Blood and Moonlight Books in Order

Erin Beaty's Blood and Moonlight books are fantasy thrillers built around murder investigations, hidden magic, and a romance that starts with more suspicion than trust. The story centers on Catrin, an orphan in the city of Collis who works for Magister Thomas, the master architect behind the huge Holy Sanctum. When Catrin witnesses a killing, she stops being a bystander and becomes part of the hunt.

This series likes dark alleys and bad timing.

The first book, Blood and Moonlight, pairs Catrin with Simon, a brilliant young investigator whose gift is understanding how violent minds work. He can be cold, secretive, and unnervingly perceptive, which makes him useful and hard to read in equal measure. Catrin has secrets of her own, especially her forbidden moonlit power, and that tension gives the story its core push. Every clue that helps solve the case also risks exposing who she is.

Setting matters here. Collis is not just a fantasy backdrop with stone streets and towers. It is a city shaped by class, religion, politics, and fear, especially fear of the people connected to moon magic. Beaty uses that atmosphere well. The murders feel personal, but they also reveal how vulnerable certain people are, and how quickly institutions look away until violence reaches the wrong doorstep.

Moonlight is both a gift and a problem.

The sequel, Silence and Shadow, opens the world wider. After a violent showdown, Catrin and Simon flee to Londunium, hoping for safety and a chance for Catrin to understand her magic. Instead they land in another knot of trouble. A council of magical leaders threatens Simon, Catrin's place among the Selenae is far from secure, and a new string of killings pulls them back into the kind of investigation neither of them can ignore.

What carries across both books is the blend. These are part fantasy, part serial killer mystery, part slow-burn romance. The magic matters, but it never overwhelms the human stakes. If you like shadowy cities, tense investigations, and characters who have to choose trust before they can choose love, this duology is built that way.