New Orleans (Karen Rose) Books in Order

The New Orleans books introduce Broussard Investigations, a high end private security and detective agency made up of former cops and military veterans who specialise in cases the local system cannot or will not handle. Set amid the food, music and humidity of the city, the series blends political corruption with very personal stakes.

Quarter to Midnight kicks things off when chef Gabe Hebert refuses to believe his police officer father died by suicide. He turns to family friend Burke Broussard, whose firm assigns ex Marine Molly Sutton to dig into the case. Their search uncovers a pattern of cover ups inside the New Orleans Police Department and a line of powerful people willing to kill to protect their secrets.

In Beneath Dark Waters, public prosecutor Kaj Cardozo is in the middle of a headline grabbing sexual assault case when someone tries to kidnap his young son as leverage. Veteran Marine Val Sorensen, now a bodyguard with Broussard Investigations, moves into Kaj's home to protect the boy. The trio are soon battling a revived drug gang, hit men and lingering rot inside the police force, all set against the eerie beauty of the Louisiana bayou.

Buried Too Deep turns the spotlight to night security guard and former soldier Phin Bishop, who becomes a suspect after a violent break in at Broussard's office. The only person who fully believes in his innocence is Cora Winslow, a librarian whose father, thought murdered decades ago, has just been found buried under a demolished building. As they follow the trail of forged documents and long buried fraud, they discover that someone will kill to keep old crimes hidden.

In Knife in the Back, Burke himself steps into the hero role when former officer Naomi Cranston, once widely assumed to be a dirty cop, asks the firm for help. Framed for stealing drugs from the evidence locker and blackmailed into silence to protect her son, she has served her sentence and built a small flower shop. When the same corrupt ring tries to drag her back into moving narcotics, Burke must decide whether to trust her and take on the deep seated corruption inside the department that forced him out years ago.

As with Rose's other city arcs, the New Orleans books are linked by a continuing investigation into police corruption, but each novel also tells a complete story about one couple and one central crime. The atmosphere is rich with local detail, from Garden District mansions to backstreet clubs, and the Broussard team functions as both found family and a kind of private cavalry for people the system has failed.