Alibi Books in Order

Alibi is a smaller, tighter Teri Woods series, and that is part of the appeal. Instead of following a kingpin at the top of an empire, it follows Daisy Fothergill, a 22-year-old stripper in 1986 Philadelphia who makes one bad decision and spends the rest of the story paying for it. When she agrees to provide an alibi for Bernard Nard Guess after a bloody stash-house killing, it looks like quick money. It turns into a trap.

One lie is enough.

What makes this series work is perspective. Daisy is not running the streets, and she is not built for the violence that comes with them. She is broke, vulnerable, and trying to get through a life that already feels shaky before the crime plot kicks in. That gives Alibi more of a noir and suspense feel than a power story. Philadelphia comes through in bars, rowhouses, side streets, police pressure, and the constant sense that somebody is watching.

Nard is a big part of the tension even when he is off the page. He is dangerous, selfish, and tied to the original cover-up, which means Daisy is never really dealing with just one problem. The police want answers. Street people want silence. Daisy wants a way out, but every attempt to clean up the mess pulls her deeper into it. The first book keeps the stakes personal, which makes the danger feel close and immediate.

The past does not stay buried here.

Alibi II jumps ahead and shows what escape actually costs. Daisy is now Diane Praeliou, living in Arizona, married, and trying to protect the new life witness protection gave her. Then a letter arrives, someone knows who she really is, and Nard is back on parole looking for revenge. The sequel shifts from street survival to identity thriller. Diane has a home, a husband, and something to lose, which makes the fear hit harder.

Across both books, the real thread is reinvention. Daisy wants to become someone else, but Woods never lets that transformation feel clean or easy. These novels are about bad choices, second chances, and the simple fact that a false story can follow you for years. If you want Teri Woods with less empire building and more tension, pursuit, and hidden history, Alibi is a good fit. Read the two books in order, because the sequel lands hardest when you remember the first lie.