House of Cards (Barbara Metzger) Books in Order

Barbara Metzger's House of Cards trilogy is built around one old family wound. Years before the series begins, a carriage accident kills a young mother and her little daughter disappears in the aftermath. The surviving Endicott brothers grow up with that mystery hanging over them, and each book circles back to it from a different angle. What gives the trilogy its charm is the way Metzger balances that long-buried loss with playful Regency romance, social comedy, and a fair amount of chaos.

The missing child is the engine under everything.

In Ace of Hearts, Alexander Endicott, the Earl of Carde, is trying to escape three unwanted fiancées when he finally turns serious about searching for his lost half-sister. His investigation takes him out of London and into country house complications, family lies, and a romance with Nell Sloane. The book sets the tone for the series well. It is funny, busy, and full of mix-ups, but the mystery matters. Alex is not just avoiding marriage. He is trying to keep a promise made to his dying father.

Jack of Clubs shifts to Alex's brother Jack, back from the wars and restless in peace. Jack opens a gaming club in London as part business venture, part search strategy, hoping the club and its staff will help him gather information about the missing girl. The urban setting gives this middle book a different feel. There is more bustle, more talk of soldiers and reinvention, and a lovely contrast between Jack's roughened edges and the orderly women and children who wander into his life.

By Queen of Diamonds, the missing child has grown up. Queenie arrives with pieces of the truth, a changed identity, and every reason to be wary of grand families and old stories. Her book brings fashion, performance, and class to the front, since she moves through society partly disguised and partly self-made. The romance with Lord Harry Harkness sits beside the trilogy's biggest emotional payoff, because the search is finally not abstract. It becomes personal, immediate, and painfully real.

Taken together, these books are connected standalones with a strong sibling thread. You can expect witty dialogue, family loyalty, light mystery, and romance that grows out of practical problems as much as attraction. The stakes are rarely world-shaking, but they feel intimate and lasting: a promise kept, a sister found, a household repaired. Readers who like Regency series with recurring characters and a clear emotional throughline will probably have a good time here.