Sunrise City Books in Order
Part ofRodney Riesel Books in OrderSee the Sunrise City books in order by Rodney Riesel, with short summaries, series background, reading order help, and where to start with Cole Ballinger.
Last updated: January 17, 2026
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Publication Order
9 books
Bitter Pill to Swallow
by Rodney Riesel
2025
Cole Ballinger finds himself chasing answers in a case where medicine and motives are dangerously tangled. Every witness has a reason to dodge the truth, and every clue points to someone taking advantage of the vulnerable. Cole keeps digging, even when the investigation threatens his own safety.
A Bitter Pill
by Rodney Riesel
2025
A case involving pills, money, and desperation sends Cole Ballinger into uncomfortable territory. The facts don’t match the official story, and the people involved have strong reasons to lie. Cole has to find who’s profiting from pain, before the next dose costs another life.
The Other Brother
by Rodney Riesel
2024
When one brother goes missing, the other can’t explain why, and the story keeps shifting. Cole Ballinger digs into the family’s past and the town’s rumors, trying to separate loyalty from guilt. In Sunrise City, blood ties can hide the ugliest secrets.
Squealers and Dealers
by Rodney Riesel
2023
Cole Ballinger is pulled into a case where greed runs the show and nobody wants to be the one who talks. Working from his beach bar home base, he follows a trail of deals, betrayals, and quiet threats, and learns that the loudest people aren’t always the most dangerous.
Scapegoats
by Rodney Riesel
2020
In Sunrise City, someone is determined to pin blame on the easiest target. Cole Ballinger pushes past the convenient story, looking for the real motive. The more he clears away the excuses, the more dangerous the truth becomes for everyone involved.
Dig Two Graves
by Rodney Riesel
2020
Cole Ballinger investigates a case fueled by old grudges and fresh revenge. Each clue forces him to dig deeper into Fort Pierce’s quieter corners, and the deeper he goes, the more he realizes two graves might not be enough for the people behind it.
Never Strikes Twice: Sunrise City
by Rodney Riesel
2019
Cole Ballinger takes on another Sunrise City case where the first incident is only the beginning. As he follows a trail through Fort Pierce, he finds patterns people want to ignore, and learns that trouble rarely strikes just once.
Sunrise City
by Rodney Riesel
2017
Cole Ballinger is a retired Fort Pierce police detective who now runs the Breakwater Bar and Grill. When his ex-wife asks him to look into a violent murder, Cole steps back into investigation mode, and finds the case hits closer than he expected.
From Bad to Worse
by Rodney Riesel
2017
Beach bar owner and retired detective Cole Ballinger is asked by a single mother to find her missing child. The deeper he digs, the clearer it becomes why she came to him instead of the police. In Sunrise City, doing the right thing can get you hurt.
Series background & context
The Sunrise City books follow Cole Ballinger, a retired Fort Pierce police detective who now runs the Breakwater Bar and Grill. Cole has done his time in law enforcement. He’d like to spend the next chapter pouring drinks, keeping his head down, and avoiding unnecessary drama.
Cole is done with policing, but policing isn’t done with him.
In Sunrise City, Cole’s ex-wife asks him to look into a violent murder, and the request pulls him right back into old habits, interviews, instincts, and the uncomfortable feeling that he can’t walk away when someone needs answers. Cole’s personal life matters here too. He’s trying to manage co-parenting with three kids while living in the same town as his ex, which means the cases often bump into family stress and old resentments.
The investigations feel grounded and local. Cole isn’t chasing globe-spanning conspiracies. He’s chasing the truth that hides in familiar places, a bar, a neighborhood, a friend group with too many secrets. In From Bad to Worse, a single mother asks him to find her missing child, and Cole quickly learns why she came to him instead of the police. That mix of trust, fear, and community politics is the fuel that keeps the series moving.
Across the later books, the pattern holds: a new case lands, someone tries to steer the story toward a convenient scapegoat, and Cole refuses to accept the easiest answer. He pushes into the parts of town where people don’t want questions, and he keeps doing it even when it threatens his business or his relationships.
The tone sits between cozy and hardboiled. It’s readable and conversational, with Florida atmosphere in the background, but the stakes are real and sometimes personal. Cole brings a cop’s eye and a bar owner’s ear, he hears things, sees patterns, and knows when somebody is lying because they’re scared.
If you’re new to the series, start with Sunrise City and read forward. The cases stand alone, but Cole’s life builds in a way that makes each book land a little harder when you know what he’s carrying.
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