PI Grace Smith Books in Order

The PI Grace Smith books follow Grace, a former police officer who now works as a private investigator in Seatoun, a fictional and rather seedy town on England's south coast. She is short of money, suspicious of easy answers and often landed with cases that sound ridiculous before they turn dangerous. A dead donkey called Marilyn Monroe is only the beginning.

Grace works through Vetch International Investigations, where the office comes with a lively supporting cast. Annie is a fellow investigator and steady friend. Jan is the receptionist with big plans and little patience. Vetch brings his own brand of complication, while local police officers, including Detective Inspector Jerry and the relentlessly unwelcome Terry Rosco, ensure that Grace cannot simply work around her old profession.

Seatoun matters as much as any individual case.

The town is built for contrasts: a seaside setting, struggling businesses, tourists, shabby streets and people who have known one another for far too long. Grace's clients bring her missing people, old murders, anonymous threats and family secrets. Her investigations move between ordinary houses, bars, workplaces and the edge of town, where a casual question can make somebody nervous.

The first six stories were originally published as Who Killed Marilyn Monroe?, JFK Is Missing!, Don't Mess With Mrs In Between!, Barking!, Sick as a Parrot and Cue the Easter Bunny. They are private-eye mysteries with real jeopardy, but the tone stays sharp and funny. Grace may complain about the work, the pay and the people around her, yet she keeps asking the question that others would prefer left alone.

The cases get personal fast.

Readers may notice alternate titles on later digital editions. Blindsided is the reissued title for JFK Is Missing!, The Coldest Case revisits Barking!, Heir Apparent revisits Don't Mess With Mrs In Between!, and Caught in the Act revisits Cue the Easter Bunny. If you want the cleanest route through Grace's world, begin with Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? and follow the original sequence. The recurring characters and the gradual changes in Grace's life work best that way.

Expect witty dialogue, awkward jobs, stubborn witnesses and crimes with roots in greed, guilt or old loyalties. Grace is not a polished, glamorous detective. That is the point. She is observant, stubborn and usually one bad decision away from another complicated week in Seatoun.