Adventures of Lilli and Zane Books in Order

The Adventures of Lilli and Zane books shift Catherine Lanigan into young adult adventure mode. Instead of small-town romance, these stories lean into ancient artifacts, global travel, hidden clues and a family mystery that refuses to stay buried. At the center are Lilli Mitchell and Zane McAllister, a pair of young treasure hunters who keep getting pulled into places where history feels very alive.

Lilli is the emotional anchor of the series. Her mother's disappearance, and in some books the lingering question of whether that disappearance can really be explained, hangs over nearly everything. Lilli keeps receiving hints through dreams, journals, artifacts and strange experiences that suggest the past is not finished with her. Her father, J.C. Mitchell, is tied to archaeology and old discoveries, which gives the stories a natural path into digs, ruins, relics and long-lost secrets.

The series runs on clues.

Zane is not just along for the ride. He is Lilli's friend, partner and fellow risk-taker, the person who steps into danger because he knows Lilli will go there anyway. Together they make the books feel more active and immediate. Their bond gives the series its heart, especially when the larger mysteries start to involve thieves, assassins, rival treasure seekers or forces that seem to sit just outside ordinary explanation.

The settings do a lot of work here. The Golden Flute sends the story into an early trail of family secrets and ancient objects. Joshua's Trumpet pushes Lilli back toward Jericho and Israel, where her mother's disappearance becomes impossible to ignore. Other adventures widen the map with the Bermuda Triangle, Egyptian material linked to Hathor and Dendera, the search for a powerful stone, and later journeys that reach places like Machu Picchu in Rivers of Gold. These books want motion, and they get it.

There is also a light supernatural edge running through the series. Portals, curses, sacred objects, visions and unexplained phenomena show up often enough to give the books a mysterious shimmer without turning them into full fantasy. The result is a mix of treasure hunt, family puzzle and paranormal suspense. Younger readers can enjoy the action, while older readers may notice how much the series is really about grief, memory and refusing to abandon someone you love.

The books work best in order because the central mystery keeps building. Individual adventures have their own danger and destination, but the bigger questions about Lilli's mother, and about what Lilli and Zane are really chasing, gain weight over time.

It is treasure-hunt fiction with a real emotional core.