A Death in Paris Mystery Books in Order

The A Death in Paris Mystery series follows Rachel Levis, an American expatriate who has made a comfortable life in Paris with her banker husband, Alan Field. Rachel is a poet by inclination and an investigator by enthusiasm. Her closest friend, Magda Stevens, is the practical, loyal partner who joins her when curiosity turns into a murder inquiry.

They are amateur sleuths, but they take the work seriously.

In Death in Paris, Rachel learns that Edgar Bowen, a former lover and wealthy financier, has drowned in a bowl of soup. The police see an accident, but a bottle of rosé at the scene gives Rachel pause. Edgar hated rosé, and that small detail sends Rachel and Magda into his polished, complicated social circle. The first book sets the pattern for the series, a strange death, a group of suspects with reasons to lie, and two friends determined to keep asking questions.

The Books of the Dead moves into the Bibliothèque Nationale after Rachel finds the body of Guy Laurent, a librarian who worked with rare books and manuscripts. Capitaine Denis Boussicault asks Rachel to go undercover at the library, where she uncovers feuds, grudges, and thefts involving illustrations from old books. The case gives Rachel a more direct connection to the police investigation, while also putting some strain on her partnership with Magda.

By Designs on the Dead, Rachel and Magda are exploring what it might take to become private detectives. Their next case begins when fashion designer Roland Guipure is found dead after his birthday party, apparently from an overdose. Details at the scene suggest murder, and the women follow the trail through the Paris fashion world as another death raises the stakes.

These are traditional mysteries with a light, conversational tone and real interest in how people move through Paris. Cafés, apartments, libraries, neighborhoods, and professional circles all matter to the cases. The books balance suspicious deaths and mounting clues with female friendship, social observation, and Rachel's increasingly confident belief that she belongs in the detective business.

Each mystery has its own central puzzle, but reading in order lets Rachel and Magda's friendship, their history with Boussicault, and Rachel's detective ambitions build naturally from book to book.