Cooper & Quinn Mystery Books in Order

Recommended Reading Order

For the best reading experience, it is highly recommended to follow the Chronological Order. While you can start with the first novel, reading the prequel novella first gives you essential background on Detective Charlie Cooper and the loss of his first partner, setting the emotional stakes for the rest of the series.

Chronological Reading Order

1. Dark City (Prequel Novella) – Follows Cooper and his first partner, Stocky, on a missing person case that goes terribly wrong.
2. Dark Heart (Book 1) – Cooper and his new partner, Joe Quinn, hunt a serial killer's final victim while dealing with cellular memory themes.
3. Dark Past (Book 2) – Charlie and Joe dive into a murder case linked to genetic research and a shipping empire.
4. Dark Secrets (Book 3) – The detectives investigate the suspicious suicide of a teenager amidst cyberbullying allegations.
5. Dark Paradise (Novella, Book 3.5) – Charlie and Joe go off-grid to a remote holiday island to solve a death on a reality TV show.
6. Dark Chemistry (Book 4) – A murder investigation leads the duo into a clash between a pharmaceutical CEO and vaccine protesters.
7. Dark Edges (Book 5) – The team probes the suspicious drug overdose of a professional rugby league player.
8. Dark Country (Book 6) – Charlie and Joe travel to the rural town of Riverhaven to track down a killer targeting local farmers.
9. Dark Justice (Book 7) – The ultimate crossover event where Cooper and Quinn team up with Detective Bonnie Hunter to track a sadist and a vigilante.

Publication Order vs. Chronological Order

If you prefer to read the books in the order they were published, the sequence is almost identical, with the prequels and novellas released slightly out of order. Some readers prefer this to experience the series exactly as the author released it to the public.

Publication Order Sequence

• Dark Heart (2013)
• Dark Past (2014)
• Dark Secrets (2016)
• Dark City (Novella, 2016/2017)
• Dark Paradise (Novella, 2017)
• Dark Chemistry (2017)
• Dark Edges (2017)
• Dark Country (2018)
• Dark Justice (2020)

Spin-offs and Crossovers

In the final installment, Dark Justice, Catherine Lee crosses the Cooper & Quinn universe over with her newer series featuring Detective Bonnie Hunter. If you enjoy the dynamic in that book, you can continue Bonnie's investigations in her standalone series starting with Missing (2023) and Lost (2025).