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Lee Strauss Books in Order

Explore Lee Strauss books in order, from Ginger Gold mysteries to YA time travel and dystopian fiction, with summaries, series notes, and where to start.

Last updated: July 4, 2026

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88 books

Clockwise

by Lee Strauss

2011

Casey Donovan can barely survive high school, let alone her sudden trips to the nineteenth century. Things get even messier when her secret crush, Nate Mackenzie, is dragged into the past with her.

Ambition

by Lee Strauss

2012

This short prequel follows Noah Brody before *Perception*. Angry at the GAP system and drawn to Zoe despite himself, he begins the conflict that will reshape both their lives.

Clocked

by Lee Strauss

2012

This companion novelette retells part of the *Clockwise* story from Nate Mackenzie's point of view. It fills in the dare, the dance, and the shocking trip to 1860 that changes how he sees Casey.

It's a Little Haywire

by Lee Strauss

2012

Owen True is sent to tiny Hayward, Washington while his mother is away, and the town feels stranger than ever. A homeless man, a struggling mill town, and a ghostly fog train turn his visit into a real adventure.

Like Clockwork

by Lee Strauss

2012

Adeline Savoy hopes a move to Hollywood will fix her lonely life, but time keeps pulling her back to 1955. There she finds friendship, danger, and a boy from the past who may be exactly the wrong choice.

Love, Tink Collection

by Lee Strauss

2012

This complete collection gathers all six *Love, Tink* episodes in one volume. Tink helps Peter leave Neverland for New York, then has to decide whether love is worth betraying everything she knows.

Perception

by Lee Strauss

2012

Zoe Vanderveen lives in privilege as a genetically altered teen inside a walled city. When her brother disappears, the only person who may help her is Noah Brody, the angry outsider she should never trust.

Playing with Matches

by Lee Strauss

2012

Emil Radle is a loyal Hitler Youth boy until forbidden radio broadcasts show him the truth about the war. He and his friends risk everything to resist, even as the Eastern Front closes in.

A Piece of Blue String

by Lee Strauss

2013

This shorter historical piece focuses on fragile hope in hard times. Lee Strauss keeps the scale intimate, using one small thread of memory and courage to carry a larger emotional weight.

Contrition

by Lee Strauss

2013

In the final book of the trilogy, Zoe, Noah, and their allies hide in the desert while war looms. Love, loyalty, and survival all come to a head as the fight over their fractured future turns desperate.

East of Eden

by Lee Strauss

2013

A compact standalone that leans into longing, distance, and difficult choices. It is a brief but emotional Lee Strauss read, more interested in the heart of a turning point than in easy answers.

Volition

by Lee Strauss

2013

On the run after the events of *Perception*, Zoe and Noah are pushed from safe place to safe place with enemies closing in. Their bond is tested as the wider fight against the system grows more dangerous.

Flesh & Bone

by Lee Strauss

2014

Eva Baumann has learned to hide since her accident, while musician Sebastian Weiss is famous, blocked, and full of guilt. Their creative partnership draws them close, but the truth between them is anything but simple.

Gingerbread Man

by Lee Strauss

2014

College freshman Marlow thinks he's chatting with a cute girl online, until she is murdered and somehow still seems present. With sharp, intimidating Sage Farrell, he hunts the truth behind the handle @gingerbreadman.

Heart & Soul

by Lee Strauss

2014

This spin-off from the *Minstrel* world brings another music-filled romance to center stage. Family ties, emotional baggage, and the pull of performance all shape a story about love that has to be fought for.

Sun & Moon

by Lee Strauss

2014

Singer-songwriter Katja Stoltz is broke, vulnerable, and trying to survive in Dresden when Micah Sturm offers her a place to stay. Their attraction is immediate, but his secret could ruin everything.

Clockwork Crazy

by Lee Strauss

2015

Casey's breakup with Nate sends her time travel spiraling out of control. One moment she is in 1929 Boston, the next she is in 1775 trying to keep history from going off the rails.

Counter Clockwise

by Lee Strauss

2015

Casey and Nate are back, but a jealousy-fueled mistake knocks Casey into the wrong past entirely. Now she is stuck in 1929, and she did not arrive alone.

Peace & Goodwill

by Lee Strauss

2015

A warm holiday story set in Lee Strauss's music-centered romance world. It blends Christmas atmosphere, emotional healing, and the stubborn hope that love can still find a way through old hurts.

Articles of Faith and Other Short Stories

by Lee Strauss

2016

A short story collection that shows Lee Strauss working in a smaller, sharper form. The pieces explore turning points, secrets, and emotional collisions across several moods and settings.

Hickory Dickory Dock

by Lee Strauss

2016

The third Nursery Rhyme Suspense book keeps Marlow and Sage chasing clues through a world of hidden motives and digital deception. The danger feels closer now, and the cost of trusting the wrong person keeps rising.

Life is But a Dream

by Lee Strauss

2016

Marlow and Sage's strange case is far from over. Online secrets, shifting identities, and a threat that refuses to stay contained pull them deeper into danger.

Seaweed

by Lee Strauss

2016

Teen swim star Dori Seward wants out of her sleepy border town, not a brush with the supernatural. Then Tor Riley arrives, and his secret pulls her toward a dangerous merfolk world beneath the waves.

Twinkle Little Star

by Lee Strauss

2016

This series finale raises the stakes for Marlow and Sage one last time. What began as an unsettling online mystery becomes a full showdown with the forces that have been stalking them from the shadows.

Girl in Reverse

by Lee Strauss

2017

A standalone with a speculative edge, this story follows a girl whose sense of past and present will not stay in place. It is an emotional, fast-moving read about identity, memory, and choices that refuse to stay buried.

I Spy with My Little Eye

by Lee Strauss

2017

A dead Santa at the mall throws Marlow and Sage into a short, frantic mystery. Soon they are trying to protect Sage, expose a hidden enemy, and survive a very strange brush with espionage.

Murder at Bray Manor

by Lee Strauss

2017

A plea from Ginger's sister-in-law brings her to Bray Manor, where ghost stories and family tensions are already running high. Then a guest dies at a fundraiser, and the haunting becomes the least of anyone's worries.

Murder at Feathers & Flair

by Lee Strauss

2017

Fashion, gossip, and high society make a glittering cover for murder in this early Ginger Gold case. Ginger and Basil must untangle appearances before another polished surface cracks open.

Murder at Hartigan House

by Lee Strauss

2017

Back in London, Ginger returns to her family home and finds a skeleton hidden in the attic. The clues point toward a long-buried scandal and a mystery that may stain her father's memory.

Murder on the SS Rosa

by Lee Strauss

2017

In 1923, widowed Lady Ginger Gold sails from Boston back to England and finds murder aboard ship before she even reaches home. The case introduces Ginger, Chief Inspector Basil Reed, and a world full of stylish trouble.

Murder Aboard the Flying Scotsman

by Lee Strauss

2018

A famous train journey gives Ginger and Basil the perfect setting for a classic closed-circle mystery. Once the murder happens, no one on board feels quite as polished or innocent as they seem.

Murder at Kensington Gardens

by Lee Strauss

2018

A day that should feel leisurely in one of London's best-known settings turns deadly for Ginger Gold. Behind the elegance lie performance, scandal, and motives no one wants brought into the light.

Murder at St. George's Church

by Lee Strauss

2018

Even a church cannot guarantee peace in Ginger Gold's London. A solemn setting, tangled loyalties, and a fresh death force Ginger and Basil back into another sharp-edged investigation.

Murder at the Mortuary

by Lee Strauss

2018

A mortuary is the last place Ginger expects fresh trouble, but death rarely stays tidy in her world. This case draws her into a darker tangle of secrets, suspicion, and 1920s London intrigue.

The Wedding of Ginger & Basil

by Lee Strauss

2018

Ginger and Basil finally move toward their long-awaited wedding, but life around them is never entirely simple. This novella adds romance, family bustle, and period charm to the wider series.

Death at the Tavern

by Lee Strauss

2019

In 1930s Boston, Dr. Haley Higgins and journalist Samantha Hawke are drawn together by a suspicious death and the questions around it. Their unlikely partnership becomes the heart of a fresh historical mystery series.

Death on Hanover

by Lee Strauss

2019

Another Boston death sends Haley and Samantha into a maze of motives, neighborhood tensions, and buried truths. Their friendship deepens as the city keeps offering more danger than either woman asked for.

Death on the Tower

by Lee Strauss

2019

Haley Higgins and Samantha Hawke face a new Boston case where a death tied to a local landmark refuses to make easy sense. Science, reporting, and persistence become their best tools.

In Light of Us

by Lee Strauss

2019

Set in the same singer-songwriter world, this connected romance follows characters trying to step out from old damage and into something steadier. Music, trust, and timing all matter here.

Lady Gold Investigates

by Lee Strauss

2019

These two short cases introduce Ginger's new detective agency with sister-in-law Felicia. A vanished child and a missing fox stole prove that private investigation suits Lady Gold very well.

Lady Gold Investigates Volume 2

by Lee Strauss

2019

Ginger and Felicia take on more quick-turnaround cases in 1920s London. The stories are short, stylish, and perfect for readers who want more of Lady Gold's detective work in smaller bites.

Lady Gold Investigates Volume 3

by Lee Strauss

2019

Another pair of brief mysteries keeps Ginger's private office busy. Expect missing items, suspicious clients, and the quiet social panic that follows when upper-class secrets start to slip.

Living in Starlight

by Lee Strauss

2019

This later *Light & Love* entry keeps the series focus on tenderness, connection, and hard-won hope. It is a quiet, heartfelt romance for readers who like linked characters and emotional second chances.

Murder at the Boat Club

by Lee Strauss

2019

An outing among polished company and waterside privilege turns sour when death enters the picture. Ginger must sort through class tensions, private grudges, and a very public facade of respectability.

Murder by Plum Pudding

by Lee Strauss

2019

A festive season does not stop murder from arriving at Ginger Gold's door. This holiday mystery mixes Christmas atmosphere with sharp clues, family complications, and a killer hiding in plain sight.

Murder on Eaton Square

by Lee Strauss

2019

Eaton Square offers prestige, elegance, and more than enough secrets to support a murder. Ginger is pulled into another high-society puzzle where reputation matters almost as much as guilt.

Sing Me a Love Song

by Lee Strauss

2019

Katja Stoltz has lived through poverty, danger, and too many broken plans, but she still refuses to give up music. Then Micah offers help, and their growing attraction collides with the secret he keeps hidden.

Your Love is Sweet

by Lee Strauss

2019

Another gentle romance in Lee Strauss's music-centered world, this story pairs emotional vulnerability with the pull of creative life. Love looks possible, but only if the past loosens its grip first.

Lady Gold Investigates Volume 4

by Lee Strauss

2020

More short Lady Gold cases arrive in this fourth collection. Ginger's private office keeps attracting clients with delicate problems that turn out to be more tangled than they first appear.

Murder and Rock 'n Roll

by Lee Strauss

2020

At a 1956 rock and roll concert headlined by a young Elvis Presley, a press photographer is found dead onstage. Rosa is drawn back into investigation and back beside Miguel at the worst possible time.

Murder at Brighton Beach

by Lee Strauss

2020

A trip to the seaside should mean rest, but Brighton gives Ginger another murder instead. Beneath the holiday mood lie grudges, performances, and the usual dangerous mix of money and appearances.

Murder at High Tide

by Lee Strauss

2020

In 1956, Rosa Reed escapes London for Santa Bonita, California, only to find a body floating ashore at her aunt's charity event. Solving it means working again with former flame Detective Miguel Belmonte.

Murder at the Bomb Shelter

by Lee Strauss

2020

Cold War nerves and postwar secrets add extra tension to this Rosa Reed mystery. What looks like ordinary mid-century life starts to feel much darker once a death points toward foul play.

Murder at the Races

by Lee Strauss

2020

Rosa heads into a world of spectators, money, and nerves in this racetrack mystery. The pace is lively, but the clues are slippery, and someone in the crowd has far more to lose than they admit.

Murder in Hyde Park

by Lee Strauss

2020

Hyde Park offers open space, but not much clarity once murder enters the scene. Ginger and Basil must work through a fresh round of social masks, public spectacle, and private motives.

Murder on Fleet Street

by Lee Strauss

2020

Fleet Street brings Ginger Gold into a world of papers, pressure, and people who profit from shaping a story. The truth is still there, but this time it is competing with headlines and spin.

Murder on Location

by Lee Strauss

2020

A film setting gives Rosa Reed one of her most theatrical cases yet. Behind the cameras and curated glamour, a real crime demands the kind of sharp eye Rosa cannot help bringing to the scene.

Murder on the Boardwalk

by Lee Strauss

2020

Rosa's second California case takes her into the bright, busy world of the boardwalk, where fun and danger sit side by side. The seaside glamour cannot hide what someone is prepared to kill for.

Mystery on Valentine's Day

by Lee Strauss

2020

A romantic evening goes wrong when women at a dinner dance begin discovering missing jewelry. Ginger Gold teams up with Violet Carlyle in this brisk crossover mystery full of charm and closed-room mischief.

Death by Dancing

by Lee Strauss

2021

Haley Higgins and Samantha Hawke step into a case where movement, glamour, and performance hide a fatal truth. Their partnership keeps getting stronger as the dangers around them get more personal.

Murder at the Dude Ranch

by Lee Strauss

2021

Rosa hopes for a restful weekend at the Black Stallion Dude Ranch, but a horse returns without its rider and foul play soon follows. Clearing her cousin's name means riding straight into another tangled case.

Murder at the Royal Albert Hall

by Lee Strauss

2021

A famous venue gives Ginger Gold a grand setting for another murder. Music, society, and performance all matter here, but beneath the spectacle is a very personal reason for someone to kill.

Murder in Belgravia

by Lee Strauss

2021

Belgravia's polish cannot protect it from scandal or violence. Ginger is pulled into a case where wealth, neighborhood respectability, and hidden resentment prove a dangerous combination.

Murder in London

by Lee Strauss

2021

Rosa returns to London in a case that ties her California life back to the city she left behind. The old setting sharpens the emotional stakes while the mystery keeps turning tighter.

Murder on Mallowan Court

by Lee Strauss

2021

A grand house, a tight social set, and a fresh death make this another satisfying Ginger Gold puzzle. Everyone has a role to play, but at least one guest is acting for much darker reasons.

Murder at the Boxing Club

by Lee Strauss

2022

A boxing club brings Ginger into a tougher, noisier corner of her world, where status and violence meet more openly. Beneath the sport lies a motive sharp enough to kill for.

Murder at the Circus

by Lee Strauss

2022

The circus offers spectacle, misdirection, and the perfect place for a killer to hide. Ginger must look past performance and illusion to find who turned the show deadly.

Murder at the Fiesta

by Lee Strauss

2022

A festive celebration in California becomes Rosa Reed's next crime scene. Bright color and community spirit only make the darker motives underneath more surprising.

Murder at the Savoy

by Lee Strauss

2022

A stay at one of London's most famous hotels gives Ginger a dazzling backdrop for murder. Luxury, gossip, and carefully managed public image all begin to fray once the investigation starts.

Murder at the Weddings

by Lee Strauss

2022

Weddings should promise joy, not murder, but Rosa Reed knows celebrations can hide plenty of tension. This case mixes family emotion, public festivity, and a crime no one wants attached to the happy day.

Murder in France

by Lee Strauss

2022

Travel takes Ginger out of England, but not out of danger. A French setting gives this mystery fresh atmosphere while keeping the series' familiar mix of elegance, suspicion, and layered secrets.

Death on Tremont Row

by Lee Strauss

2023

Haley and Samantha take on a death linked to one of Boston's historic streets, where business and reputation are tightly wound together. Every new fact complicates what first looked straightforward.

Lady Gold Investigates Volume 5

by Lee Strauss

2023

The fifth Lady Gold collection delivers more quick cases for Ginger's growing agency. These short mysteries are neat, brisk, and full of the discreet trouble polite society never wants named aloud.

Lady Gold Investigates Volume 6

by Lee Strauss

2023

Two more short 1920s cases keep Lady Gold's office busy in this sixth volume. Ginger's talent for reading rooms and motives remains the series' greatest pleasure.

Murder at Madame Tussauds

by Lee Strauss

2023

Wax figures and famous faces create an eerie stage for Ginger's next investigation. The setting is memorable, but it is the human motives behind the display that make this case truly unsettling.

Murder at St. Paul's Cathedral

by Lee Strauss

2023

A murder tied to one of London's most famous landmarks gives Ginger and Basil another high-profile problem. Sacred space, public attention, and private guilt make the stakes especially tricky.

Murder at Yuletide

by Lee Strauss

2023

Yuletide cheer meets Ginger Gold suspicion in this holiday mystery. Seasonal warmth, old resentments, and a new death make for a festive case with a sharp edge.

Death at King's Chapel

by Lee Strauss

2024

A historic chapel gives Haley Higgins and Samantha Hawke a setting packed with atmosphere and secrets. The case asks them to balance evidence, instinct, and the many things respectable people try to hide.

Murder at the Olympics

by Lee Strauss

2024

International spectacle gives Ginger Gold one of her widest stages yet. National pride, public celebration, and personal ambition all tangle together once murder intrudes on the games.

Lady Gold Investigates - Volume 7

by Lee Strauss

2025

This seventh collection returns to Ginger's private cases in smaller, satisfying doses. Expect more clever deductions, social secrets, and 1920s problems too delicate for the police to handle gracefully.

Murder at the Cave of Harmony

by Lee Strauss

2025

A night at the Cave of Harmony jazz club turns deadly when a musician collapses mid-performance. Ginger, Felicia, and Magna Jones chase the truth through smoke, glamour, and a room full of possible suspects.

Murder at the Maharaja's Courts

by Lee Strauss

2025

A discreet job tied to missing heirlooms pulls Ginger and Basil toward a maharaja's palace in India. The farther they go, the more politics, privilege, and danger crowd the edges of the case.

Murder in the Painted Mask

by Lee Strauss

2025

A masked weekend house party and private art auction should mean escape for Ginger and Basil. Instead, blackmail, family history, and the murder of a provocative artist turn elegance into a trap.

The Velvet Spy

by Lee Strauss

2025

Presented as Lady Ginger Gold's wartime journal, this prequel follows her service in British Intelligence during the Great War. Espionage, danger, and personal sacrifice reveal the making of the woman readers know later.

The Velvet Spy, Vol. 2

by Lee Strauss

2025

The journal continues as Ginger faces more perilous assignments across occupied Europe. The missions deepen, the losses cut harder, and the true cost of courage becomes impossible to ignore.

New

Murder at Lake Como

by Lee Strauss

2026

In the summer of 1929, Ginger and Basil accept an invitation to an Italian villa on Lake Como. Sunlit luxury, feuding artists, nobility, and political pressure soon narrow into murder.

New

Murder at Stormhaven Hall

by Lee Strauss

2026

A charity event at a grand manor gives Ginger and Basil an evening of champagne, inheritance, and unease. By midnight the heir is dead, and the room is full of people with reasons to lie.

New

Murder on Black Tuesday

by Lee Strauss

2026

October 1929 brings financial panic and a new mystery for Ginger Gold. As the world around her tilts toward crisis, she still has to sort fear from fact and catch a killer before the collapse claims more than money.

Where should I start?

If you want classic 1920s cozy mysteries: Murder on the SS RosaMurder at Hartigan HouseMurder at Bray Manor
If you want short, bite-sized detective cases: Lady Gold InvestigatesLady Gold Investigates Volume 2Lady Gold Investigates Volume 3
If you want 1950s California mysteries: Murder at High TideMurder on the BoardwalkMurder at the Bomb Shelter
If you want YA time travel romance: ClockwiseLike ClockworkCounter Clockwise
If you want dystopian science fiction: AmbitionPerceptionVolitionContrition

Author bio

Lee Strauss writes the kind of books that make room for both momentum and comfort. Some readers know her for the long-running Ginger Gold Mysteries. Others found her through YA time travel, dystopian fiction, sweet romance, or historical drama. That range is part of the story.

She did not begin with cozy mystery.

Before Ginger Gold arrived, Strauss moved through several different corners of fiction. She wrote young adult novels, middle grade stories, dystopian science fiction, fantasy-leaning romance, and later sweet contemporary romance. You can see that breadth in books like Clockwise, Perception, Seaweed, and Playing with Matches. Even when the genre shifts, her stories tend to keep the same pull, clear stakes, emotional tension, and characters who have to grow up a little faster than they expected.

On her own blog, Strauss has said that mystery once intimidated her because it asks a writer to build a puzzle and stay a step ahead of the reader. When she finally made the jump, it clicked. In 2017 she published Murder on the SS Rosa, the first Ginger Gold mystery, and that book opened the door to the series that would become the center of her catalog. It also led to connected projects like Lady Gold Investigates, The Velvet Spy, Rosa Reed, and Higgins & Hawke.

That shift makes sense in hindsight.

Her official author page describes her books as cozy historical mysteries set in 1920s England and beyond, with clever female sleuths, light intrigue, and clean, low-stress reading. That tone carries through much of her later work. Readers who like classic-style whodunits, stylish historical settings, and recurring characters they can settle in with tend to feel at home in her fiction.

But the mystery books are only one side of what she does. Her earlier and parallel work shows a real interest in speculative hooks and emotional what-if questions. Clockwise plays with accidental time travel and teenage longing. Perception imagines a divided future built around genetic privilege. Seaweed drops a competitive swimmer into a dangerous merfolk world. Playing with Matches turns to wartime Germany and asks what happens when loyalty and truth stop matching.

She also has a strong music thread running through part of her catalog. The Minstrel books and the later Light & Love romances lean into singer-songwriters, creative ambition, and relationships shaped by secrets, regret, and second chances. Even there, the focus stays grounded. Strauss tends to write people who are trying to build a life, not just chase a plot.

Outside the books, the details she shares are refreshingly ordinary. She likes cycling, hiking, reading, and staring at the ocean. She has a fondness for caffè lattes, red wine, and dark chocolate. She also plays ukulele bass in a folk duo with her husband, which feels very on brand for a writer whose books so often make room for music.

Strauss is also a USA TODAY bestselling author with a growing audio library, and her work has appeared in translation as well. The numbers matter, but what stands out more is the shape of the career. She has written across genres, kept experimenting, and eventually found a lasting home in historical mystery without giving up the parts of her imagination that got her there in the first place.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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