Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Roses | 2013 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
| 2 | The Winter Garden / Woman in the Shadows | 2014 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
| 3 | A War of Flowers / The Scent of Secrets | 2015 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
| 4 | The Scent of Secrets | 2015 | Jane Thynne | N/A |
| 5 | Faith and Beauty / The Pursuit of Pearls | 2015 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
| 6 | The Pursuit of Pearls | 2015 | Jane Thynne | N/A |
| 7 | Solitaire | 2016 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
| 8 | The Judgement of Stars | 2025 | Jane Thynne | Buy |
The series opens in 1933 with Black Roses as Hitler consolidates power, and Clara’s position as an actress of mixed heritage gives her both vulnerability and unusual access. Jane Thynne uses the structure of Nazi society, its obsession with Aryan femininity, the film industry’s importance as propaganda, and the social rituals around figures like Eva Braun and Magda Goebbels, to create a world that feels oppressively real.
The books appeared under slightly different titles in the UK and US markets, which explains the dual-title entries in the reading order. Each novel can be read on its own but the emotional continuity and the tightening historical situation reward reading in order. The final entry, The Judgement of Stars, appeared in 2025, nearly a decade after Solitaire, and returns to Clara after a long gap. Readers who like Alan Furst or Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels will find a lot to appreciate here.