Wilds of the Bayou Books in Order

Wilds of the Bayou is a Louisiana-set romantic suspense series that follows wildlife agents working in country where marshes, waterways, family history, and crime are tangled together. The setting matters as much as the mystery. The bayou can hide evidence, make travel difficult, and hold people close to the land and to old grudges.

The first book, Wild Man's Curse, follows wildlife agent Gentry Broussard during an early-morning patrol in Whiskey Bayou. He sees a man who looks startlingly like his brother, believed dead after a drug raid years earlier. Then Gentry discovers that voodoo priestess Eva Savoie has been murdered. He has no official role in the local investigation, but threats against Eva's heir, Celestine, pull him back into the case.

Gentry and Celestine have to navigate danger that is tied to the past as well as the present. The mystery includes a family curse, local beliefs, and unanswered questions about Gentry's brother, but the story stays rooted in a murder investigation. Their relationship develops slowly as the threats become harder to dismiss.

Black Diamond shifts attention to Gentry's fellow Louisiana wildlife agent, Jena Sinclair. Back on duty after being seriously wounded, Jena finds a dead body and an alligator behaving strangely. The animal has ingested Black Diamond, a dangerous synthetic drug, and the discovery points to trafficking in Terrebonne Parish.

Jena's investigation brings her into contact with Cole Ryan, a guarded man living apart from the world for reasons of his own. As Jena and her colleagues follow the drug trail, they discover that plenty of people in the parish have something to hide. The suspense comes from a procedural-style case, but Jena and Cole's attempts to recover from past damage give the book its emotional center.

Read the books in order, beginning with Wild Man's Curse. Each has a different central couple and crime, but Jena's history and the working relationships among the wildlife officers carry from the first story into the second. Expect humid Louisiana atmosphere, patient romance, close calls, and mysteries that take the landscape seriously.