Rachel Scott McDaniel Books in Order

Rachel Scott McDaniel writes historical romance with a clear soft spot for mystery, classic movie glamour, and women who refuse to stay quietly in the background. She has said she loved storytelling as a child, but only began pursuing writing professionally in the last decade. That late start gives her career a grounded feel, like someone who came to publishing with both excitement and a real willingness to learn.

Classic movies clearly left a mark.

In interviews, McDaniel has been refreshingly honest about how rough her early attempts were. She has said her first novel was full of beginner mistakes, and that a national writing contest helped wake her up to the craft side of storytelling. The feedback stung, but it also pushed her to study harder, read books on writing, follow industry blogs, attend conferences, and find a writing partner. Another contest moment changed everything when she placed as a finalist and began to think maybe this dream was not as far-fetched as it once seemed.

That persistence paid off. McDaniel signed with an agent, and her first published novel, Above the Fold, arrived in 2019. Set in a 1920s Pittsburgh newsroom, it introduced many of the things readers still come to her books for: a capable heroine, a second-chance romance, period detail, and a mystery strong enough to keep the story moving.

The Roaring Twenties turned out to be one of her best stages. The Red Canary drops readers into Pittsburgh's speakeasy world with a singer in danger and a police sergeant who would rather chase criminals than babysit a witness. The Mobster's Daughter stays in the same era but shifts toward radio, hidden identity, and organized crime. Later, Walking on Hidden Wings takes to the skies with a newly widowed woman who goes undercover in the world of barnstormers and wingwalkers, while The Dreams We Knew follows a private investigator through the glitter and shadows of New York high society.

She likes secrets, but she also likes heart.

That balance shows up in her dual-time novels too. In Undercurrent of Secrets, a modern wedding coordinator on the Belle of Louisville is drawn into a mystery tied to a young woman on the same riverboat a century earlier. In In Spotlight and Shadow, a present-day violinist and a 1920s actress are linked by theater history, missing jewels, and unfinished business. McDaniel is especially good at using a setting, a steamboat, an old theater, a smoky newsroom, not just as wallpaper but as part of the plot.

World War II gives her another lane to explore. The Starlet Spy follows a Hollywood actress turned OSS operative in Sweden, and the novella A Heart in Disguise places romance and sacrifice against the strain of wartime life. Across these books, the recurring thread is easy to spot. McDaniel writes women with real work to do. They investigate, perform, protect, uncover, and rebuild, often while carrying grief or disappointment they have not fully named yet.

Before she was published, she won the 2017 ACFW Genesis Award for The Red Canary, and her bios also note the RWA Touched By Love award. She is represented by Julie Gwinn and lives in Ohio with her husband and two children. Off the page, she has said she loves classic movies and enjoys connecting with other readers. That mix shows up in her fiction, where romance, faith, and puzzle-like plots tend to travel together.

If you like historical fiction that moves quickly but still leaves room for faith, warmth, and second chances, McDaniel's bibliography is easy to browse. Start with the newsroom sparkle of Above the Fold, the danger of The Red Canary, or the dual-time pull of Undercurrent of Secrets, and you will get a good sense of what she does best.