Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night Books in Order
Part ofGigi Pandian Books in OrderSee the Mad for Mod, or Madison Night, books by Diane Vallere in order, with quick summaries, series background, and where to start.
Last updated: July 4, 2026
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Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night books in publication order
15 books
Other People's Baggage
by Diane Vallere
2012
A storm, a luggage mix-up, and three sharp amateur sleuths set this linked novella collection in motion. Each wrong suitcase opens the door to a different mystery, with the stories cleverly crossing paths along the way.
Pillow Stalk
by Diane Vallere
2012
Madison Night's retro style makes her memorable, and suddenly that feels dangerous. When a killer targets women dressed like her, Madison has to solve the case before her signature look makes her the next victim.
That Touch of Ink
by Diane Vallere
2013
A mysterious five-thousand-dollar bill arrives in Madison Night's mail like a threat from the past. Her search for the sender leads to a dead body, a returning ex, and a trail of rare money and counterfeit trouble.
With Vics You Get Eggroll
by Diane Vallere
2015
Madison Night is juggling clients and a product endorsement when reports of missing women turn into murder. Evidence points at Tex Allen, and Madison must untangle a copycat scheme before someone she cares about is destroyed.
The Decorator Who Knew Too Much
by Diane Vallere
2017
A Palm Springs decorating job should be a welcome escape for Madison Night. Instead she finds a body by the work site, old nightmares resurfacing, and a murder that hits far too close to the help she has been told to seek.
Lover Come Hack
by Diane Vallere
2018
After a falling-out with a close friend, Madison Night throws herself into a design competition to steady her life. Then the friend is murdered, and a wave of anonymous hacking turns a personal feud into a much darker puzzle.
Midnight Ice
by Diane Vallere
2018
Heartbroken and looking for distance, Madison Night heads cross-country to escape a breakup. Instead she stumbles into danger, missing diamonds, and the hard truth that running away does not leave the past behind.
The Pajama Frame
by Diane Vallere
2018
An elderly friend leaves Madison Night a shuttered pajama factory, along with more questions than comfort. As she digs into an old death tied to the building, the factory's buried secrets start feeling very much alive.
Apprehend Me No Flowers
by Diane Vallere
2020
With her business tied up in court, Madison Night is desperate for a distraction, and finds one when she and Tex discover two bodies in a park. A volunteer project and a neighborhood florist soon pull her deeper into the cold case.
Teacher's Threat
by Diane Vallere
2021
Trying to rebuild after losing her business, Madison Night heads back to school for an MBA. When a professor is murdered after a tense class, she has to study the people around her before the case turns deadly.
Love Me or Grieve Me
by Diane Vallere
2022
A newspaper obituary mix-up leaves Madison Night reading about her own supposed death. The mistake leads her to a forgotten jazz singer, an old unsolved murder, and secrets that may put Madison next in line.
The Kill of it All
by Diane Vallere
2022
Madison Night's business is finally taking off when a police publicity campaign puts her in front of the cameras. Then the original spokeswoman is murdered, and Madison learns that the spotlight can be a dangerous place to stand.
Please Don't Push Up the Daisies
by Diane Vallere
2023
When Madison Night meets Tex Allen's family, she expects awkward introductions, not a corpse in an arboretum. With Tex sidelined and tensions blooming everywhere, Madison has to dig through rivalries and grudges before they bury her too.
The Glass Bottom Hoax
by Diane Vallere
2024
Madison Night goes undercover on a cruise ship as a Doris Day impersonator, with Tex posing as her manager husband. Then the entertainment director is murdered, and Madison has to expose both a killer and a possible crime ring at sea.
My Nightmare Is Yours
by Diane Vallere
2026
A retro recording studio job turns tricky when Madison Night's client becomes tangled in a singer's murder. As suspects crowd the stage and Tex backs the wrong theory, Madison has to find the truth before loyalty ruins everything.
Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night books in chronological order

Midnight Ice
by Diane Vallere
2018Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 1
Pillow Stalk
by Diane Vallere
2012Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 2
That Touch of Ink
by Diane Vallere
2013Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 3
With Vics You Get Eggroll
by Diane Vallere
2015Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 4
The Decorator Who Knew Too Much
by Diane Vallere
2017Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 5
The Pajama Frame
by Diane Vallere
2018Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 6
Lover Come Hack
by Diane Vallere
2018Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 7
Other People's Baggage
by Diane Vallere
2012Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 8
Apprehend Me No Flowers
by Diane Vallere
2020Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 9
Teacher's Threat
by Diane Vallere
2021Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 10
The Kill of it All
by Diane Vallere
2022Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 11
Love Me or Grieve Me
by Diane Vallere
2022Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 12
Please Don't Push Up the Daisies
by Diane Vallere
2023Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 13
The Glass Bottom Hoax
by Diane Vallere
2024Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 14
My Nightmare Is Yours
by Diane Vallere
2026Mad For Mod Mystery/Madison Night, Book 15
Series background & context
The Madison Night books are cozy mysteries with a strong visual identity. Madison is a forty-seven-year-old interior decorator in Dallas who has modeled her style, and in some ways her whole life, on the bright polish and grit of classic Doris Day heroines. She loves mid-century design, vintage fashion, and clean lines, but she is no nostalgic pushover. She runs a business, manages complicated relationships, and keeps finding herself uncomfortably close to murder.
That mix is the hook. Madison can appreciate the perfect lamp or wallpaper choice one minute and start pulling at a clue the next. The novels use decorating jobs, inherited properties, old film lore, business trouble, and social connections as the entry point into each crime. Because Madison is always working, the mysteries never feel pasted onto her life. They grow naturally out of it.
The first book, Pillow Stalk, lays out the core idea beautifully when a killer begins targeting women who resemble Madison's signature retro look. From there, books like That Touch of Ink and With Vics You Get Eggroll widen the circle, bringing in ex-lovers, suspicious clients, police drama, and the uneasy way the past keeps turning up in the present. Later books such as The Decorator Who Knew Too Much, The Pajama Frame, and Lover Come Hack lean even harder into Madison's personal life, her business setbacks, and the strain of deciding who she can trust.
The dog helps too. Rock, Madison's loyal Shih Tzu, gives the series some warmth without turning it overly cute.
A big part of the ongoing appeal is that Madison is solving crimes while also rebuilding herself. She is dealing with finances, loneliness, friendship fallout, romance, and the simple fact that starting over in midlife can be messy. That gives the books more emotional heft than the playful titles first suggest. Even when later entries take her to classrooms, cruise ships, arboretums, or retro recording studios, the through line stays the same: Madison is trying to protect the life she has made while figuring out who wants to break it.
The tone is traditional and clue-focused, but not stiff. These are fair-play whodunits with style, humor, and a heroine who notices texture, color, mood, and motive all at once. If you like mysteries where design matters, relationships matter, and the crimes feel tangled up with ordinary life, this series has a very steady charm.
Start with Midnight Ice if you want the prequel, but Pillow Stalk is the real front door.
Edited by
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