Stephanie Andrews Books in Order

Stephanie Andrews is an American crime-fiction writer whose stories mix chases, conspiracies, thefts, and a practical kind of humor. She is best known for the Red Riley novels, which put an ordinary Chicago police officer in situations that demand more nerve than training.

Andrews shares only a compact public biography, but she is clear about the kinds of stories she enjoys. As a reader and viewer, she gravitates toward fast action and capable, relatable characters. Her stated touchstones range from Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton to Eve Dallas, Sydney Bristow, and Lara Croft.

That mix explains a lot about Kay Riley.

Andrews launched the Red Riley series with Chicago Blue in 2017. The book begins with Kay, a beat cop caught in a downtown Chicago bombing and then blamed for it. With her badge, freedom, and reputation gone, Kay has to work outside the rules to find the people who set her up.

Riley does not begin as an expert.

That is part of the point. In Diamond White, Kay is alive, in hiding, and learning how to act on her own sense of justice while taking on an arms dealer. Solid Gold widens the map, sending her after a kidnapped woman through Canada and Mexico while an FBI agent closes in. Across the series, Kay grows more resourceful, but she keeps the sarcasm and stubbornness that got her through the first crisis.

The later books keep changing the scale of the trouble. Agent Orange puts Kay on the trail of a man bent on a deadly act of revenge. In Deep Sea Green, she and Nick Shelby are on Vieques, helping with rebuilding after Hurricane Maria when Kay spots a criminal operation hidden inside relief work. Ultra Violet brings her back to Chicago for a hunt involving a dangerous high-tech key.

Andrews also writes the Levelers books, beginning with The Grafton Heist in 2019. These stories shift from a lone amateur vigilante to a married pair of con artists who rob wealthy people and give the proceeds to people in need. The follow-up, The Train Job, puts the family under pressure when a kidnapping forces them into another heist.

Action comes first in Andrews's work, but the characters are allowed to be messy, underprepared, and funny. The Red Riley books especially return to the idea that courage is not the same as having every skill or every answer. Kay is often outmatched, yet she refuses to look away when somebody needs help.

Chicago remains an important part of the Red Riley setup, especially in the early books, where Kay knows the city even when she can no longer rely on its institutions. The series later travels farther afield, but it holds on to the same brisk rhythm: a problem, a bad plan, loyal friends, and just enough nerve to try anyway.

Andrews's most recent Red Riley novel, Ultra Violet, was published in November 2023. Her public author notes keep the focus on the stories themselves, where danger may get dark but humor has a way of slipping back in.