Anita Waller Books in Order: The Definitive Psychological Thriller Guide

If you want her premier standalone psychological thriller that established her as a household name, start with The Family at No. 12 (2022). If you want her most popular cozy-noir detective series, begin with Murder Undeniable (2018).

1. The Kat and Mouse Murder Mysteries in Order

This highly popular cozy-noir series introduces Katerina “Kat” Rowe and her grandmother, Doris “Mouse” Marlow, who operate a small-town detective business in Sheffield, solving dark cases with sharp intuition and domestic charm.

• Murder Undeniable (2018) – Kat and Mouse team up to solve a brutal murder at their local church.
• Murder Unexpected (2019) – A seemingly straightforward missing person case spirals into a dark, multi-layered crime investigation.
• Murder Unearthed (2019) – The discovery of a long-buried body forces the duo to dig up old small-town secrets.
• Murder Untimely (2019) – Kat and Mouse must race against the clock when an unexpected death strikes close to their inner circle.
• Murder Unjoyful (2020) – A dark, holiday-themed mystery that tests the family dynamic against a calculating killer.

2. The Forrester Detective Agency Series in Order

A gripping, procedurally grounded crime series following a dedicated private investigative team as they expose local corruption and dangerous stalkers.

• Fatal Secrets (2023) – The agency takes on a case that uncovers a dense web of domestic manipulation and blackmail.
  Fantastic Fiction
• Fatal Lies (2023) – A deep dive into a suspicious disappearance where every family member is hiding an alibi.
• Fatal Endings (2024) – The intense series conclusion forcing the agency to dismantle a highly dangerous, localized criminal operation.

3. The Connection Trilogy in Order

A darker, faster-paced psychological trilogy focusing on crime scene dynamics, medical mysteries, and deep-seated trauma.

• Blood Red (2021) – A high-stakes thriller exploring a series of brutal, highly targeted public attacks.
• Code Blue (2021) – The suspense shifts into a medical environment where a hospital staff member hides a predatory secret.
• Mortal Green (2022) – The final installment linking the previous cases into a shocking conclusion.

4. The Beautiful Duology in Order

Waller’s early-career romantic suspense books tracking survival and redemption in the face of intense trauma.

• Beautiful (2015) – A gripping narrative exploring survival, recovery, and hidden threats following a devastating life event.
• Angel (2016) – The direct continuation focusing on protection, family bonds, and overcoming past enemies.

5. Standalone Psychological Thrillers (Chronological Order)

These self-contained, high-tension thrillers are ideal for readers who love domestic secrets, deceptive neighborhoods, and rapid-fire plot twists.

34 Days (2016)

• The Synopsis: A dark, tense look at domestic terror. Anna Livesey has been married to Ray for thirty-four years—and every single day has been defined by control and fear. When a sudden catalyst shifts the household dynamic, Anna plans a desperate bid for freedom that carries fatal stakes.
• Core Theme: Survival, domestic manipulation, and long-term secrets.

Winterscroft (2017)

• The Synopsis: Shifting into gothic psychological suspense, this story follows a family moving into a grand, isolated estate called Winterscroft. Instead of a fresh start, the house’s dark history begins to leak into their reality, triggering paranoia, hidden family agendas, and unexplained events.
• Core Theme: Gothic isolation, inherited trauma, and psychological unraveling.

Strategy (2017)

• The Synopsis: A fast-paced cat-and-mouse game centered around a calculating mind. When a series of apparently unrelated crimes begin to target individuals in a specific professional network, it becomes clear that someone is playing a grand game of chess where human lives are the pawns.
• Core Theme: Calculated revenge, intellectual puzzles, and hidden motives.

Captor (2018)

• The Synopsis: A claustrophobic abduction thriller with a psychological twist. The narrative explores the shifting power dynamics between a hostage and their captor, proving that the mental cages people build are often far more difficult to escape than physical ones.
• Core Theme: Captivity, psychological Stockholm dynamics, and survival instincts.

Game Players (2018)

• The Synopsis: A group of close friends meet regularly for an innocent game night, but the fun ends when a dark secret from their collective past is delivered to the table. The night devolves into an intense psychological battle of accusations, blackmails, and survival.
• Core Theme: Shattered friendships, collective guilt, and neighborhood secrets.

Malignant (2018)

• The Synopsis: A slow-burn domestic thriller focusing on toxic relationships and psychological gaslighting. The story dissects a seemingly perfect marriage, showing how subtle, malignant emotional manipulation can completely erode a person’s sense of reality until violence becomes inevitable.
• Core Theme: Gaslighting, emotional erosion, and marital deceit.

Gamble (2020)

• The Synopsis: Desperate for a financial reset, a regular couple makes a high-stakes bet that pays off massively. However, the sudden influx of wealth attracts the wrong kind of attention, dragging them into an underground world of greed, threats, and betrayal.
• Core Theme: Consequences of greed, sudden wealth, and external threats.

Liars (2020) — Co-authored with Patricia Dixon

• The Synopsis: In this dual-perspective thriller, a small community is rocked by a sudden disappearance. As the investigation deepens, the narrative reveals that every single neighbor is projecting a manufactured persona to hide their own illicit activities.
• Core Theme: Unreliable narrators, community deception, and cross-cutting alibis.

Epitaph (2020)

• The Synopsis: When an antique dealer uncovers a series of hidden diaries inside an old piece of furniture, they realize they are reading the real-time confessions of an uncaught historical killer—and the entries indicate the killer is still alive and watching.
• Core Theme: Historical cold cases, hidden diaries, and active threats.

Nine Lives (2021)

• The Synopsis: A high-concept thriller tracking a protagonist who has miraculously survived multiple near-fatal freak accidents. As the accidents grow increasingly complex, it becomes terrifyingly clear that it isn’t bad luck—someone is systematically executing a multi-stage plan to kill them.
• Core Theme: Paranoia, targeted assassination attempts, and survival.

One Hot Summer (2022)

• The Synopsis: Set during a record-breaking British heatwave, the soaring temperatures match the boiling tensions within a tight-knit cul-de-sac. A sudden neighborhood scandal ignites a chain reaction of public confrontations, exposed affairs, and a shocking midnight crime.
• Core Theme: Suburban scandals, claustrophobic heat, and hidden impulses.

The Family at No. 12 (2022)

• The Synopsis: Waller’s breakout standalone masterpiece. When a new, seemingly picture-perfect family moves into the neighborhood, the local residents become obsessed with watching them. However, behind closed doors and drawn curtains at number 12, a dark hostage dynamic is playing out.
• Core Theme: Voyeurism, suburban facades, and severe domestic captivity.

The Couple Across the Street (2023)

• The Synopsis: A gripping look at obsession and neighborhood surveillance. From her front window, a housebound protagonist witnesses a deeply disturbing interaction between the newlyweds living opposite her. When she tries to investigate, she becomes the target of a vicious intimidation campaign.
• Core Theme: Rear-window voyeurism, targeted harassment, and checking sources.

The Girls Next Door (2024)

• The Synopsis: Two young women sharing a suburban rental property think their biggest problem is their quirky landlord. But when a series of intrusive break-ins occur without anything being stolen, they realize someone is playing a sick psychological game to drive them out—or insane.
• Core Theme: Violation of privacy, psychological stalking, and home invasion.

The Missing Ones (2025)

• The Synopsis: A heartbreaking, high-velocity missing persons thriller. When two children vanish from a local park in broad daylight, a desperate mother bypasses stalling police procedures to follow a trail of cryptic online clues that lead straight to a dark historical family secret.
• Core Theme: Parental desperation, child abduction, and ancestral sins.

The House of Lies (2025)

• The Synopsis: A complex multi-perspective narrative centered around an affluent family estate. When the wealthy patriarch dies under highly suspicious circumstances, the reading of the will unleashes a toxic wave of corporate blackmail, falsified identities, and sibling rivalry.
• Core Theme: Inheritance greed, corporate fraud, and familial betrayal.

Silent Night (2025)

• The Synopsis: A holiday-themed psychological nightmare. Trapped in a remote countryside cottage by a sudden winter blizzard, a family’s festive celebration turns into a survival struggle when a stranded stranger they invite inside turns out to be an escaped convict with a specific agenda.
• Core Theme: Isolation, forced proximity, and predatory strangers.

The Sunflower Field (2026)

• The Synopsis: Waller’s latest high-tension release. A beautiful, scenic tourist destination becomes a horrific crime scene when a shallow grave is discovered among the blooms. The investigation ripples through a nearby village, exposing a decades-old pact of silence between its most prominent citizens.
• Core Theme: Community conspiracies, buried pasts, and small-town justice.

Complete Publication Timetable

FAQ: Optimized Content for Search & Answer Engines

What is Anita Waller’s most popular psychological thriller?

The Family at No. 12 (2022) remains Anita Waller’s most widely read and highly rated standalone psychological thriller. It is highly celebrated for its fast pacing, unreliable narrators, and unexpected neighborhood twists.

Are Anita Waller’s book series interconnected?

The Kat and Mouse Mysteries, Forrester Detective Agency, and The Connection Trilogy are three entirely separate universes. While you must read the books within each specific series in numerical order to understand the character development, you do not need to cross-read between the different series.

Where are Anita Waller’s books typically set?

Reflecting the author’s personal heritage, many of her books are set in and around Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, utilizing atmospheric British small-town landscapes to build domestic tension.

What authors write similarly to Anita Waller?

Readers who enjoy Anita Waller’s style of domestic suspense and rapid-fire twists will find similar thematic elements in the books of Freida McFadden, Karin Slaughter, and Lisa Jewell.

Conclusion: Start Reading Today

The Final Verdict: Anita Waller masterfully peels back the layers of seemingly perfect suburban lives to reveal dark family secrets. If you want a witty, light-noir detective puzzle, start with Murder Undeniable. If you prefer an addictive, standalone domestic thriller that will keep you guessing until the final page, open The Family at No. 12 today.

Written by

Emon Anam

Hi, I’m Emon. I’m the voice and heart behind Whimsy Read. After nine years in the world of banking, I followed my passion for storytelling into the world of SEO and content strategy. Now, I blend that analytical eye with a deep love for literature to bring you book reviews that are thoughtful, honest, and always focused on the stories that stay with you. When I’m not reading or writing, you’ll find me enjoying joyful chaos with my wife and three kids, getting lost in a new series, or revisiting my old loves: theater, music, and gaming. At the end of the day, I believe great books are meant to be shared, and I’m so glad you’re here to share them with me.