Relic Hunters Books in Order

Relic Hunters is one of Keri Arthur's most overtly adventure-driven series. It takes her taste for dangerous magic and folds it into a story about old gods, stolen artifacts, fae politics, and a heroine who would very much prefer a quieter life but keeps being handed impossible jobs anyway. That heroine is Bethany Aodhán, and she is the reason the series holds together so well.

Beth has history before the first page even turns.

When Crown of Shadows opens, her mother has been missing for months, her family tavern in old Deva is barely holding the line, and her family legacy comes with a long memory of pixies, old gods, and lost responsibilities. Then her brother is attacked, a friend is murdered, and a godly relic is stolen. Arthur wastes no time making it clear that Beth's personal life and the larger relic plot are bound together.

From there, the series keeps layering its conflicts. Agrona's Claws, the relic at the center of the early books, are not decorative artifacts. Used together, they have the power to deepen darkness or banish it. That makes them valuable to just about everyone you would least want chasing them. In Sword of Darkness and the books after it, Beth gets pulled deeper into a hunt that is part quest, part murder investigation, and part political nightmare.

Old Deva itself is a good setting for this kind of story. It feels ancient, crowded with history, and full of people who know more than they are saying. Elves, pixies, witches, council members, and relic seekers all have their own motives. Beth's role as the resident relic hunter for Deva's Fae Council only makes that messier, because being given access and authority does not mean being given honesty.

The series is also carrying a strong personal thread. Beth is not just after relics. She is trying to understand what happened to her mother, who killed whom, and which powerful people have been manipulating events from the start. That keeps the adventure from feeling episodic. Even when the object of the hunt changes, the emotional stakes remain.

Books like Shield of Fire, Horn of Winter, and Bia's Blade make that clear. Every new mission is also another test of loyalty, survival, and who gets to control dangerous power. Beth is constantly forced to work with allies she cannot fully trust and to face enemies who would rather use her than kill her outright.

That makes Relic Hunters a very satisfying middle ground in Arthur's work.

It has the momentum of a quest series, the texture of urban fantasy, and the emotional bite of a heroine trying to solve the worst mystery of her own life while the old gods keep throwing new problems at her.