Aimee Hix Books in Order

Aimee Hix grew up in the suburbs of the Washington, DC, metro area and considers Fairfax County her hometown. That setting would later become the home ground for her fiction, a place where quiet neighborhoods sit close to federal agencies, diplomats, commuters, and plenty of people with something to hide.

Her first career plan involved the FBI. Poor eyesight, and no interest in pretending otherwise on an application, sent her in a different direction.

Hix spent two decades working as a federal contractor before she began writing crime fiction full-time. Her work did not mirror the cases in her novels, but life in Northern Virginia gave her a close view of the region's mix of communities, overlapping jurisdictions, and everyday pressure points.

Then she started making up murders instead.

In 2014, Hix began writing the series that introduced Willa Pennington, a former police officer finding her footing as a private investigator. She found support through the crime-writing community, including connections made at Malice Domestic. A mentor helped her work through the manuscript chapter by chapter, and Hix completed the first draft of what became her debut in about seven months.

What Doesn't Kill You arrived in 2018. It introduces Willa as she leaves police work hoping for something safer, only to get pulled into a murder, a missing-person case, and a problem involving someone from her past. The book received nominations for major mystery awards, including the Lefty, Agatha, Anthony, and Shamus. Readers who enjoy a sharp-tongued investigator, personal stakes, and a case that gets messy fast will find the essentials of Hix's approach here.

The follow-up, Dark Streets, Cold Suburbs, takes Willa deeper into the uneasy side of suburban life. A cold case and a teenager in trouble push her into another investigation while she is still dealing with what happened before. Hix keeps the focus on Willa's choices, her stubbornness, and the cost of continuing to look when other people would rather leave things alone.

Hix has said that Nancy Drew was an early influence, especially the freedom and independence the young detective had on the page. Her own mysteries are interested in similar questions: who gets to act, who gets overlooked, and what happens when a person refuses to ignore an injustice. Willa is tough, sarcastic, caring, and willing to admit when she has made a mistake, traits Hix has described as important to her.

The coffee habit is shared, too.

Hix lives in Virginia with her family and three dogs. She has also noted, with a sense of humor, that her eyesight is now LASIK-corrected, even if her fictional crimes remain as dangerous as ever.