True Colors Books in Order

True Colors is a multi-author historical suspense line built around real American crimes, and that gives it a very different feel from Pepper D Basham's sweeter romances. Her entry, The Red Ribbon, takes inspiration from the Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912 and turns it into a story full of local tension, danger, and a romance under strain.

The novel is set in Carroll County, Virginia, where Ava Burcham's curiosity pushes her too close to a feud involving the Allen family, politics, and rising violence. Jeremiah Sutphin stands beside her as the situation grows more dangerous. Basham uses fictional leads, but the historical event gives the story a harder edge than many of her readers may expect.

This one runs darker than her gentler romances.

Even so, it still feels like a Pepper D Basham book in the way it handles place and character. The Blue Ridge setting is vivid, the local culture matters, and the people at the center are more than pieces in a crime plot. Ava is not just a witness to history. She is a young woman trying to understand what is happening around her, what truth costs, and what kind of courage she actually has.

The True Colors line as a whole is meant for readers who like historical fiction with suspense first and romance alongside it. Each book stands alone, and each tackles a different crime or scandal from the American past. That means The Red Ribbon does not require reading the rest of the line, but it does fit the shared promise: real crime history, fictional emotional stakes, and a fast-moving plot.

If you are coming to Basham mainly for small-town warmth or bookish banter, this series may surprise you. If you are open to seeing her write with more bite, more menace, and a stronger true-crime backdrop, The Red Ribbon is a solid entry point into the darker side of her historical fiction.