Death In… Books In Order

Publication Order of Death In... Books

‘Death In…’ is a series of suspense novels written by Mary Margaret Kaye. The novels take readers to exotic locations where murder and mystery are afoot and it falls on the shoulders of a young lady to bring about order and justice.

+The Story

The ‘Death In…’ series can be categorized as suspenseful romance. Some people think the series is closer to a cozy mystery, and some of the books definitely have elements that would qualify them as cozy mysteries.

But others do not and if the series as a whole was to be categorized, it would make more sense to call it a romantic suspense series. The ‘Death In…’ books are set all over the world.

They take readers to exotic locations like Zanzibar, Berlin, and India. They always revolve around a young woman taking a trip of some sort to one of these exotic locations. And she normally has quite the time of her life, at first because she gets to meet all sorts of interesting people and see wonderful places, and then because a crime is committed and she is forced to step in to catch the culprit.

The crime is usually murder. Someone is typically killed during the journey to the exotic location in question. And while the circumstances are unique, it isn’t until the traveling party arrives at its destination or does some further traveling that suspicion is raised about the death.

And once it is determined that there is a killer on the loose, while everyone else is consumed by fear, panic or even disinterest, M.M. Kaye’s heroine makes it her business to look into the murder and solve it.

The ‘Death In…’ books are set in a world recovering from the Second World War. In some cases, the author emphasizes the manner in which the different societies have recovered from the war and the transformations that have taken place in the process.

In other cases, the ‘Death In…’ books focus on the distinctiveness of each location. It could be argued that the ‘Death In…’ series stands out because each book takes readers to an exotic location.

Each mystery is informed by the exotic location in question and the people working to unravel the mystery are normally assailed by obstacles and challenges unique to that location.

M.M. Kaye’s heroines are amateur sleuths. They do not set out on these trips with the intention of solving crimes. They just happen to be in the right place at the right time. And the author gives them enough spunk and determination that they are willing to chase murderers regardless of the present dangers.

The women M.M. Kaye creates are normally young. The product of the feminist movement of the times, the heroines are strong, independent and capable in every area that matters.

They are also quite single and not shy about studying and ogling the eligible bachelors they meet on their trips and at their destinations. The ‘Death In…’ books are a product of the 1950s and it shows.

While the women in the books are very progressive, many of the ideas and concepts are dated. But that hasn’t stopped fans of M.M. Kaye from enjoying her earliest fictional works.

+The Author

M.M. Kaye was born in 1908 in Simla, British India to Sir Cecil Kaye and Margaret Sarah Bryson. The author’s father worked in the Indian Army and so did her grandfather.

Kaye left India for boarding school in England. There she studied Children’s Book Illustrations and she began earning a living as a designer of Christmas Cards. Kaye didn’t spend much time in India after that.

She did return home in 1926. But then her father died and Margaret Sarah Bryson started pressuring her daughter to matter a junior officer. M.M. Kaye chose to go to England instead.

She cared for herself using the money she made from illustrating children’s books. She also relied on her father’s small pension. The author eventually made the leap from simply illustrating children’s books to writing them.

After a while, she moved on to adult novels. This was after she found that many of the adult thrillers in her local library were rubbish and she concluded that she could write better. The author met her future husband, Hamilton, when she went back to India to live with her sister.

Because of her husband’s Army career, the family was always moving. All the moving they did gave Kaye plenty of time to write. She eventually produced ‘Shadow of the Moon’, the epic novel for which she is best known.

She followed it up with numerous other works that she produced using the traveling experience she garnered over the years and the unique places she got to see. The ‘Death In…’ books were a bit of a departure from the epic tales she was known for.

The detective books were simpler and shorter but no less popular amongst her fans.

+Death in Berlin

Miranda Brand doesn’t expect much trouble when she visits Germany. And she expects to go home within a month’s time. But then Brigadier Brindley comes into the picture and tells the tale of a fortune of diamonds, a tale to which Miranda is connected.

The train to Berlin takes a sharp turn when murder strikes. As a series of events begin to unfold in war-scarred Berlin, Miranda makes a decision that put her life in peril.

This book has been commended for the lengths it goes to create the atmosphere of Germany after WWII in the minds of readers. M.M. Kaye accurately describes the sounds, colors, and smells.

+Death in Cyprus

Amanda Derrington didn’t know what to expect from the Island of Cyprus. It was her decision to take the detour from her extended cruise with her uncle and she didn’t even get to the port of Cyprus before the 20-year-old’s plans were spoilt by an unexpected murder.

With the passengers safely on the island, Amanda cannot help but turn her attention to the crime and its possible perpetrator. What should have been a pleasant excursion takes a dangerous turn.

This mystery novel takes readers to the sun-washed Island of Cyprus with its beauty and wonder. Amanda is a young lady who, along with an armed painter, must solve a murder.