The Recommended Reading Order for Josie Bates
For the best reading experience, we highly recommend following the publication order of the Josie Bates series (also widely known as the Witness series). Rebecca Forster builds a continuous, emotionally resonant character arc for Josie, her lover Archer, and her young ward Hannah Sheraton. Reading the books out of order will spoil major personal developments, relationship dynamics, and long-running subplots that span across individual cases.
However, there is one major exception: the companion novella Hannah's Diary. While published in 2017, its events take place chronologically right after the first book, Hostile Witness. Below, we outline both the chronological and publication paths so you can choose the one that fits your reading style.
The Hybrid Chronological Path (Recommended)
- Hostile Witness (2004)
- Hannah's Diary (2017) – Novella (Book 1.5)
- Silent Witness (2005)
- Privileged Witness (2006)
- Expert Witness (2011)
- Eyewitness (2013)
- Forgotten Witness (2014)
- Dark Witness (2014)
- Lost Witness (2019)
- The 9th Witness (2024)
The Strict Publication Order
- Hostile Witness (2004)
- Silent Witness (2005)
- Privileged Witness (2006)
- Expert Witness (2011)
- Eyewitness (2013)
- Forgotten Witness (2014)
- Dark Witness (2014)
- Hannah's Diary (2017)
- Lost Witness (2019)
- The 9th Witness (2024)
The Josie Bates / Witness Books in Detail
1. Hostile Witness (2004)
This is where the story begins. Josie Baylor-Bates is a once-hotshot defense attorney who has retreated to a quieter life in Hermosa Beach after a devastating past mistake. When she is asked to defend Hannah Sheraton—a troubled sixteen-year-old accused of murdering a powerful California Supreme Court justice—Josie is dragged back into the high-stakes legal world. This book establishes the core cast and the complicated, maternal relationship between Josie and Hannah.
2. Hannah's Diary (2017)
Technically Book 1.5, this companion novella is written from Hannah Sheraton's perspective. It offers crucial insight into her emotional state, her trauma, and her transition into Josie's orbit following the explosive events of the first trial. Reading this immediately after Hostile Witness deepens the emotional weight of the subsequent novels.
3. Silent Witness (2005)
The stakes turn deeply personal for Josie in this second full-length novel. When her lover, Archer, is accused of murdering his disabled stepson, Josie must defend him. The case forces her to confront secrets in Archer's past that she never knew existed, putting both her professional ethics and her romantic relationship to the ultimate test.
4. Privileged Witness (2006)
Josie is pulled into a dangerous web of privilege and abuse when she agrees to help a woman escaping an abusive relationship. As old secrets emerge, the case becomes highly personal and threatens to destroy the fragile peace Josie has built in her personal life.
5. Expert Witness (2011)
Unlike previous installments where Josie is commandingly standing in the courtroom, Expert Witness begins with Josie going missing. To find her, Archer and Hannah must band together, digging deep into Josie's dark past and resolving long-buried secrets before time runs out.
6. Eyewitness (2013)
Josie is forced to confront a brutal, ancient law and a ruthless adversary. The plot moves quickly, testing Josie's ability to protect the people she loves when the legal system itself fails to provide safety.
7. Forgotten Witness (2014)
A fast-paced legal thriller that pits Josie against a madman and a highly corrupt, ruthless senator. The narrative highlights the messy intersection of politics, power, and justice that Rebecca Forster excels at depicting.
8. Dark Witness (2014)
In this installment, Josie must leave the safety of the courtroom and travel into the wilderness. To save Hannah Sheraton's life, she is forced to battle an unspeakable, direct evil, showing how far she is willing to go for her surrogate daughter.
9. Lost Witness (2019)
Josie takes on an international legal challenge as she works to save a secret hostage trapped on a foreign cargo ship. The setting shifts from Hermosa Beach, offering a larger, more claustrophobic scale of suspense.
10. The 9th Witness (2024)
Set during the Christmas season, Josie is dealing with multiple personal challenges, including her partner's deployment overseas and her employer's upcoming retirement. She is unexpectedly named the executor of the estate of Lily Daye, a woman she has never met. Investigating Lily's estate leads Josie into a dangerous confrontation with a powerful tech mogul.
What to Know Before You Start
Rebecca Forster’s Witness series stands out in the legal thriller genre due to its intense focus on the "human element." While the legal procedures are highly accurate—drawing on Forster's husband's experience as a superior court judge—the core of the series is the emotional evolution of Josie Bates. Josie is a flawed, resilient, and deeply compassionate protagonist who fights as much for her clients' redemption as she does for their legal acquittal.
The Hermosa Beach setting acts as a character in its own right, contrasting the bright, sunny California coast with the dark underbelly of political corruption and domestic tragedy. Readers should be prepared for mature themes, including child abuse, political corruption, and systemic flaws, all handled with empathy and directness.
Spin-offs and Connected Universes
While there are no official spin-offs of the Josie Bates series, Rebecca Forster has written other thriller series that share her trademark fast pace and complex characters. Her Finn O'Brien & Cori Anderson series focuses on two Los Angeles detectives and offers a similar gritty, California-based crime atmosphere. However, there are no formal crossovers between Finn O'Brien and Josie Bates, meaning you can read the two series completely independently.