Kerry Casey Books in Order

The Kerry Casey novels step away from the newsroom and straight into the heart of Glasgow's criminal underworld. Kerry grows up determined to keep her distance from the family firm, studies law and builds a respectable life, only to be dragged back when violence tears her clan apart.

In Blood Feud she takes centre stage at her brother's funeral, expecting grief and ceremony and getting carnage instead. Gunmen open fire, her mother is killed in the crossfire and Kerry finds herself the last Casey standing who is strong enough to take charge. She never wanted to run a gang, but vengeance and loyalty pull her into the role before she has time to think.

From that point on the central question is whether Kerry can turn a dirty empire clean without destroying herself and the people she loves.

Kerry is not a cartoon gangster. She is sharp, educated and painfully aware of what drugs, people trafficking and intimidation do to ordinary families. With allies like her tough business partner Sharon and her streetwise lawyer Marty, she tries to steer the organisation toward legitimate money, even as rivals come at her from all sides. Fight Back finds her consolidating power at home while pushing into Spanish property deals on the Costa del Sol, a move that brings fresh enemies from abroad.

The stakes rise again in End Game, when London criminal William 'Wolfie' Wolfe and his daughter Hannah arrive with a suitcase full of stolen diamonds and an offer of alliance. The stones carry more baggage than anyone realises, and soon Kerry is caught between dangerous new partners and old scores she has been waiting to settle. By Trapped she is reeling from personal loss, pregnant by an undercover cop who has vanished, and framed for a double murder that lands her behind bars while her crew hunts for the people who set her up.

Across the series, readers see gangland life from the inside: smoky back rooms, battered housing schemes, sun-baked Spanish hideouts and the claustrophobic wings of a women's prison. The violence is brutal, but it is always tied to family loyalties, business choices and the question of how far Kerry will go to keep a promise to her late father that the Caseys will one day go straight.

These books are ideal if you like your crime stories fuelled by power struggles, revenge and messy love lives, with a strong woman at the centre trying to keep control of an empire that could collapse at any moment.