The Working Girls Books in Order

The Working Girls series follows a group of women whose lives intersect in and around Manchester's red light districts. Each book tells a self contained story, but familiar faces and locations appear across the run, so the world feels shared and lived in.

The Mark begins with Maddy, a respected journalist who accepts a feature on women selling sex in a rundown pub. She expects a difficult assignment, not a collision with Gilly, the ruthless pimp who controls the women. While Maddy is swept up in a passionate relationship with smooth businessman Aaron, Gilly's interest in her hardens into obsession, and the line between her comfortable life and the streets blurs.

Ruby turns to a woman who has been fighting since childhood. With an absent father, a weak mother and a traumatic incident that leaves her hating men, Ruby drifts into drinking, casual sex and finally prostitution as a teenager. Ambitious and tough, she works her way up to running her own brothel, only to find that success brings enemies. A face from the past and the pressure of local gangs threaten both her business and the fragile family she has created.

In Crystal, a familiar working girl decides she cannot keep living the way she has been. After her pimp and former lover Gilly dies from a drug overdose, Crystal tries to go it alone and focus on raising her young daughter, Candice. A vicious beating and a chance encounter with a high profile judge give her the idea for a new kind of hustle, using blackmail to punish the men who have exploited her. The risks are huge, and some of her targets are far more dangerous than she realises.

Amber follows a young woman who has never known stability. With an unfit mother and a brother who despises her, Amber is used to depending on no one. On the streets she accepts protection from notorious pimp Kev Pike, which immediately makes her a target for Cora, a volatile prostitute who does not like competition. When Cora is found strangled and a killer seems to be stalking the area, Amber discovers that safety always has a price.

The fifth novel, Sapphire, widens the lens to show how easily vulnerable teenagers can end up on the streets. Sisters Sophie and Kelsey are pushed into the care system when their mother falls ill and their father fails them. The girls are separated, and Sophie endures unsafe placements and betrayals before ending up homeless. On the streets she finds a new 'family' and reinvents herself as Sapphire, but her determination to find Kelsey never entirely fades.

Taken together, the Working Girls books form a hard hitting portrait of women navigating prostitution, poverty and organised crime in Manchester. The tone is gritty yet compassionate, highlighting friendship, resilience and small acts of kindness alongside violence and exploitation. You can read the novels in any order, but picking them up from The Mark and moving through to Sapphire lets you spot the connections and appreciate how certain choices ripple across the whole group.