Hollywood Alphabet Books in Order
Part ofMZ Kelly Books in OrderSee the Hollywood Alphabet books by MZ Kelly in order, with short summaries, reading order help, series background, and where to start with Kate Sexton.
Last updated: July 6, 2026
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Publication Order
26 books
Hollywood Assassin
by MZ Kelly
2014
Kate Sexton is reeling from divorce, debt, and department gossip when a sadistic killer starts stalking her. While trying to clear a cop tied to a thirty-year-old murder, she and Bernie get pulled into a case that turns personal.
Hollywood Blood
by MZ Kelly
2014
Newly promoted Kate investigates the murder of a famous singer's manager after one of her mother's seances. When the killer strikes again and a revenge cult comes into view, the case starts circling Kate herself.
Hollywood Crazy
by MZ Kelly
2014
Kate investigates the wedding-night murder of a Hollywood power couple and uncovers links to escorts, old corruption, and a buried family secret. Her love life and Bernie's chaos do not make the job any easier.
Hollywood Dirty
by MZ Kelly
2014
Olympic star Jezzie Rose is found murdered, and the obvious suspect may be the wrong one. As media pressure builds, Kate digs into the case while chasing answers about her father's death.
Hollywood Enemy
by MZ Kelly
2014
Kate is moved onto an FBI assignment after her father's killer resurfaces. Teaming with Joe Dawson, she hunts a sadistic serial murderer called the Artist while realizing the past is coming straight for her.
Hollywood Forbidden
by MZ Kelly
2014
A leave on Catalina Island turns into a kidnapping case when three girls vanish during a courthouse murder. Kate, Natalie, and Mo get drawn into trafficking, cult rumors, and an old island secret.
Hollywood Games
by MZ Kelly
2014
Back in Hollywood, Kate looks into the hot tub murder of a wealthy realtor and starts seeing links to the victim's love life and a powerful gang. Meanwhile, her already shaky personal life takes another sharp turn.
Hollywood Homicide
by MZ Kelly
2014
Kate joins LAPD's elite Section One and lands a brutal case involving a dead starlet and a Hollywood fixer trying to prove he is no killer. The deeper she goes, the more power players and old secrets crowd the case.
Hollywood Intrigue
by MZ Kelly
2015
Settling into Section One, Kate is called to one of the grisliest scenes of her career. A killer known as the Prophet turns the investigation personal, and Joe Dawson is soon back in the picture.
Hollywood Jury
by MZ Kelly
2015
A serial killer starts targeting college campuses just as Kate helps a Hollywood fixer investigate a death row case. Her partner is unraveling, her personal life is messy, and new truths about her father hit hard.
Hollywood Killer
by MZ Kelly
2015
The murder of a TV host's family pulls Kate and Section One into Hollywood's erotic underworld. As bodies pile up, the case tangles with obsession, desire, and the family secrets still haunting Kate.
Hollywood Lust
by MZ Kelly
2015
Kate and Leo Kingsley work a cold case tied to a current homicide while The Swarm returns to kill again. With Joe Dawson back beside her, Kate is pulled into a race against time on several fronts.
Hollywood Murder
by MZ Kelly
2015
A billionaire broker's family vanishes after their maid is murdered, and Kate suspects far more than a simple ransom plot. Another cold case and a documentary crew make an already impossible investigation even messier.
Hollywood Notorious
by MZ Kelly
2016
Kate and Bernie are pulled into another high-profile Hollywood murder where fame, money, and image hide the truth. As the suspects pile up, Kate is also pushed deeper into the family questions that have been haunting her for years.
Hollywood Outlaw
by MZ Kelly
2016
When a reality TV star turns up dead, Kate and Leo find a suspect list as crowded as the Walk of Fame. A seemingly simple murder soon opens into embezzlement, multiple killings, and more upheaval in Kate's search for family answers.
Hollywood Prisoner
by MZ Kelly
2016
A rising actress is murdered, and the handyman looks like an easy answer. Kate soon finds darker layers beneath the case as she searches for her biological father and hunts for her missing sister.
Hollywood Quest
by MZ Kelly
2017
Reassigned to Cold Case, Kate reunites with Charlie Winkler and expects a quieter life. Instead she lands a shocking old crime tied to powerful corporate interests, sex trafficking, and the search for her biological father.
Hollywood Rage
by MZ Kelly
2017
Facing eviction and a haunted new house, Kate also has to solve two brutal murder cases. Then a revelation about her biological father turns the whole story of her family upside down.
Hollywood Scream
by MZ Kelly
2017
After a terrorist strike linked to Kate's family, she is sent to work with the FBI on a baffling killer called the Angel. Back in Hollywood, she also has to solve a major actor's murder while dodging danger on every side.
Hollywood Taken
by MZ Kelly
2018
Kate investigates the murder of an au pair for a wealthy couple, only to uncover a sex trafficking ring reaching into Hollywood's upper ranks. At the same time, terrorists tied to her father's past are moving again.
Hollywood Underworld
by MZ Kelly
2018
Retired detective Pearl Kramer brings Kate crucial information about terrorist Nathan Caine and the father she never knew. What follows is a race to stop another attack before the danger cuts even deeper into her life.
Hollywood Vendetta
by MZ Kelly
2018
Revenge drives the violence in this later Kate Sexton case, where old scores and fresh murders collide. The investigation keeps tightening around Kate's personal life, making the stakes feel bigger than a single homicide.
Hollywood Wanted
by MZ Kelly
2019
A high-profile killing sends Kate back into Hollywood's mix of celebrity scandal and real danger. As she works the case, the long-running threats around her family and old enemies keep pressing in.
Hollywood X
by MZ Kelly
2019
Another murder case forces Kate to confront hard truths about love, terror, and family. By this point in the series, the personal stakes are as dangerous as the homicide work, and every answer seems to open a new wound.
Hollywood Yesterday
by MZ Kelly
2020
Kate Sexton is running on empty. Her fiance is missing, her long-hidden family story is reaching a breaking point, and she still has to stop a killer the press calls the Reaper before the whole endgame turns fatal.
Hollywood Z
by MZ Kelly
2021
The final Hollywood Alphabet novel brings Kate's long fight with killers, terrorists, and family secrets to a head. It is the endgame for the series, with one last rush toward answers, survival, and whatever peace Kate can claim.
Series background & context
The Hollywood Alphabet books follow LAPD Detective Kate Sexton, a homicide cop whose life is rarely calm for more than a page or two. She works murders in and around Hollywood, but this is not a polished postcard version of the city. Kelly uses the setting for both glamour and grime, so Kate can move from celebrity homes and movie business egos to back alleys, cold cases, and crimes that get uglier the longer she looks at them. Right from Hollywood Assassin, the series makes it clear that Kate is smart, overworked, and carrying plenty of baggage of her own.
She is not alone for long.
One of the series' big hooks is Kate's canine partner, Bernie, who brings both police muscle and comic chaos to the job. Then there are her best friends Natalie and Mo, who have a gift for turning up in the middle of trouble, whether Kate wants their help or not. Over time, the cast expands to include other cops, FBI agents, fixers, old partners, and enemies who do not stay in the past. The result is a crime series that feels crowded in a good way. The cases matter, but so do the people around them.
The books are built around homicide investigations, yet the crimes are varied enough that the series does not feel repetitive. Kate deals with serial killers, celebrity murders, kidnappings, trafficking cases, terrorist threats, and long-buried crimes that refuse to stay buried. Titles like Hollywood Homicide, Hollywood Intrigue, and Hollywood Quest show how often the story widens beyond a single body on the floor. Kelly likes cases that start with one obvious explanation and then keep peeling back layers until the real danger looks much bigger.
There is also a strong ongoing arc underneath the weekly case feel. Kate's family history, especially the murder of her father and the questions around her biological father, threads through the series from early on. That gives the books a steady sense of forward motion. Even when a novel can be read on its own, there is usually something in the background pushing Kate toward answers she is not sure she wants. Later books like Hollywood Yesterday and Hollywood Z bring more of that long game to the surface.
These books like to throw a lot at Kate.
The tone is a mix of straight thriller, police procedural, and offbeat humor. That balance is the key to the series. The crimes can be brutal, but the books are not relentlessly grim, because Bernie, Natalie, Mo, and the rest of Kate's orbit keep dragging life, mess, and weirdness back into the picture. If you like a mystery series with a capable lead, a strong continuing cast, and cases that bounce between Hollywood excess and real danger, this is what the Hollywood Alphabet books are built to deliver.
The best approach is usually to begin with Hollywood Assassin and move forward, especially if you want the full emotional payoff of Kate's longer story. But even in the middle books, the appeal is easy to see: a detective under pressure, a city built on image, and one more case that refuses to stay simple.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.








































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