the author’s usual mix of crime investigation and romance, but this small arc is more focused on high-tech threats than the earlier Chicago and Philadelphia/Atlanta books. Each case stands on its own, though reading in order gives better background for the recurring characters.

I Can See You, 2009
Silent Scream, 2010

Baltimore Series (Books in Order)

The Baltimore series follows cops, defense attorneys, and investigators pursuing ruthless criminals in Baltimore with cases that often involve organized crime, trafficking, and long-buried secrets,while at the same time dealing with their own personal struggles. It has some of the strongest character connection in Karen Rose’s Romantic Suspense universe, as characters from Chicago and Philadelphia/Atlanta appear here, and meaningful relationships and emotional struggles develop across multiple books.

Cincinnati Series (Books in Order)

The Cincinnati series follows FBI and law enforcement working out of the Cincinnati office, with cases that are more about serial killers, trafficking networks, and crimes with ties to the characters’ own pasts.

Sacramento Series (Books in Order)

The Sacramento trilogy follows FBI Special Agent Gideon Reynolds, who was raised in a violent Northern California cult called Eden, as he works together with his sister Mercy and a team of police officers to take down the cult while tracking its survivors. The series has one main villain and the investigations in each book focuses on finding and taking him down. Characters from Cincinnati and Baltimore appear in this series, but it can be read without reading previous series.

New Orleans Series (Books in Order)

The New Orleans series follows former Marine Molly Sutton and her team at a private investigative firm run by ex-NOPD officer Burke Broussard. The focus here is more on private investigators who take on cases for people who couldn’t get justice with the help of the police. The characters in this series show a closer connection to each other, which feels like a real family compared to some of the earlier series. Each book can be read on it own, but with the character relationship building so strongly across the series, it’s best to read the books in publication order.

San Diego Case Files Series (Books in Order)

The San Diego Case Files series follows homicide detective Kit McKittrick and court-appointed psychologist Sam Reeves. The first book, Cold Blooded Liar, brings them together after one of Sam’s clients, a compulsive liar, claims to know details about an unsolved serial murder involving a serial killer that he says he knows. The series reads more like a detective story than some of Karen Rose’s earlier series, and the Kit/Sam relationship develops slowly across the books, whereas in other series each book has a separate new romantic pairing.

Standalone Novels

The One Who Walked Away, 2026

Short Story Anthologies

Hot Pursuit, 2004 (with Annie Solomon, and Carla Cassidy)

Karen Rose Biography

Karen Rose is an American romantic suspense author who wrote more than 30 novels, novellas, and short stories published since 2003 in the connected Romantic Suspense universe, the San Diego Case Files, the New Orleans books, and several location-based subseries set across the United State. She is a two-time RITA Award winner and an international #1 bestseller, with books translated into more than 20 languages.
Official website: karenrosebooks.com

She was born Karen Rose Hafer in 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in a small town near Washington D.C. At 17, she met her future husband, Martin, on a blind date. They both went to study at the University of Maryland, where Karen earned a degree in chemical engineering. After graduating they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she worked as an engineer. During this time, she filed two patents both related to improving the palatability of the fiber supplement Metamucil. She also taught high school chemistry and physics. While that science background is not part of her stories, it did influence her books with her careful plotting and procedural detail that is a major part of all her books.

Karen Rose started writing in her late twenties, while working as an engineer, initially just to quiet the scenes that kept interrupting her concentration at work so she could focus on her job. Her debut novel, Don’t Tell, was published in July 2003, and introduced the Chicago part of what became her larger Romantic Suspense universe. The books soon grew to reach other locations like Raleigh, Philadelphia/Atlanta, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Sacramento, New Orleans, and San Diego, with characters appearing in multiple storylines as the universe grew.

Her third novel, I’m Watching You (2004), won the RITA Award for Best Romantic Suspense in 2005, which is the Romance Writers of America’s top prize in the category. She won a second RITA in 2011 for Silent Scream. Other titles have been RITA finalists, and her books have appeared on major bestseller lists in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, and Australia.. The RT Reviewers’ Choice Award recognized Die for Me for Best Romantic Suspense in 2007 and Kill for Me for Best Contemporary Mystery in 2009, and Penguin Random House describes her as a #1 international bestselling author whose books have been translated into 23 languages.

In 2025, Columbia University reported that television writer Blair Singer is writing a one-hour murder mystery show for Fox based on Karen Rose’s book, Cold Blooded Liar.

Karen Rose currently lives in Florida with her family and continues to write, including newer books in the San Diego Case Files and standalone romantic suspense novels..

Karen Rose Awards and Honors

Awards

I’m Watching You – RITA Award for Best Romantic Suspense (2005)
Die for Me – RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense (2007)
Kill for Me – RT Reviewers Choice Award for Contemporary Mystery (2009)
Silent Scream – RITA Award for Best Romantic Suspense (2011)

Nominations and Shortlists

Scream for Me – RITA Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2008)
Kill for Me – RITA Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2009)
Die for Me – RITA Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2007)
You Belong to Me – Suspense Magazine Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2011)
Say You’re Sorry – Suspense Magazine Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2019)
Say Goodbye – Suspense Magazine Award, Best Romantic Suspense (2021)

Edited by

Marika

Founder of Mystery Sequels, a reference site focused on listing mystery and thriller books in the correct reading order. I maintain and update the site’s bibliographies as new titles are released, ensuring accuracy and consistency across author and series pages.

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59 Comments

Henri says:

December 7, 2024 at

Ik luister graag naar de boeken van Karen Rose bevallen mij uitstekend.
Hoop dat zij blijft doorgaan.
Dorothy Davis says:

July 2, 2024 at

Thought I had read them all and just realized a couple more have been published. Love them all and have re-read them all. Thank you Karen Rose for many enjoyable reads
Maria Beckmann says:

December 25, 2022 at

Only recently started ready her books.Love it
Margaret Leondiou says:

November 26, 2022 at

Have read all the books. Mainly in series order,but have them in numerical order.
Love all the characters and other than Mia (count to 10), have sort of got them in order in my mind.
Hoping there are more to come with these characters.
1. Donna Thompson says:
  
  July 6, 2024 at
  
  Just introduced to Karen Rose books……I hope I can continue to find them …she kept me involved from beginning to end!

Comments are closed.