Izzy McNeil Books In Order

Publication Order of Izzy McNeil Books

Izzy McNeil is a series by a former civil trial lawyer and a professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, Laura Caldwell. Apart from being a professor, Laura is also the Director of Life After Innocence and a publisher of more than 14 novels including one non-fiction book. Izzy was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States and studied at the University of Iowa. After graduation, she partnered with a Chicago law firm that specialized in medical malpractice defense and entertainment law. Laura joined Loyola University Chicago school of law in 2001, where she has taught Advanced Litigation Writing and International Criminal Law among other subjects.

Laura ventured into her writing career and started by writing women’s fiction before later turning to mystery/thriller stories. Barnes and noble.com voted her first book, Burning the Map, as one of the best books of the year. In 2009, her trilogy received critical acclaim and nominations for various prestigious industry awards. While working on her sixth novel, The Rome Affair, Laura came across a young man who had been coerced to confess a crime he did not commit. The crime, murder, had led to his detention for six years at the Cook county holding cell with no trial. Laura got interested and joined his defense attorney to defend him ultimately proving the innocence of the man.

This inspired her first non-fiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him. After his release, Laura anticipated that the man would find a rough time and struggle to assimilate into the new seemingly foreign and unfriendly world outside the jail. Laura came to realize that there are many programs set to aid ex-offenders after their release but there was no assistance to those who proved their innocence. Laura’s books have been translated into 13 different languages and published in more than 25 countries. Her victory is the inspiration behind her foundation, Loyola’s Life After Innocence which aims to assist individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes or other individuals affected by the criminal justice system in the quest to reclaim their lives. Besides being a writer, Laura is also a freelance magazine writer published in Chicago magazines, The Young Lawyer, Shore Magazines among others.

Red Hot Lies

Red Hot Lies is Laura’s first book in the trilogy Izzy McNeil. The book introduces Izzy McNeil, an entertainment lawyer working for Forester Pickett, one of the richest men in Chicago. Izzy is planning her wedding with her fiancé, a successful and gorgeous long-time boyfriend, Sam, who also works for Forester. Izzy’s life seems to be going on well and satisfactory. As they edge towards finalizing the wedding preparations, Sam vanishes without a trace. Besides this, he left without saying a word to Izzy. The exceedingly rich and good looking man, Forester, is a media guru and CEO of a huge corporation, Pickett Enterprises. Forester has also been investing in real estate properties in Panama where Sam was in charge of safe keeping the shares.

Shane, Mr. Pickett’s son, calls Izzy informing her of his father’s demise from a heart attack. Izzy is skeptical considering they had a chat not long ago about how healthy he was. Forester had also taken a series of tests, and all the results were negative. However, being his lawyer, Forester had disclosed to Izzy that he had received death threats which he did not take them seriously. He informed him that she should suspect foul play if anything happened to him. With Forester dead, thirty million dollars’ estate property lost and Sam disappearing, Izzy realized that she might have been dating a betrayer. It is obvious that Sam might have killed Forester but Izzy doesn’t want to believe this.

Being a tough lawyer, she digs deep only to realize that she might not have known Sam too well as she thought. She has to push past the limits she never imagined to uncover the details of what happened. However, she luckily thrived and survived the pressure. With such an interesting plot, Red Hot Lies will certainly keep you on toes till the last page.

Red blooded murder

Red blooded murder is the second trilogy in the Izzy McNeil series. The book picks up six months after the first installment, Red Hot Lies. Izzy is still on an emotional roller-coaster having lost her fiancé and job simultaneously. In the midst of this, she lands on a trial TV show from a pseudo friend and a former client, Jane Alexander. Before the dusts settles, Alexander gets mysteriously murdered. For the second time, Izzy is the person of interest with unclear circumstances. With such happenings, Izzy must accept that she truly did not know her friends much.

Red, White and Dead

In this third book in Laura Caldwell’s series Izzy McNeil, the main character, a top-notch and rather mysterious lawyer Izzy is on her adventure. Unemployed and still looking for work, she wonders the cause of all the mysteries in her life including her fiancé who vanished with no trace. The quest for answers leads Izzy to Italy where her aunt resides. In between her search, she catches an eye of a gangster and develops a relationship. Izzy used him to uncover more secrets including the discovery that her father, whom she thought died when she was 10, is still alive. Additionally, Izzy learned that the father works as a double agent with the FBI and his Mafia family. Izzy’s father faked his death so that he could continue working against her and his sister, Izzy’s aunt. This sweeps her into the underworld full of evil making her discover that she and her family are perilous. She, therefore, races from Chicago to Rome battling personal demons, code red emergency desires, and Mafia killers.

Having said that, Laura Caldwell long quest for fairness in the justice department did not only inspired the formation of her foundation but also inspired her to write and publish various write-ups related to justice. Through her stories, Laura narrates some of her true experiences in life. Her novels, including Burning the Map (2002), A Clean Slate (2003), The Year of Living Famously (2004) and Look Closely (2005) among other novels have gone a long way to inspiring many people globally. Her write-ups have brought about change in the legal system also contributed by her foundation, Life after innocence.