Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Woman in the Woods | 2022 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 2 | The Last Survivors | 2023 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 3 | No Escape | 2023 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 4 | The Garden of Secrets | 2023 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 5 | The Killer Among Us | 2023 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 6 | The Convict | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 7 | The Last Promise | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 8 | Death by Midnight | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 9 | The Woman in the Attic | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 10 | Playing with Fire | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 11 | Murder in Twilight Cove | 2024 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 12 | Under the Mask | 2025 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 13 | Hidden Intentions | 2025 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
| 14 | The Great Betrayal | 2025 | A.J. Rivers | Buy |
The Dean Steele series by A.J. Rivers began in 2022 with The Woman in the Woods and has grown to fourteen books. Dean Steele is an investigator who consistently finds himself in situations where quiet settings hide deadly secrets. Titles like The Garden of Secrets, The Killer Among Us, and Murder in Twilight Cove hint at the kind of menace lurking beneath the surface.
The series moves at a steady pace, with Rivers publishing multiple entries each year. The books work as standalone mysteries while building up Dean’s character over time. His investigations tend to take him to remote locations where help is far away and the suspects are few, creating a claustrophobic tension that runs through the series.