Order of Book Series
0

Mary Jane Clark Books in Order

Mary Jane Clark has written 18 books, published between 1998 and 2014. The first book is Do You Want to Know a Secret? (1998) and the newest is That Old Black Magic (2014). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
18
Published
1998–2014
Confirmed
18 of 18 titles
Pages on record
5,203 in 15 of 18 books
Reading time
87–130 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,203 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 18 titles with a page count on record.

See all 18 books in order Printable Mary Jane Clark checklist

Television news is the setting for most of Mary Jane Clark's suspense. The KEY News series, opening with Do You Want to Know a Secret? (1998), follows journalists and producers through murder cases; the Piper Donovan wedding cake mysteries came later. Eighteen books are catalogued, ending with That Old Black Magic in 2014, at 352 pages on median.

Piper Donovan, the lead of Mary Jane Clark's other mystery series, is an actress who becomes a wedding cake designer. A long career in broadcast journalism shapes Clark's settings and plots.

How many Mary Jane Clark books are there?

Mary Jane Clark has 18 books, released between 1998 and 2014. They include 2 separate series.

Mary Jane Clark Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 18 Mary Jane Clark books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Mary Jane Clark, book 1 of the KEY News series (1998)
  2. Cover of Do You Promise Not to Tell? by Mary Jane Clark, book 2 of the KEY News series (1999)
  3. Cover of Let Me Whisper in Your Ear by Mary Jane Clark, book 3 of the KEY News series (2000)
  4. Cover of Close to You by Mary Jane Clark, book 4 of the KEY News series (2001)
  5. Cover of Nobody Knows by Mary Jane Clark, book 5 of the KEY News series (2002)
  6. Cover of Nowhere to Run by Mary Jane Clark, book 6 of the KEY News series (2003)
  7. Cover of Hide Yourself Away by Mary Jane Clark, book 7 of the KEY News series (2004)
  8. Cover of Dancing in the Dark by Mary Jane Clark, book 8 of the KEY News series (2005)
  9. Cover of Lights Out Tonight by Mary Jane Clark, book 9 of the KEY News series (2006)
  10. Cover of When Day Breaks by Mary Jane Clark, book 10 of the KEY News series (2007)
  11. Cover of It Only Takes a Moment by Mary Jane Clark, book 11 of the KEY News series (2008)
  12. Cover of Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark, book 12 of the KEY News series (2009)
  13. Cover of To Have and to Kill by Mary Jane Clark, book 1 of the Piper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries series (2010)
  14. Cover of The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark, book 3 of the Piper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries series (2012)
  15. Cover of Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark, book 5 of the Piper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries series (2013)
  16. Cover of That Old Black Magic by Mary Jane Clark, book 6 of the Piper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries series (2014)
  1. 1
    Do You Want to Know a Secret?KEY News #11998 · 320 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1998320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Do You Promise Not to Tell?KEY News #21999 · 307 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1999307
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Let Me Whisper in Your EarKEY News #32000 · 335 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2000335
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Close to YouKEY News #42001 · 294 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2001294
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Nobody KnowsKEY News #52002 · confirmed 4/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Nowhere to RunKEY News #62003 · 355 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2003355
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Hide Yourself AwayKEY News #72004 · 352 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2004352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Dancing in the DarkKEY News #82005 · 358 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2005358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Lights Out TonightKEY News #92006 · 336 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2006336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    When Day BreaksKEY News #102007 · 369 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2007369
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    It Only Takes a MomentKEY News #112008 · 352 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2008352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Dying for MercyKEY News #122009 · 400 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2009400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    To Have and to KillPiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #12010 · 356 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2010356
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The BraceletPiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #22012 · confirmed 4/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Look of LovePiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #32012 · 340 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2012340
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The FriendPiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #42012 · confirmed 4/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Footprints in the SandPiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #52013 · 371 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2013371
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    That Old Black MagicPiper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries #62014 · 358 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2014358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Mary Jane Clark books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

KEY News in order

12 books
  1. 1. Do You Want to Know a Secret?
  2. 2. Do You Promise Not to Tell?
  3. 3. Let Me Whisper in Your Ear
  4. 4. Close to You
  5. 5. Nobody Knows
  6. 6. Nowhere to Run
  7. 7. Hide Yourself Away
  8. 8. Dancing in the Dark
  9. 9. Lights Out Tonight
  10. 10. When Day Breaks
  11. 11. It Only Takes a Moment
  12. 12. Dying for Mercy

Piper Donovan / Wedding Cake Mysteries in order

6 books
  1. 1. To Have and to Kill
  2. 2. The Bracelet
  3. 3. The Look of Love
  4. 4. The Friend
  5. 5. Footprints in the Sand
  6. 6. That Old Black Magic

Mary Jane Clark Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Mary Jane Clark books run from Do You Want to Know a Secret? (1998) to That Old Black Magic (2014), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Mary Jane Clark in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Mary Jane Clark books in order?

You only need to read Mary Jane Clark books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Mary Jane Clark

Start with Do You Want to Know a Secret? (1998), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Mary Jane Clark book?

That Old Black Magic (2014) is the newest Mary Jane Clark book released so far.

Is there a new Mary Jane Clark book coming?

No next Mary Jane Clark book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Mary Jane Clark at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Mary Jane Clark title on record dates from 2014, 12 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Mary Jane Clark books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
5,203 pages across the 15 of 18 books with a recorded length, a median of 352 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Mary Jane Clark books, 10 of 18, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
18 of the 18 titles appear in all four independent book listings.

What the Mary Jane Clark books are about

16 of the 18 Mary Jane Clark books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: women journalists is tagged on 8 of 16. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.