Charli Cross Books In Order

Publication Order of Charli Cross Books

Author Mary Stone lives with her patient husband, her growing family of children, and her cats and dogs, loving being surrounded by the stunning, majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of East Tennessee.

In this relaxing and inspiring atmosphere, she brings us a vast array of stories of women who are strong, courageous, and fending off dastardly villains. Her world includes FBI agents and serial killers, and never the whisper of a fainting damsel in distress.

Ms. Stone’s female characters are tough, capable, and are definitely able to handle themselves. She brings them in to go toe-to-toe with any man, be it friend or foe, and they hold their own.

Ms. Stone conjures these stories from her experiences as a child from when she was worried every night about the possible creatures hiding under her bed. Even as a little girl, she was brave and would always be the one to look under how own bed for possible monsters, wanting to be the one to see for herself, not asking her parents.

For Ms. Stone, solving puzzles puts her in the frame of mind to be writing mysteries. Investigating and working on puzzles, as a little girl she would be found cozied up in a corner, stubby pencil in her little hand, with a puzzle book in her lap.

In addition to the Charli Cross Series, cowritten with Donna Berdel, Ms. Stone has concurrently written several other highly successful different series of stories. The Amelia Storm series, the Winter Black series, the Autumn Trent series, the Ellie Kline series, cowritten with Donna Berdel, the Kylie Hatfield series, cowritten with Bella Cross, and the Stella Knox series.

Our heroine, Charli Cross presents an unassuming, dainty image. A petite, five-feet tall, she has a steely exterior and sensible presentation to others. With her unflinching inner strength, she stays cool, calm, and very much in command of her emotions.

Her intelligent, steady and striking personality has launched her, very unexpectedly, at the young age of twenty-three, to the rank of detective. Those same special skills have also given her and her partner a murder clearance rate that is unequaled in their district. Detective Charli Cross of Savannah, Georgia, is a highly talented, yet tightly composed young woman.

We first meet Detective Charli Cross with the launch of her story. In Dark Purpose we grow to appreciate her proficiency and we learn where the unseen subtle cracks are within her. It’s the discovery of the teenage girl’s remains crammed in a storage container. This is nearly more than she can bear.

The horrific murder isn’t just a tragedy to Charli, but it pushes up unwanted memories of Charli’s best friend. At the precious age of sixteen, Madeline’s body was found a mere-half mile away from this present day tragedy.

The current grisly components of death on top of the barbarous sexual assault creates a fear to the bone in Charli’s mind. She is paralyzed with dread that she’s now dealing with the worst kind of serial killer. This one is highly organized and distinctly thorough. He has every intention of pursuing his dark intentions.

Charli is struggling to keep her emotions well in check. As more victims are found, she is rattled but she is also determined to find and stop this monster before another young woman loses her life. For Charli, this isn’t just her work. It’s personal.

In Dark Greed, the second entry in this tense, exciting series, we are enmeshed in the absolutes that jealousy is evil and greed is deadly. The young man, Bryce Mowery, is the son and one heir of the wealthiest family in Savannah, Georgia.

Bryce is found dead and his father is adamant that it may look to be a suicide that appears open-and-shut, but he’s not believing it. His father is claiming it’s foul play. He’s convinced it’s murder and he demands his son’s death be investigated as such.

Charli isn’t excited about being assigned this case. She’s tasked with investigating the case and to appease and reassure the senior Mr. Mowery and the farm manager.

As Charli throws herself into doing an open-minded investigation she comes to the realization that this is not an open-and-shut suicide, but rather a murder investigation. It will be complicated. The rich and influential Mowerys have made enough enemies to create a long list of potential suspects.

Father Mowery is the head of the family business dealings. However Bryce was a fun-loving, jolly-good-time playboy. Who would want him dead?

Charli and her partner, Matthew, start digging deep into the ruthless world of land development, working to find connections to Bryce’s murder. But the killer is waiting. He’s in this for his entertainment, playing games and covering his tracks. He’s got a genuine taste for murder.