Stephanie Andrews Books In Order

Publication Order of Red Riley Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Stephanie Andrews is a bestselling crime fiction and thriller author best known for the Red Riley series of novels. She believes that we are called upon to become heroines and heroes and to save the day hence why she writes the lead character, Kay Riley. Andrews has said that she hopes that her novels and her love for thriller and classic mysteries shine through her work in the Kay Riley crime thrillers. Since she is from Chicago she set her first novel of the Riley series “Chicago Blue” in the city. She got the inspiration for the lead character Riley from wanting to write a classic “wrong man thriller” similar to many that she had read. But she needed to make the character a woman who does not have any special skills as she starts out. However, she does pick up things along the way and becomes a lot sharper over the course of the series. Andrews was just interested in writing about a woman finding herself and coming out of her shell in a funny and exciting way. While she does not have a journalistic or police work background she manages to pull it off. She published the debut novel of the Red Riley series “Chicago Blue” in 2017 and writes one title every year. Apart from the Red Riley series, she has also written a crime thriller titled “The Grafton heist” that follows the exploits or a husband and wife team of con artists.

Andrews writes compelling female-led crime thrillers about a woman who is fed up of being a beat cop. Things come to a head when she is accused of masterminding a terrorist attack and she has to go on the run while trying to find who was behind an attempt to smear her name. Along the way, she learns that she has a desire to fight for justice and an inner strength to become what she never thought she would be. She is just a regular woman and not a superhero and her biggest advantage is that she is smarter than her adversaries expect and never gives up. According to Andrews, she set out to write a crime thriller in the mold of Sara Paretsky or Sue Grafton though the funny side of Riley shone through. While the novels have been compared to Janet Evanovich’s works, they are more of thriller mysteries and have very little romance of Evanovich. Stephanie does place her stories in real streets, restaurants, and locations in Chicago, which give the novels a real sense of place. Andrews has been most influenced by Chelsea Field, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane and of course Paretsky and Grafton. She also loves to read Kate Atkinson’s “Case History” and the sequels.

Stephanie Andrews’ “Chicago Blue” introduces the lead character of the Kay Riley series of novels. She is a beat cop who hates her job given that nothing interesting happens. But things are going to get very interesting when she gets a call that an intruder has forced his way into the IllCom building. Dashing up the stairs, she locates the intruder who rushes off and barricades himself in the boardroom. She decides to talk to him rather than shoot him down but as she rushes the man to take him down, she sees a very strange thing. The bracelet on his wrist that had been light yellow turns bright red. Her partner Carl Blaclock tells her to run but this action only gets her tripped up in a chair. There is a loud explosion that picks her up and sends her flying across the room. She is the lucky one in the incident as Javier a fellow officer dies from his wounds while she gets some serious bruises and a concussion. When she is well enough to be released from the hospital, she learns that she has been suspended and that she will be charged with killing her partner Carl. She is determined to clear her name with help from her friends but if she is to be successful, she needs to go on the run.

“Diamond White” the second novel of the Red Riley series by Stephanie Andrews opens to a Kay Riley that has developed from amateur criminal to amateur vigilante. She had been set up as the mastermind of a terrible crime and had gone on the run. Everyone believed her dead though she was alive and determined to take control of her own destiny. She is learning some skills she needs to fight the injustice that had been visited on her by some unknown foe. But in the meantime, she needs to take down some dangerous arms dealer. Luckily, Riley has her friends Marty, Shelby and Ruby to help her in her quest. She has also met a young woman she believes might be a perfect sidekick given that she never left her side despite things getting really thick at some point. Salerno from the first novel also makes an appearance though she is furious with Riley given that she believed that she faked her death. The novel is a lighthearted story of the development of Riley as she works on herself to become a crusader for justice and master thief. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she does not have the invisible jet or cape to carry her along. All she has is a couple of friends, a zippy little motorbike and an old Subaru wagon.

“Solid Gold” the second novel of the series sees Riley get into an unexpected alliance and head to Mexico and Canada becoming an international crime fighter. She is searching for a kidnapped woman while trying to find a super villain even as she tries to keep ahead of an FBI agent that has been on her trail for weeks. She starts off going down to Vera Cruz where she has to find a way to get into the fortress of a human trafficker, gun runner and drug smuggler named Antonio Negron. While she is working against terrible odds, she is determined to make it work. Solid Gold is a fast-paced and funny adventure that continues the story of an amateur vigilante determined to make her world a better place. She has to do this while ensuring she does not get killed by the bad guys or captured by the authorities.