Lakeside Murder Books in Order

Lakeside Murder begins with Four and Twenty Blackbirds, a supernatural mystery set on Blackbird Island during a wintry break in 1997. The island is preparing for its annual New Year's Festival, but the celebration sits beside generations of local grudges, old money, and secrets that have not stayed safely in the past.

The first story follows Wren Peters, a dancer, math nerd, and one-third of a close dance squad called the Inseparables. She is home for the break, helping with festival preparations and trying not to think about Archer Sullivan. That would be easier if their families had not been feuding for generations, or if Archer were not so difficult to ignore.

Then Wren dreams of a man being chased across a frozen lake.

When that man turns up dead, the nightmare stops looking like a nightmare. Wren's older sister and Archer's older brother were the last people to see him alive, and both vanish soon afterward. Wren and Archer are forced into a secret alliance, despite their families' history and the growing tension between them.

The mystery takes them into Blackbird Island's past, where buried stories about wealth, family, and the island itself begin to matter. Wren's dreams worsen, and visions start crossing into her waking life. That supernatural thread gives the book its horror edge, while the missing siblings and murder keep the investigation moving.

This is a small-town mystery with cold weather, a closed-in island setting, family baggage, and an enemies-to-lovers partnership at its center. The New Year's Festival provides a busy public backdrop, but the story's mood is more uneasy than festive. Wren must work out what her visions mean before the killer acts again, while Archer becomes both a necessary ally and a complication she did not want.

Because Four and Twenty Blackbirds is the opening book, it is the natural place to start. Readers can expect a mix of murder investigation, supernatural warning signs, romantic friction, and the unsettling feeling that Blackbird Island has been keeping score for a very long time.