Lacy Glass Books in Order

Maria Hudgins's Lacy Glass books take the same interest in travel and history that runs through her Dotsy Lamb novels and give it a more archaeological twist. Lacy is Dr. Lacy Glass, a botanist and pigment specialist whose work sends her to ancient sites, expedition houses, and remote digs. Instead of stumbling into murder on vacation, she runs into it while trying to do serious scientific work. That shift gives the series a slightly tighter, more suspenseful feel.

The science matters here.

In Scorpion House, Lacy gets what looks like a career-making chance, a chance to work at the tomb of an ancient Egyptian nobleman near Luxor and live with a house full of specialists. She is there to study paint and dyes, which immediately makes her role feel specific and believable. Then the people around her start dying, beginning with the mentor she trusts most. The result is a classic closed-circle mystery, but dressed in excavation dust, academic rivalry, and the unsettling sense that no one in the house is quite what they seem.

The Man on the Istanbul Train keeps the same mix of scholarship and danger, but changes the shape of the puzzle. Lacy is in Istanbul gathering information when an archaeologist friend persuades her to join a dig in central Turkey. On the train out, she helps a shabby stranger, then sees him thrown from the moving train the next morning. When she reaches the dig, she learns that the wealthy backer shares the same name and has also died. That strange double death gives the book a strong hook, and the case widens from one shocking moment into questions about identity, money, and who is really in control of the dig.

Across both books, the setting does more than provide atmosphere. Egypt and Turkey are not just postcards in the background. Ancient tombs, train travel, field camps, and expert rivalries all shape the suspects and the risks. Lacy is often the outsider in a tight professional group, which makes every conversation matter. She has to sort through ambition, ego, and half-hidden histories while dealing with people who may know far more than they admit.

The tone is traditional mystery with an adventurous edge. Lacy is intelligent and capable, but she is not invincible. She asks questions because the facts bother her, not because she wants to play detective. That makes the danger land harder when it comes. There is also a personal thread in her connection with archaeologist Paul Hannah, which adds just enough emotional tension without crowding out the puzzle.

If you like mysteries with digs, ancient objects, and suspects trapped together by work, the Lacy Glass books are a good fit. They are compact, atmospheric stories that blend science, archaeology, and murder in a way that feels grounded and just a little exotic.