Deception book series in reading order

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Joy Fielding

48 books• 1 series

Joy Fielding is a Canadian novelist and actress who writes psychological suspense. Her 48 catalogued books begin with The Transformation (1967) and reach Jenny Cooper Has a Secret (2025), with See Jane Run (1991) and Tell Me No Secrets (1993) among the earlier titles. Recurring subjects include mothers and daughters, deception, adultery and women sleuths. Fielding lives in Toronto and is actively publishing.

Harlan Coben

41 books• 8 series

Harlan Coben, born January 4, 1962, is an American writer whose honours include an Edgar Award, a Shamus Award and an Anthony Award. Coben's books have been translated into 46 languages and have sold more than 90 million copies. The 41 books catalogued here start with Play Dead (1990) and reach Plot Twist (2026). Subjects attached to them include thrillers, missing persons, sports agents and the fictional character Myron Bolitar. Coben's series include Mickey Bolitar, Wilde and Windsor Horne Lockwood III.

Across 194 catalogued books, Danielle Steel writes contemporary romance and family drama: love stories, marriages, widowhood and the turns that reshape a life. The run starts with Going Home (1973) and continues through Celebration, with 24 Hours scheduled for 2027. Steel's catalogue also holds children's picture books, short stories and non-fiction beside the standalone novels that make up most of it.

Kat Martin is a pen name of Kathleen Kelly Martin, born July 14, 1947, an American writer of romance novels who has also published as Kathy Lawrence and Kasey Marx. The catalogue holds 81 books from Magnificent Passage (1988) to The Unseen (2025), split between historical romance and romantic suspense, with private investigators among the recorded subjects. Series include the Raines of Wind Canyon, Maximum Security, the Brodies of Alaska, the Sinclair Sisters Trilogy and BOSS, Inc. Martin is married to the writer and photographer Larry Jay Martin.

Sabrina Jeffries

59 books• 14 series

Sabrina Jeffries, born in 1958, is an American romance novelist who also uses the pen names Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas. Entertainment Weekly has named Jeffries among the long-reigning leading voices in historical romance. The catalogue lists 59 books from 1992 to 2026: Creole Nights and Moonlight Enchantment (1992) carry the Deborah Martin name, and The Pirate Lord (1998) and The Forbidden Lord (1999) followed. Series include Hellions of Halstead Hall, School For Heiresses, Sinful Suitors, Duke's Men, Duke Dynasty, Swanlea Spinsters and Royal Brotherhood. Subjects name the Regency, aristocracy and England, and Nearly a Bride (2026) is the newest.

Lori Wilde is the current pen name of Laurie Blalock Vanzura, a Texas-born American writer of contemporary romance who first published as Laura Anthony. The catalogue counts 156 books from Look Alike Bride (1997), issued as Laura Anthony, to A Perfect Christmas Night (2025). Twilight, Texas, Cupid, Texas, Kringle, Texas, Texas Rascals and Moonglow Cove are among the series. Small towns, Christmas, cowboys and Texas recur in the subject tags.

Ranchers, frontier life and women pioneers recur in the subjects of Joan Johnston's books, which cover historical, western and contemporary romance. Johnston, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, is an American romance author. The catalogue lists 68 Johnston books between A Loving Defiance (1985) and Winter Magic (2020), and the run is marked as likely complete. Series include Hawk's Way, Bitter Creek, Benedict Brothers, Captive Hearts, Sisters of the Lone Star and Frontier Brides.

Ben Macintyre

17 books

Ben Macintyre writes narrative history and biography, much of it about spies and the two world wars. 17 catalogued titles run from Forgotten Fatherland (1992) through The Napoleon of Crime (1997), A Foreign Field (2001), The Englishman's Daughter (2001) and Agent Zigzag (2007). Prisoners of war, missing soldiers and wartime deception recur across the work, which reaches Redwood in 2026.

Brenda Joyce writes historical romance. The American author, born in New York State around 1963, has 50 catalogued books published between 1988 and 2014, from Innocent Fire (1988) to A Sword Upon The Rose (2014). Family sagas organise much of the work: the deWarenne Dynasty, the Bragg Saga, the Delanzas and the Saint Georges. Francesca Cahill heads a separate sequence, and other series include Masters Of Time, the Spymaster's Men and a Scottish medieval set. Joyce has also signed a novel as B.D. Joyce. No new title has appeared since 2014.

Iain M. Banks

32 books• 3 series

Iain M. Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013), born Iain Menzies Banks, was a Scottish author who published mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. The Wasp Factory (1984), the debut novel, has sold over a million copies in 80 languages, allowed Banks to write full time, and was ranked second-best Scottish novel of all time in a 2016 BBC Scotland poll. The Times placed Banks on its 2008 list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. The catalogue of 32 books includes the Culture novels Consider Phlebas (1987), The Player of Games (1988) and Use of Weapons (1990), as well as The Crow Road (1992), and ends with The Culture: The Drawings (2023).

Maggie Robinson wrote historical romance and mystery across 21 books published between 2010 and 2021. Mistress by Mistake (2010) opens the catalogue, and Courtesan Court, Ladies Unlaced, the London List and Cotswold Confidential divide the romances, with the Lady Adelaide Mysteries turning to crime. Two early titles appeared as Margaret Rowe. Regency England, Scotland, deception and undercover work supply the material, and Farewell Blues (2021) closes the run.

Two books by Howard Roughan are catalogued: The Up and Comer (2001) and The Promise of a Lie (2004). Both are thrillers with a legal and psychological cast, taking in lawyers, extortion, deception, false testimony and the relationship between psychotherapist and patient. No further title has been catalogued since 2004.