Cross and Anchor Books in Order

The Cross and Anchor series is one of Mark Stone's more playful setups, and that is a big part of its charm. The books pair Detective Katherine Cross with Russell Anchorage, a former reality TV treasure hunter whose fame is behind him but whose instincts are still useful in all the wrong situations. It is an odd-couple partnership from the start, and Stone gets good mileage out of that mismatch.

Katherine is grounded, sharp, and trying to do real police work. Anchor is impulsive, experienced on the water, and used to a world where performance and danger sometimes blur together. Put them in the same investigation and sparks are guaranteed. The fun of the series comes from watching them argue, adapt, and slowly become a team.

They are a strange fit, and that is exactly the point.

The setting helps too. These books are tied to Florida's Treasure Coast, especially around Vero Beach, where the local history of shipwrecks, artifacts, wealth, and water gives the stories a natural sense of adventure. Crashing Waves starts strong with bank robberies and a Spanish artifact. Drifting Reef widens the field by bringing in a movie star, a stalker, and the collision between celebrity life and coastal danger.

Even when the plots get larger and more cinematic, the series stays readable and light on its feet. This is still thriller territory, but it tilts a little more toward caper energy and partnership banter than some of Stone's darker books. The mysteries move quickly, and the coastal setting keeps everything sunlit on the surface, even when the underneath is far less friendly.

If you like reluctant partners, beach-town suspense, and stories where treasure-hunting know-how can become oddly useful in a criminal investigation, Cross and Anchor is a very enjoyable corner of Stone's bibliography.