The Black Lantern Books in Order

The Black Lantern is one of Keri Arthur's newer projects, and the key fact to know is that it is set in the same world as Lizzie Grace. That immediately gives returning readers a sense of the rules in play: modern life and dangerous magic sharing space, supernatural trouble that can turn personal fast, and an Australian urban fantasy setting where old powers are never as far away as people hope.

It is a fresh doorway into a familiar world.

Because the series is still relatively new, the long arc is not as fully visible as it is in Arthur's older work. But that is part of the appeal. Rather than arriving with a dozen books of backstory hanging over it, The Black Lantern feels like a new branch growing out of a world readers already know can support witches, werewolves, dark entities, and ugly secrets. You get the same supernatural logic, but the focus shifts to a new corner of it.

That usually works well for Arthur. One of her strengths is building magical systems and social tensions sturdy enough to support more than one storyline. The fact that The Black Lantern shares DNA with Lizzie Grace suggests the books are likely to keep the same blend of investigation, high stakes, and dangerous personal entanglements, while still giving the new cast room to claim the spotlight.

The title itself hints at a darker atmosphere, and that fits the broader world. Arthur tends to write settings where the threat is not abstract. Magic leaves marks. Creatures have agendas. Secrets stay buried only until the next bad choice or the next murder scene. A newer series in that environment can play with both discovery and escalation. New readers learn the world as they go. Longtime readers get to see another part of it lit up.

There is also something nice about meeting Arthur in a series that is still taking shape. You can feel the possibilities. Which rules will matter most? Which corners of the supernatural community will come into focus? How much will the books lean on mystery, romance, politics, or outright horror? With a newer project, those answers unfold in real time across the early volumes.

So while The Black Lantern does not yet have the deep back catalog of Riley Jenson or Lizzie Grace, it has a strong starting position. Same world, new series, plenty of room for trouble.

And trouble is what Arthur does best.

If you want a place to sample her more recent urban fantasy without leaving behind the kind of world she has spent years refining, this is a promising place to start.