Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Black Stiletto: The First Diary | 2011 | Raymond Benson | Buy |
| 2 | Black & White | 2012 | Raymond Benson | Buy |
| 3 | Stars & Stripes | 2013 | Raymond Benson | Buy |
| 4 | Secrets & Lies | 2014 | Raymond Benson | Buy |
| 5 | Endings & Beginnings | 2014 | Raymond Benson | Buy |
The Black Stiletto series tells the story of Judy Cooper, a small-town Texas girl who moves to New York City and becomes a costumed crime fighter. Set across two timelines, the books alternate between Judy’s diary entries from the 1950s and 1960s and the present-day story of her son Martin, who discovers the diaries while managing her care after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. In the past, Judy takes on organized crime, corrupt politicians, and street-level threats while keeping her identity hidden.
Each book in the five-volume series covers a different period of Judy’s career as the Black Stiletto. The first novel introduces her origin story and her early battles against a Mafia boss. Subsequent volumes move through the civil rights era, Cold War tensions, and the social upheaval of the 1960s, with the present-day storyline adding suspense as people from Judy’s past begin to close in on Martin and his family. Benson wrote the series as a love letter to pulp fiction heroines, grounding the action in real historical settings.