Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dead Won’t Sleep | 2011 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 2 | To Tell the Truth | 2012 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 3 | Screams In The Dark | 2013 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 4 | Betrayed | 2014 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 5 | A Cold Killing | 2015 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 6 | Rough Cut | 2016 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 7 | Kill Me Twice | 2016 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 8 | Death Trap | 2017 | Anna Smith | Buy |
| 9 | The Hit | 2017 | Anna Smith | Buy |
The Rosie Gilmour series is Anna Smith’s first and longest-running work, spanning nine novels from The Dead Won’t Sleep (2011) through The Hit (2017). Rosie Gilmour is an investigative journalist in Glasgow who takes on dangerous stories that others are afraid to touch. Smith, a former crime journalist herself, has said that Rosie is based partly on her own experiences, just “a bit younger and a bit wilder.”
The series begins with The Dead Won’t Sleep, which exposes corruption and child abuse at the highest levels of the establishment. Each subsequent book brings Rosie a new investigation with real stakes: trafficking, cold-case killings, contract hits, and institutional cover-ups. Titles like Screams In The Dark, A Cold Killing, and Death Trap give a sense of the territory Smith covers. The books are set firmly in Glasgow’s grittier corners, and Smith writes about the city with the authority of someone who spent years reporting from its streets.
Nine books give the series room to develop Rosie as a character beyond her investigations. Her personal life, relationships, and the toll of her work all play out across the series. Readers who enjoy crime fiction with a strong sense of place and a protagonist who refuses to look away from ugly truths will find a lot to appreciate here.