The Foundling (Angie Smith) Books in Order

The Foundling opens in a messy, dangerous corner of modern thriller fiction. The first book, Sex Lies and Swimming Naked, begins when Jonathan Miller agrees to work for a woman who says she is a police detective. That one decision sets off a chain of consequences that hits both him and his family, and it quickly becomes clear that this is not the kind of story where a bad choice stays small.

Jonathan is not set up as a neat, uncomplicated hero. He is already carrying secrets, awkward loyalties, and enough baggage to make him vulnerable when the pressure rises. That matters, because this series is less interested in clean good-versus-evil lines than in compromised people trying to stay alive. When a young woman is assassinated, Jonathan ends up working with an old adversary, someone he fears but also badly needs. That uneasy partnership gives the book a lot of its tension.

Trust is thin here.

What starts as one man's dangerous agreement grows into something much larger. The setup points toward abduction, torture, murder, and secrets that have been buried for decades. Those secrets do not sit at the edges of the story either. They are tied to power, influence, and people who are used to staying out of reach. That gives The Foundling a strong conspiracy-thriller current alongside the more immediate crime plot.

Expect an adult tone and a fast pace. The title alone tells you this is not a cozy mystery, and the story leans into that from the start. Smith favors sudden turns, risky alliances, and pressure that keeps moving instead of long, careful clue-by-clue deduction. Readers who like morally tangled characters and stories that stay in motion will probably feel at home here.

At the center, though, is still Jonathan. The stakes are personal before they are political. His choices blow back on his safety, his home life, and the people around him, which gives the wider conspiracy a sharper edge. Right now, Sex Lies and Swimming Naked is the place to start. It introduces Jonathan Miller, sets the tone, and lays out the darker, more unpredictable world that The Foundling is built on.