Where to Start Reading Cole Baxter
With a bibliography packed with standalone domestic suspense and procedural crime fiction, deciding where to start with Cole Baxter depends entirely on your preferred flavor of thriller:
- For police procedurals: Begin with Deadly Truth, the first installment in the Detective Carrie Blake series, which introduces a mismatched pair of NYPD investigators.
- For classic domestic suspense: Start with Baxter's debut novel, Stolen Son (2018), or his hit amnesia thriller, What She Forgot (2019).
- For medical-themed tension: Pick up The Patient (2023) or The Night Nurse to see how Baxter weaves his real-life experience as a physician into his writing.
The Detective Carrie Blake Series
This series moves away from domestic drama to focus on NYPD homicide detectives Carrie Blake and Tom Elway. Together, this mismatched pair hunts serial killers and navigates the dangerous underbelly of Manhattan's elite. You should read these in order to follow the character development and partner dynamics:
- Deadly Truth (2021)
- Deadly Justice (2022)
Note: The series has expanded with newer releases, including Deadly Feud (2025) and Deadly Lie (2025).
The Collaborative Liars Island Series
The Liars Island series is an interconnected, multi-author project set in a fictional island community where everyone has something to hide. While Cole Baxter is a key contributor, it is a collaborative effort with different authors writing individual standalone novellas in the shared world. Cole Baxter specifically wrote the second installment, Panic Pond.
If you wish to explore the entire collaborative series in order, follow this sequence:
- Ransom Road (2021) by Anya Mora
- Panic Pond (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Forbidden Falls (2021) by V.J. Chambers
- Betrayal Bend (2021) by Cole Baxter (written under the pen name Andrea M. Long)
- Guilty Drive (2021) by Hayley Ford
- Liars Lane (2021) by L.A. Dobbs
- Swallow Lane (2021) by Marie Snow
- Poison Lake (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Harborside Hatred (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Gold Digger Grove (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Perfect Place (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Jealousy Junction (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Arrangement Acres (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Dark Harbor (2021) by Cole Baxter
- Cheaters Chase (2021) by Cole Baxter
Cole Baxter’s Standalone Novels
Most of Cole Baxter’s reputation is built on his fast-paced, standalone psychological thrillers. These books do not share characters or storylines, meaning they can be enjoyed in any order. The following list represents their publication order:
- Stolen Son (2018)
- Before She's Gone (2019)
- What She Forgot (2019)
- She's Missing (2019)
- Perfect Obsession (2020)
- What Happened Last Night (2020)
- The Perfect Nanny (2020)
- Follow You (2020)
- Did He Do It (2020)
- Trust a Stranger (2020)
- Prime Suspect (2020)
- Going Insane (2021)
- Finding The Other Woman (2021)
- What She Witnessed (2021)
- The Perfect Suitor (2022)
- The Betrayal (2022)
- The Doppelganger (2023)
- The Lost Son (2023)
- The Couple Next Door (2023)
- I Will Find You (2023)
- The Patient (2023)
- The Hollow Husband (2023)
- Don't Open The Door (2024)
- The Doctor's Secret (2024)
- Her Simple Request (2024)
- The Anniversary (2024)
- Her Secret Revenge (2024)
- His Secret Child (2024)
What to Know Before You Start
Cole Baxter is known for his fast-paced plots and signature "last-chapter" twists that completely reframe the story. Because he works as a practicing primary care physician, his novels often feature medical elements—such as memory loss, dementia, or clinical settings—handled with a level of realism that sets them apart from typical domestic noir. With the exception of the Detective Carrie Blake books, you are free to jump into any standalone novel that catches your interest without worrying about continuity errors.