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Rosemary Simpson Books in Order

Explore Rosemary Simpson's books in order, from historical novels to Gilded Age mysteries, with summaries, series background, and starting points.

Last updated: July 15, 2026

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Rosemary Simpson books in publication order

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12 books

The Seven Hills of Paradise

by Rosemary Simpson

1980

Set during the Fourth Crusade, this historical novel follows chroniclers Geoffroi de Villehardouin and Robert de Clari through the campaign that ends in the sack of Constantinople. Their conflicting positions reveal how faith, ambition, and violence reshape the journey.

Dreams and Shadows

by Rosemary Simpson

1986

A historical love story that moves between Roaring Twenties New York, colonial Morocco, and Paris under Nazi occupation. Told through several points of view, it blends family-rooted wartime material with a sweeping story of love, loss, and survival.

What the Dead Leave Behind

by Rosemary Simpson

2017

During the Great Blizzard of 1888, Prudence MacKenzie's fiancé is found dead with an ace of spades in his hand. Convinced it was murder, she joins his friend, ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter, to uncover a threat to her inheritance and survival.

Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets

by Rosemary Simpson

2018

Opera singer Claire Buchanan believes her twin sister and newborn niece were murdered, not lost in childbirth. To expose Catherine's controlling widower, Prudence risks becoming his next target while Geoffrey investigates the secrets he has kept hidden.

Lies That Comfort and Betray

by Rosemary Simpson

2018

After Prudence's childhood friend Nora Kenny is murdered, Prudence and Geoffrey hunt a killer targeting poor young women in Gilded Age New York. As fear of a new Ripper spreads, they must find the link between the victims before more women die.

Death Brings a Shadow

by Rosemary Simpson

2019

Prudence travels with Geoffrey to a Georgia Sea Island for her friend's wedding, only for the bride to be found drowned in a swamp. Signs of murder pull them into the region's buried violence, racial tensions, and dangerous family secrets.

Death, Diamonds, and Deception

by Rosemary Simpson

2020

When fake diamonds appear at a Delmonico's ball, Prudence and Geoffrey are hired to recover gems once owned by Marie Antoinette. A murdered jeweler turns a discreet assignment into a deadly search through society mansions, criminal streets, and a secretive banking family.

The Dead Cry Justice

by Rosemary Simpson

2021

With Geoffrey recovering from a shooting and NYU opening law classes to women, Prudence tries to help two endangered children. Their disappearance sends the investigators through Five Points, aided by Nellie Bly and Jacob Riis, toward a predator known as Il diavolo.

Death at the Falls

by Rosemary Simpson

2022

In 1890, newly admitted lawyer Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter head to Niagara Falls to protect an heiress's claim. A body recovered from a daredevil's barrel points them toward land fraud, bribery, and a killer willing to strike again.

Murder Wears a Hidden Face

by Rosemary Simpson

2023

At a Metropolitan Museum exhibition, a Chinese cultural attaché is murdered before Prudence and Geoffrey's eyes. Their investigation carries them into Chinatown, where the victim's vulnerable family faces deportation, criminal pressure, and a killer seeking old revenge.

Death Takes the Lead

by Rosemary Simpson

2024

Prudence and Geoffrey investigate mysterious deaths surrounding Waif of the Highlands, a new Scottish play at a Broadway theater. After an actor clashes with its celebrated playwright-director, backstage rivalries and theatrical ambition turn deadly.

In Deadly Fashion

by Rosemary Simpson

2025

Just before Prudence and Geoffrey's wedding, the seamstress making Prudence's gown is murdered and the dress is destroyed. As sabotage spreads through the wedding plans, the pair must protect a young designer and discover who is targeting their future.

Where to start with Rosemary Simpson

For the complete Gilded Age story: What the Dead Leave BehindLies That Comfort and BetrayLet the Dead Keep Their SecretsDeath Brings a Shadow
To continue Prudence and Geoffrey's cases: Death, Diamonds, and DeceptionThe Dead Cry JusticeDeath at the FallsMurder Wears a Hidden Face
For the newest investigations: Death Takes the LeadIn Deadly Fashion
For stand-alone historical fiction: The Seven Hills of ParadiseDreams and Shadows

Rosemary Simpson sub-series and character series

Gilded Age Mystery books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "What the Dead Leave Behind"

    What the Dead Leave Behind

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2017Gilded Age Mystery, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets"

    Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2018Gilded Age Mystery, Book 3
  3. Book cover for "Lies That Comfort and Betray"

    Lies That Comfort and Betray

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2018Gilded Age Mystery, Book 2
  4. Book cover for "Death Brings a Shadow"

    Death Brings a Shadow

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2019Gilded Age Mystery, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Death, Diamonds, and Deception"

    Death, Diamonds, and Deception

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2020Gilded Age Mystery, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "The Dead Cry Justice"

    The Dead Cry Justice

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2021Gilded Age Mystery, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Death at the Falls"

    Death at the Falls

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2022Gilded Age Mystery, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Murder Wears a Hidden Face"

    Murder Wears a Hidden Face

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2023Gilded Age Mystery, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Death Takes the Lead"

    Death Takes the Lead

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2024Gilded Age Mystery, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "In Deadly Fashion"

    In Deadly Fashion

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2025Gilded Age Mystery, Book 10

Gilded Age Mystery books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "What the Dead Leave Behind"

    What the Dead Leave Behind

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2017Gilded Age Mystery, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Lies That Comfort and Betray"

    Lies That Comfort and Betray

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2018Gilded Age Mystery, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets"

    Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2018Gilded Age Mystery, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Death Brings a Shadow"

    Death Brings a Shadow

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2019Gilded Age Mystery, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Death, Diamonds, and Deception"

    Death, Diamonds, and Deception

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2020Gilded Age Mystery, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "The Dead Cry Justice"

    The Dead Cry Justice

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2021Gilded Age Mystery, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Death at the Falls"

    Death at the Falls

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2022Gilded Age Mystery, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Murder Wears a Hidden Face"

    Murder Wears a Hidden Face

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2023Gilded Age Mystery, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Death Takes the Lead"

    Death Takes the Lead

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2024Gilded Age Mystery, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "In Deadly Fashion"

    In Deadly Fashion

    by Rosemary Simpson

    2025Gilded Age Mystery, Book 10

Standalone Rosemary Simpson books

  1. Book cover for "The Seven Hills of Paradise"

    The Seven Hills of Paradise

    by Rosemary Simpson

    1980
  2. Book cover for "Dreams and Shadows"

    Dreams and Shadows

    by Rosemary Simpson

    1986

Author bio

Rosemary Simpson was born in New York City and, by her own account, began roaming early. Before college, she had traveled widely in the United States, the Far East, and Europe. France became a second home, and those years abroad helped shape the places and periods that would later fill her fiction.

After returning to the United States, Simpson earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in French language and literature. Her background in French culture and history gave her a useful way into the past: not as a neat list of dates, but as a world full of people making difficult choices.

She was a historical-fiction reader long before she was a historical-fiction writer.

One book stayed with her in particular, Anya Seton's Katherine. Simpson has said she read it again and again as a child, wearing out multiple copies. That early reading left her interested in the tricky space between documented history and everything the record leaves unsaid.

That question became central to her work. Simpson builds stories around real events, social conditions, and historical figures, then uses fiction to explore the gaps. She has described the challenge simply: invent what cannot be known, while respecting what can.

Her first novels were stand-alone historical fiction. The Seven Hills of Paradise follows the Fourth Crusade through the perspectives of chroniclers Geoffroi de Villehardouin and Robert de Clari, placing readers amid the long road to the sack of Constantinople. Dreams and Shadows moves among Roaring Twenties New York, colonial Morocco, and Paris during the Nazi Occupation, linking a love story with wartime memory.

Then she turned to murder.

Simpson's Gilded Age Mystery series begins with What the Dead Leave Behind, set during New York City's Great Blizzard of 1888. Its heroine, Prudence MacKenzie, has money and social standing, but she also has a sharp mind and little patience for the limits placed on women. She teams up with Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton agent, and their work leads them from Fifth Avenue drawing rooms to crowded neighborhoods and dangerous corners of the city.

Across books such as Lies That Comfort and Betray, The Dead Cry Justice, and Murder Wears a Hidden Face, Simpson uses cases to look at the divide between wealth and poverty, the risks faced by women and children, political corruption, immigration, and the expectations of Gilded Age society. The mysteries travel beyond Manhattan at times, but New York remains the series' busy, unequal center.

Simpson lives near Tucson, Arizona. She has also been associated with Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Historical Novel Society.

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.

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