Isabella Maldonado Books in Order
Explore Isabella Maldonado books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, character background, and clear suggestions on where to start reading.
Last updated: June 9, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Publication Order
17 books
How NOT to Survive a Vacation
by Isabella Maldonado
2010
This travel-themed Desert Sleuths anthology turns vacations into very bad ideas, with crime stories set on cruise ships, in ghost towns, and far from home. The tone shifts from funny to sinister, but trouble follows every itinerary.
SoWest, So Wild
by Isabella Maldonado
2011
This Desert Sleuths anthology leans into Western and Southwestern crime, from old-style showdowns to modern investigations. Maldonado's story sends Veranda Cruz to a dude ranch, where even a short escape ends in murder.
SoWest: Desert Justice
by Isabella Maldonado
2012
This Desert Sleuths anthology brings together twenty crime stories shaped by revenge, pursuit, and rough Southwestern justice. Victims push back, bad guys get chased, and the desert itself feels like part of the reckoning.
SoWest: Crime Time
by Isabella Maldonado
2013
This Desert Sleuths anthology mixes Arizona crime stories with dark humor and sharp reversals. Maldonado's contribution follows a cleaning lady whose secret side business turns tidy houses and murder scenes into the same line of work.
Blood's Echo
by Isabella Maldonado
2017
After a cartel takedown collapses, Phoenix detective Veranda Cruz is shoved into Homicide and stripped of the case that defined her. With new partner Sam Stark, she keeps digging into the Villalobos family and risks exposing secrets of her own.
Phoenix Burning
by Isabella Maldonado
2018
Veranda Cruz leads a new task force against the Villalobos crime family just as Phoenix spirals into fresh violence. When Adolfo Villalobos frames her and strips away her badge, stopping him becomes her only way back.
Death Blow
by Isabella Maldonado
2019
An explosion in Phoenix puts Veranda Cruz back in the Villalobos family's sights. With cartel enforcer Salazar and power-hungry Daria Villalobos both hunting her, Veranda must outthink two killers before they destroy everyone she loves.
The Cipher
by Isabella Maldonado
2020
FBI agent Nina Guerrera survived a serial killer as a teenager, then built a life around never being helpless again. When a viral video reveals her identity, the same predator returns, taunting her with coded clues and fresh murders.
A Different Dawn
by Isabella Maldonado
2021
Nina Guerrera and her new FBI team investigate family murders linked by eerie ritual echoes of La Llorona. The deeper Nina digs, the closer the case moves to her own past and a choice that could cost her everything.
The Falcon
by Isabella Maldonado
2022
Six college women vanish, and FBI agent Nina Guerrera finds herself chasing a predator with patience, control, and a terrifying method. As preserved bodies appear and the case turns personal, Nina must confront her deepest failure.
A Killer’s Game
by Isabella Maldonado
2023
FBI agent and former codebreaker Dani Vega sees a political murder on a Manhattan sidewalk and follows the trail underground. Forced to work beside a killer turned informant, she enters a labyrinth of traps, conspiracies, and lethal puzzles.
A Forgotten Kill
by Isabella Maldonado
2024
When doubts about her father's murder resurface, FBI agent Dani Vega agrees to help an NYPD detective hunt a serial killer. Hidden patterns and riddles pull her toward a truth that could upend her past.
Fatal Intrusion
by Isabella Maldonado
2024
Homeland Security agent Carmen Sanchez investigates a string of eerily similar deaths among seemingly perfect couples in Southern California. Forced to team up with rule‑bending security expert Jake Heron, she races a merciless killer nicknamed Spider, whose intricate plan threatens both her family and the people she’s sworn to protect.
A Killer's Code
by Isabella Maldonado
2025
After informant Gustavo Toro dies, FBI agent Dani Vega is left with his last message and a trail of cryptic clues. Following them across the country means taking on a powerful adversary determined to bury the truth for good.
The Grave Artist
by Isabella Maldonado
2025
In the second Sanchez & Heron novel, a new series of killings appears to target couples at the happiest moments of their lives. As Carmen Sanchez and Jake Heron close in, they realize the murderer is studying their moves and may have added the investigators themselves to his list of perfect victims.
Exit Wound
by Isabella Maldonado
2026
Veranda Cruz is closer than ever to ending the Villalobos crime family's reign when an extradition effort collapses and Phoenix erupts again. To finish the fight, she must face Hector Villalobos himself, and the ties that bind them.
Face Last Seen
by Isabella Maldonado
2026
A stolen autonomous weapon sends Carmen Sanchez and Jake Heron into a fast-moving hunt through mercenaries, arms dealers, and deception. As the conspiracy tightens and Jake falls under suspicion, Carmen has to decide whether she can still trust her partner.
Where should I start?
If you want FBI cat-and-mouse thrillers: The Cipher → A Different Dawn → The Falcon
If you like codes, conspiracies, and undercover danger: A Killer’s Game → A Forgotten Kill → A Killer's Code
If you want gritty Phoenix police procedurals: Blood's Echo → Phoenix Burning → Death Blow → Exit Wound
If you want a co-written investigative duo: Fatal Intrusion → The Grave Artist → Face Last Seen
Author bio
Isabella Maldonado was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Long before she started publishing thrillers, she spent more than two decades in law enforcement, learning how pressure changes people and how small details can crack a case open.
She worked a wide range of jobs in the Fairfax County Police Department, patrol officer, recruit instructor, hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. She became the first Latina to reach the rank of captain in that department. As a captain she commanded a precinct of about 150 people, and she retired as Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics, overseeing units that included CSI, computer forensics, fingerprint analysis, video, surveillance, and the crime lab.
One high point of that career was graduating from the FBI National Academy in Quantico.
After retiring and moving to the Phoenix area, she decided to build a second career around the kind of books she had always loved to read. She joined the Desert Sleuths chapter of Sisters in Crime in 2010, spent years going to workshops and conferences, and wrote short fiction while learning how different novel writing is from police report writing. She has said that police work trained her to focus on facts, while fiction demanded feeling, voice, and scene. In 2015 she was elected chapter president, and not long after that she sold the books that launched her fiction career.
Her first novels introduced Phoenix detective Veranda Cruz. In Blood's Echo, Phoenix Burning, and Death Blow, she writes about cartel violence, department politics, and the personal cost of chasing powerful people who do not fight fair. Readers who like those books usually respond to the lived-in police detail, the Phoenix setting, and Veranda's mix of grit, family loyalty, and stubborn drive.
Then came FBI agent Nina Guerrera, the survivor at the center of The Cipher. That series, which continues with A Different Dawn and The Falcon, leans into serial killers, online taunts, behavioral analysis, and the long aftereffects of trauma. Nina is tough, but she is not invincible, and that balance is a big part of why the books connect with readers.
Maldonado clearly likes stories built around codes, patterns, and people who refuse to stay broken.
You can see that again in her Daniela Vega novels, A Killer’s Game, A Forgotten Kill, and A Killer's Code. Dani is an FBI agent and former military codebreaker, so those books tilt toward conspiracies, riddles, and hidden agendas, while still keeping one foot in grounded investigative work. A Forgotten Kill was nominated for an Edgar Award, and the series shows how comfortable Maldonado is writing both action and puzzle-solving.
She has also teamed up with Jeffery Deaver on the Sanchez & Heron books, starting with Fatal Intrusion and continuing with The Grave Artist. The pairing makes sense. Her novels often circle the same questions, who gets believed, how people survive violence, what institutions can do well, and where they fail. She tends to write women in law enforcement who are highly competent, a little guarded, and very hard to scare off.
Now she writes from Arizona and balances book deadlines with family life. The police work is behind her, but its influence is all over the fiction: fast cases, real procedure, sharp stakes, and characters who know that doing the right thing rarely comes easy.
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.
Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts