Bad Blood Books in Order

The Bad Blood books are Liverpool gangland thrillers, but they work just as much as a family saga. The series begins with The Boss, where Grace Sumner is no longer the frightened wife her ex-husband remembers. Nathan Conlon comes out of prison expecting to walk back into his old empire and take charge again. Instead he finds Grace already running things, and the fight between them sets the tone for everything that follows.

Family is the engine of these books.

Grace is the centre of the series, but the cast around her matters just as much. Her son Jake Conlon becomes one of the key players as the story grows, and later books fold in Michael Carter and the wider Carter family, including Connor and Paul. There are children to protect, marriages to manage, and loyalties that keep shifting under pressure. Even when someone looks solid, Finlay likes to ask what happens when fear, pride, or ambition gets in the way. DI Leigh Moss also becomes an important figure, especially when the police and the family business have to circle each other warily.

Liverpool is more than a backdrop here. These novels lean into pubs, clubs, side streets, business fronts, and the constant sense that everyone knows somebody who knows somebody. The city gives the series its rhythm. It feels local, tight, and watchful, which suits a story world built on reputation and memory. If someone crossed you five years ago, that history still matters. If your family name carries weight, that can protect you, or paint a target on your back.

As the series moves from Back In The Game and Head of the Firm into Liverpool Loyalty and Traitor in the House, the focus widens from one power struggle to a bigger story about what it takes to hold a criminal family together. Rival gangs push in. Murder investigations bring fresh risks. Old grudges refuse to stay buried. By the time you reach Part of the Family, Payback Time, and A Score To Settle, the stakes are not only about money or territory. They are personal, and that makes every decision more dangerous.

Nobody gets to relax for long.

The tone is gritty, fast, and emotional without getting too dressed up about it. There is violence, but there is also a lot of tension built from suspicion, family arguments, revenge, and the fear that one wrong move could bring the whole structure down. If you like crime series where the underworld politics matter as much as the personal relationships, this is that kind of read. It is best read in order, starting with The Boss, because the later books build heavily on the history between the characters.