Spellbound (Victoria Laurie) Books in Order

Laurie's Spellbound books sit closer to fantasy caper and magical mystery than to straight cozy crime. The series opens with A Spell to Unbind, which introduces Esmé Bellerose, a professional thief whose talents make her useful in a world where dangerous objects, powerful mystics, and impossible assignments are part of everyday business.

Esmé does not ease into this world. She lands in it at a sprint.

The first thing to know about the series is that magic here is practical, risky, and tied to power. Esmé is trying to secure a coveted position with SPL Inc., a job that sounds glamorous until the requirements become clear. To prove herself, she must steal a Fabergé egg that has been infused with lifesaving magic. The catch is that the owner has already been murdered, the object has become much harder to trace, and failure could leave Esmé in truly ugly trouble.

That gives the series a different rhythm from Laurie's more traditional mysteries. Instead of starting with a local amateur sleuth who stumbles onto a body, Spellbound drops you into a hidden magical world where theft, loyalty, and survival are already tangled together. Esmé is clever and resourceful, but she is also working under pressure from people who have far more power than she does. The danger does not come from one direction. It comes from the magical artifact, from the crime around it, and from the people who expect results no matter what it costs her.

There is also a strong investigative thread. Once murder enters the picture, the job becomes more than a heist. Esmé has to track the missing object, sort through competing agendas, and deal with a headstrong mystic detective while a family conflict makes everything messier. That mix of magical underworld and murder puzzle is where the series gets its pull.

The tone is brisk, sharp, and a little more fantasy-forward than Laurie's Abby or Cat books. There is humor, but it comes through character and pace rather than cozy small-town comfort. Dragons, enchanted objects, and mystic rules are all part of the atmosphere, yet Laurie still grounds the story in familiar pressures, wanting a job, trying to stay alive, and figuring out who can be trusted.

If you are looking for the softer, bantering side of Laurie, this is not quite that.

But if you like magical worlds with crime plots, capable heroines, and a bit of heist energy, Spellbound is an interesting corner of her catalog. Start with A Spell to Unbind. It does the work of setting up Esmé, the magical system around her, and the dangerous kind of mystery this series wants to tell.