Most Recommended Books

Track reading, wishlists & new-book alerts

Get
Skip to content
Share:

Paula Gosling Books in Order

Browse Paula Gosling books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy starting points for Jack Stryker, Blackwater Bay, and more.

Last updated: July 12, 2026

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

View

Paula Gosling books in publication order

Sort:

18 books

A Running Duck

by Paula Gosling

1978

San Francisco copywriter Clare Randall is wounded by a sniper after helping a stranger on the street. Veteran Lieutenant Malchek takes over her protection and tries to draw out the hitman before Clare becomes an easier target.

Fair Game

by Paula Gosling

1978

Also published as A Running Duck, this thriller follows San Francisco copywriter Clare Randall after a sniper wounds her in broad daylight. Lieutenant Malchek, a former sniper, has to protect her and force the hidden gunman into the open.

The Zero Trap

by Paula Gosling

1979

After a hijacking, nine passengers wake in an isolated Arctic house with food, fuel, and no obvious guards. The freezing wilderness makes escape nearly impossible, and suspicion inside the house may be just as deadly as anything outside.

Loser's Blues

by Paula Gosling

1980

Jazz pianist Johnny Cosatelli becomes the obvious suspect when his ex-girlfriend is murdered. With police pressure mounting and her wealthy new lover bent on revenge, he has to clear his name before the case turns even more violent.

Mind's Eye

by Paula Gosling

1980

Neurologist Philip Elliot survives a car crash only to discover he can read minds. His move into ESP research leads him toward a woman with overwhelming psychic powers, and into a dangerous struggle over espionage, control, and weaponized thought.

The Woman In Red

by Paula Gosling

1983

When murder breaks into a close-knit circle of friends, every relationship starts to look dangerous. This is a slow-burn whodunit built on hidden motives, shifting suspicion, and the treachery beneath smooth social surfaces.

Monkey Puzzle

by Paula Gosling

1985

When a university professor is brutally murdered, Detective Lieutenant Jack Stryker faces a maze of suspects, old grudges, and more violence to come. As panic spreads across campus and the city, Stryker must find the mind behind the killings.

The Wychford Murders

by Paula Gosling

1986

Luke Abbott returns to his West Country hometown when an elderly woman is found with her throat cut. Old memories, village loyalties, and buried resentments turn the case into a deeply personal hunt for a killer.

Hoodwink

by Paula Gosling

1988

What looks like a small murder case for cop Jake Chase quickly spirals into kidnappings, old scandals, crooked politics, and a feud that reaches back years. It's an offbeat, fast-moving mystery where nearly every clue leads to fresh trouble.

Backlash

by Paula Gosling

1989

Four police officers are shot dead in separate precincts, and Jack Stryker is called into a case that keeps getting stranger. With federal agent Dana Marchant beside him, he hunts a patient marksman whose target list may be growing.

Death Penalties

by Paula Gosling

1992

After her husband dies in a suspicious car crash, Tess Leland tries to rebuild life with her son Max. Then the threats begin, and Luke Abbott's team must work out whether someone is finishing what the first attack started.

The Body in Blackwater Bay

by Paula Gosling

1992

Recovering from a gunshot wound at his girlfriend's island cottage, Detective Jack Stryker is pulled into a murder when a body turns up on a manicured lawn. Paradise quickly turns tense as he works with the local sheriff to untangle a sinister case.

A Few Dying Words

by Paula Gosling

1993

Halloween in Blackwater Bay means pranks, costumes, and the annual Howl, until Sheriff Matt Gabriel sees links to a killing from thirty years earlier. As the town doubts him, he races to stop a murderer hiding in plain sight.

The Dead of Winter

by Paula Gosling

1995

When a corpse surfaces through the ice, Blackwater Bay is thrown into winter panic. Sheriff Matt Gabriel and teacher Jess Gibbons must connect a mob-linked ex-con, a missing schoolgirl, and mounting local fear before the season turns deadlier.

Death and Shadows

by Paula Gosling

1999

A murdered nurse, vanishing drug supplies, and unexplained patient deaths unsettle Blackwater Bay's private clinic. New physiotherapist Laura Brandon starts asking questions and finds a workplace thick with grudges, secrets, and the possibility of a very personal killer.

Underneath Every Stone

by Paula Gosling

2000

During election season, Sheriff Matt Gabriel arrests hot-tempered outcast Frog Bartlett for an apparently motiveless murder. Then unrest spreads, another person dies, and Matt himself becomes a suspect in a case that tears through the whole town.

Ricochet

by Paula Gosling

2002

The deaths of Professor Mayhew and one of her students look unrelated at first, but Jack Stryker is not convinced. Distracted by strain in his relationship and a second private investigation, he must decide what really connects the two murders.

Tears of the Dragon

by Paula Gosling

2004

In 1930s Chicago, young writer Elodie Brown witnesses a killing at a wealthy Chinese importer's party after overhearing something she should not have heard. Her search for answers pulls her into mob violence, politics, and a much larger conspiracy.

Where to start with Paula Gosling

If you want the award-winning police novels: Monkey PuzzleBacklashRicochet
If you want a Great Lakes small-town mystery: The Body in Blackwater BayA Few Dying WordsThe Dead of Winter
If you want an English village investigation: The Wychford MurdersDeath Penalties
If you want stand-alone suspense: A Running DuckThe Zero TrapLoser's Blues

Blackwater Bay books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "The Body in Blackwater Bay"

    The Body in Blackwater Bay

    by Paula Gosling

    1992Blackwater Bay, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "A Few Dying Words"

    A Few Dying Words

    by Paula Gosling

    1993Blackwater Bay, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "The Dead of Winter"

    The Dead of Winter

    by Paula Gosling

    1995Blackwater Bay, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Death and Shadows"

    Death and Shadows

    by Paula Gosling

    1999Blackwater Bay, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Underneath Every Stone"

    Underneath Every Stone

    by Paula Gosling

    2000Blackwater Bay, Book 5

Blackwater Bay books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The Body in Blackwater Bay"

    The Body in Blackwater Bay

    by Paula Gosling

    1992Blackwater Bay, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "A Few Dying Words"

    A Few Dying Words

    by Paula Gosling

    1993Blackwater Bay, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "The Dead of Winter"

    The Dead of Winter

    by Paula Gosling

    1995Blackwater Bay, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Death and Shadows"

    Death and Shadows

    by Paula Gosling

    1999Blackwater Bay, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Underneath Every Stone"

    Underneath Every Stone

    by Paula Gosling

    2000Blackwater Bay, Book 5

Jack Stryker books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Monkey Puzzle"

    Monkey Puzzle

    by Paula Gosling

    1985Jack Stryker, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Backlash"

    Backlash

    by Paula Gosling

    1989Jack Stryker, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Ricochet"

    Ricochet

    by Paula Gosling

    2002Jack Stryker, Book 3

Jack Stryker books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Monkey Puzzle"

    Monkey Puzzle

    by Paula Gosling

    1985Jack Stryker, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Backlash"

    Backlash

    by Paula Gosling

    1989Jack Stryker, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Ricochet"

    Ricochet

    by Paula Gosling

    2002Jack Stryker, Book 3

Luke Abbott books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "The Wychford Murders"

    The Wychford Murders

    by Paula Gosling

    1986Luke Abbott, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Death Penalties"

    Death Penalties

    by Paula Gosling

    1992Luke Abbott, Book 2

Luke Abbott books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The Wychford Murders"

    The Wychford Murders

    by Paula Gosling

    1986Luke Abbott, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Death Penalties"

    Death Penalties

    by Paula Gosling

    1992Luke Abbott, Book 2

Standalone Paula Gosling books

  1. Book cover for "A Running Duck"

    A Running Duck

    by Paula Gosling

    1978
  2. Book cover for "Fair Game"

    Fair Game

    by Paula Gosling

    1978
  3. Book cover for "The Zero Trap"

    The Zero Trap

    by Paula Gosling

    1979
  4. Book cover for "Loser's Blues"

    Loser's Blues

    by Paula Gosling

    1980
  5. Book cover for "Mind's Eye"

    Mind's Eye

    by Paula Gosling

    1980
  6. Book cover for "The Woman In Red"

    The Woman In Red

    by Paula Gosling

    1983
  7. Book cover for "Hoodwink"

    Hoodwink

    by Paula Gosling

    1988
  8. Book cover for "Tears of the Dragon"

    Tears of the Dragon

    by Paula Gosling

    2004

Author bio

Paula Gosling was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 12, 1939, and grew up there. She studied English at Wayne State University, then went into advertising. That early working life matters, because before she was a novelist she spent years learning how to make language sharp, quick, and useful.

Then she crossed the Atlantic.

Gosling moved permanently to England in 1964. She worked as a copywriter in Detroit and later in London and Bristol, and eventually became a freelance copy consultant before turning to full-time writing in 1979. Even so, her fiction never settled into just one national lane. Some books feel very American. Others lean into English village life. Quite a few do both at once.

Her first novel, A Running Duck, appeared in 1974 and won the John Creasey Award for best first crime novel. It is a tight suspense story about a San Francisco copywriter who suddenly becomes a target, and it announced several Gosling trademarks right away: fast setup, believable pressure, and an interest in what happens when ordinary life is interrupted by violence. The book was later also published as Fair Game, and it was adapted for film more than once.

She was off and running.

A lot of readers begin with Monkey Puzzle, the novel that won the Gold Dagger and introduced Detective Lieutenant Jack Stryker. Stryker is not a glamorous sleuth. He is obsessive, awkward, intensely focused, and sometimes brilliant in ways that even his colleagues find unsettling. Gosling brought him back in Backlash and Ricochet, building a loose police series that mixes procedural work with messy personal lives and complicated motives.

Her stand-alone books show a wider range than people sometimes expect. The Zero Trap strands hijacking victims in Arctic isolation and turns fear inward, while Loser's Blues drops into the music world and lets a murder case gather around a jazz pianist. Even when the setup changes, Gosling keeps returning to the same pressure points, closed groups, bad secrets, conflicting loyalties, and the way a single death can expose everything people were trying to keep hidden.

She also wrote two other notable series. The Luke Abbott books, beginning with The Wychford Murders, bring crime into an English village setting without making it cozy in a weightless way. The Blackwater Bay novels, starting with The Body in Blackwater Bay, shift to the Great Lakes and show how much danger can sit just under the surface of a beautiful small town. Later books such as Death and Shadows and Underneath Every Stone show how good she was at using a whole community, not just one detective, to carry suspense.

She also published under other names, including Ainslie Skinner and Holly Baxter.

What makes Gosling worth following is her balance. She likes a strong puzzle, but she also wants people on the page to feel like people, not just suspects. Her books are full of damaged friendships, old romances, class tensions, professional rivalries, and the stubborn habits of towns and institutions. She served as chair of the Crime Writers' Association, which says something simple and useful about her standing among fellow writers. Public biographies still place her in England, where she has lived since the 1960s. That long life between America and Britain helps explain the fiction too, American pace, British mystery structure, and a dry eye for how strange people can get when the pressure starts to rise.

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.

Comments

Did we miss something? Have feedback?

Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts

We only use your email to notify you about replies.

All comments are moderated.

Discover and track your reading on the go

Track your reading, manage wishlists, and get notified when new books are added.