Assassins (Joy Deja King) Books in Order

The Assassins books take heartbreak and turn it into a weapon. The series opens with Bailey, who wants love and stability with Dino, only to get pushed into a much darker life. Her cousin Shiffon is dealing with her own losses, and together they move into a world where pain becomes motive and beauty becomes cover.

That is the hook.

These books are built around women who kill for money, survival, revenge, and sometimes because there is no cleaner way out. The series leans hard into the idea that charm can be as useful as a gun. By the later episodes, the women around Bailey and Shiffon are operating as a feared group, taking on dangerous clients and even more dangerous enemies.

Atlanta matters to the feel of the series. It gives the books a stylish, fast-moving backdrop, but King never lets the surface glamour fool you. Behind the parties and polish are ambushes, obsessions, grudges, and men who underestimate the wrong women. That tension, pretty on the outside, deadly underneath, is what gives Assassins its edge.

The central threat keeps evolving too. Maverick McClay and the violent fallout around his legacy drive a lot of the later pressure, while figures like Riot Mercer make it clear that the past is never finished. Even when a job ends, the consequences keep moving.

If you want one of King's most overtly high-stakes series, this is it. Assassins is fast, sharp, and unapologetically dangerous, with women at the center of every major move.