Debra Burroughs Books in Order

If you want the signature small-town mystery series: The Scent of Lies → The Heart of Lies → The Chain of Lies
If you prefer a reporter heroine and hometown secrets: The Lake House Secret → The Stone House Secret → The Boat House Secret
If you want a stand-alone romantic suspense: Three Days in Seattle
If you want the family saga first: She Had No Choice

Debra Burroughs grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was writing stories, poems, and plays long before she published a novel. Writing came early for her, but it did not become her full-time path right away.

In high school, she wrote a poem that won an award and was published, then joined the school newspaper. She went on to work as feature editor and assistant editor, and at the same time wrote a teen column for a city newspaper. It was a practical start, the kind that teaches you how to tell a story clearly and keep going until the piece is done.

Writing took the long way around.

Burroughs studied business in college, raised a family, and set aside more than one unfinished manuscript while life moved faster than her notebooks. She has said she started plenty of projects over the years but did not finish a full book until 2009. By then her children were grown, the house was quieter, and her husband was still encouraging her to finally give writing the serious try it had always been waiting for.

The stories that pushed her forward were close to home. Her first books drew on the history of her large Mexican family and on the painful stories her mother and grandmother shared about migration, poverty, heartbreak, and survival. That became She Had No Choice, a family saga inspired by true events. It also introduced one of the things readers still find in her work: women under pressure who keep moving, even when the odds are bad.

She did not stay in one lane for long. Three Days in Seattle leans into romantic suspense, with a missing sister, a dangerous plot, and a quick connection between strangers. Then came The Scent of Lies, which launched the Paradise Valley books and introduced Emily Parker, a widow pulled into private investigation after her husband's murder. In The Lake House Secret, Burroughs shifted to reporter Jenessa Jones, another smart, stubborn heroine trying to sort out crime, family trouble, and complicated feelings all at once.

That balance matters.

Across the Paradise Valley and Jenessa Jones novels, Burroughs keeps returning to a few things: strong women, close friendships, secrets that refuse to stay buried, and romance that raises the stakes instead of crowding out the mystery. Readers who enjoy The Heart of Lies, The Stone House Secret, or The Gate House Secret usually come for the murder plots, then stay for the ongoing relationships, hometown tension, and brisk pace. Her books are also known for keeping the suspense and emotional pull without leaning on graphic content.

Many of her settings feel lived in. She has placed stories in Idaho, Seattle, and California, including the Central Valley that connects to her family history. Those places are not just scenery. They help give the books their small-town gossip, family loyalties, and the uneasy sense that danger can show up somewhere that looks perfectly ordinary.

Burroughs also built her career in a hands-on way. Her first book came out through a small press, which helped her learn the publishing process. After that, she moved into self-publishing and taught herself the business side, from editing and covers to formatting and promotion. Her books later reached the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

These days, she writes from the Pacific Northwest, where she has said she is usually at her computer dreaming up new twists for strong women in complicated situations. It is a fitting second act for someone who spent years circling writing before finally making room for it.