Annie Carter Books in Order

The Annie Carter books follow Annie Bailey from a chaotic childhood in London’s East End to a life at the top of the gangland food chain. Across the series you watch her grow from a teenager in trouble to a woman who runs firms, clubs and crime empires.

It all begins in Dirty Game. Annie has grown up with a drunken mother, an absent father and a so‑called good sister, Ruthie, who seems to get everything Annie wants – including feared villain Max Carter. One impulsive night with Max blows up the family, throws Annie out on the streets and lands her in a brothel run by her aunt on rival turf.

From there the books plunge straight into the long war between the Carter outfit and the Delaney crew. Annie learns fast how to survive among gangsters, bent cops and jealous women, all while juggling guilt over Ruthie, dangerous love for Max and a fierce need never to be poor or powerless again. The East End setting matters: pubs, parlours, clubs and back alleys all feel lived‑in and full of old scores.

By Black Widow and Scarlet Women, Annie has married Max, taken his name and clawed her way to the top of the East End. Life in Majorca with Max and their daughter Layla looks glamorous, but a kidnapping drags her back into London’s streets and forces her to prove she can protect her child. Later, as a gang boss in her own right, she faces a killer targeting women around her, fresh pressure from the Delaneys and trouble from New York mobsters who would like to see her cut down to size.

The tone stays tough but very human. Annie can be ruthless, but the books always circle back to her loyalties – to Ruthie, to Layla, to the makeshift families she builds out of villains, working girls and club staff.

Later novels like Playing Dead, Ruthless and Stay Dead widen the canvas. Annie’s story stretches to New York and back as she connects with mafia boss Constantine Barolli, discovers that enemies she thought dead may still be out there, and learns that her own past decisions keep putting people she loves in the firing line. The later Annie books lean even harder into questions of ageing, legacy and how you ever get out once you are this deep in the life.

Across the series you can expect fast turns, cliff‑hangers and a lot of violent fallout when Annie makes a move. At the same time there is a strong emotional thread about class, ambition and how far a woman from nothing will go to keep herself and her child safe.

You will get the most out of the Annie Carter novels if you read them in order, starting with Dirty Game and moving through Black Widow, Scarlet Women, Playing Dead, Ruthless, Stay Dead and then Never Go Back. Seen together, they read like one long, twisting story about love, power and survival in London’s underworld.