Jenny O’Brien Books In Order

Publication Order of Dai Monday Books

Publication Order of Detective Alana Mack Books

Publication Order of Irish Girl Romance Books

Publication Order of Englishwoman Books

Publication Order of Detective Gabriella Darin Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Jenny O’Brien
Jenny O’Brien was born in Dublin, Ireland. From an early age, she always hoped to write something, anything other than just her name on the bottom of a cheque. Then with the introduction of automated banking she lost that pleasure. Therefore, she had to pick up a pen and pad and begin scribbling.

She took up writing fiction when she came up with a plot for a novel, and has not stopped since.

She came up with the name of a character, named Dai Monday who was a little boy being bullied. It took her a year to jump in and pen his story, which was called “Boy Brainy”.

She writes what she enjoys to read, which are thrillers and romance. Jenny likes to read many of the other genres, too and she can always be found with a book or six kicking around. On her fortieth birthday, she asked to have built-in bookshelves rather than diamonds which says a lot. She is a year-round sea swimmer. She also works as a nurse. Jenny also spends a lot of time talking to her imaginary buddies who always are there knocking about inside her head and keep her out of trouble.

She began writing for kids and since she enjoys reading romances, it felt like a natural thing to write next. She enjoyed reading thrillers but not reading them. Up until her kids were born crime fiction was her genre of choice.

Jenny came up with the idea for her novel “Missing in Wales” after a nightmare she had early in 2018. The characters kind of forged themselves. She enjoys writing about the country of Wales, which is a place that is close to her heart since all of her family moved there around forty years back.

Gabriella Darin, a half-Italian and half-Liverpudlian detective, is total imagination, but at the same time, Jenny thinks of her as her alter-ego. This is because Gaby says the things that Jenny doesn’t have enough nerve to over the course of a day.

Jenny attempts to write about places she has been, like Holland, Guernsey, and Wales. She enjoys doing the research and gets fastidious about checking travel details and gathering images of the place she writes about. She believes in putting in the effort and the time into the bolts and nuts that underpin a novel’s plot is all a part of enjoying the novel writing process.

She would like to think of herself as a plotter, however she is not like that. She knows the start and the end, and plots while she is on her way to work. The middle is something of a surprise, but Jenny finds that she gets great pleasure from writing the sorts of books she enjoys reading.

While she is never in the mood to write, it is still something she realizes needs to be done. She is rather pig headed, and if she sets out to do something, she gets it done and writing is something that she wants to do.

Jenny writes the “Englishwoman” series, the “Detective Gabriella Darin” series, and the “Dai Monday” series.

“The Stepsister” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2018. She shouldn’t have ever let her go. That was her first mistake. She trusted the guy, and that was her second.

A stranger leaves Victoria and Ness, stepsisters, a half-share in a house in Holland, and they believe it has to be a mistake. There is no mistake after Ness goes missing. Desperate to find out the truth, Victoria goes from Guernsey to Holland to figure out what has happened to her.

Has she, as her text messages show, gone on a whirlwind romance of some kind? Could somebody have abducted her or even worse? What she doesn’t realize is that there is somebody watching, and that person wants to kill her. Will Victoria be able to figure out the truth before it is too late?

Right from the opening line of the novel, readers found themselves getting hooked. The novel is fast paced, part romance and part mystery that is filled with turns and twists. Jenny’s words flow with ease and pull you into Victoria’s complex life and her conflicting emotions. Victoria is a likable character and has a great sense of humor, even during her bouts of amnesia, and she is a vivid and complex character.

“Missing in Wales” is the first novel in the “Detective Gabriella Darin” series and was released in the year 2019. Alys is fine, do not attempt to find us. Five years back, Charlie, Izzy Grant’s boyfriend, takes out their newborn daughter, named Alys, out for a drive. They just never came back.

After years of waiting, Izzy has pretty much given up hope that her child and boyfriend are still alive. Then, a note gets pushed through her door that says they are fine, and not to look for them. The case becomes a top priority again, and Izzy gets swarmed with faces from her past: an old friend that vanished not too long after Charlie and Alys and the detective who was the first on the scene to help them.

Izzy is unsure who she can trust, who sends her these notes, and where Alys and Charlie could be. Her one ally is DC Gabriella Darin, who was recently transferred from Swansea and fleeing her painful past. Gaby is sure that something doesn’t fit with this case, and knows Izzy is not going to rest until she figures out what actually happened to her daughter. Could somebody she knew and trusted actually have taken Alys away from her?

Wherever Charlie and Alys are, Gaby is bound and determined to locate them, no matter what it will take. Somewhere in Izzy’s past is a clue, if only Gaby is able to find it.

This is one of those mystery novels that makes you think you have things all figured out just to find out that you are completely wrong. Some readers enjoyed getting to know Gaby Darin, who is overweight, bright, brash, lonely, and simply good at her job, as well as being an interesting character.

One Response to “Jenny O’Brien”

1. Sharon Barnett: 4 months ago

   I am enquiring about Jenny O’Brien’s Gaby Darin series; I have loved every book of the series, and wonder if there is likely to be a seventh book (bearing in mind how the 6th one ended?). Thank you.

   Reply