Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Looking for Trouble | 1994 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 2 | Go Not Gently | 1997 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 3 | Dead Wrong | 1998 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 4 | Stone Cold Red Hot | 2001 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 5 | Towers of Silence | 2002 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 6 | Bitter Blue | 2003 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 7 | Missing | 2007 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
| 8 | Crying Out Loud | 2011 | Cath Staincliffe | Buy |
Sal Kilkenny is a private investigator working out of her home in Manchester, balancing case work with the daily realities of single parenthood. Cath Staincliffe introduced her in Looking for Trouble in 1994, and the series grew to eight novels over the following seventeen years. Each book is a standalone mystery, though Sal’s personal life develops across the series as her children grow up and her circumstances change.
The cases Sal takes on tend to involve people on the margins. She tracks down missing persons, investigates suspicious deaths, and digs into situations where the police have either given up or never got involved. The Manchester setting is central to the books, with Staincliffe drawing on the city’s neighborhoods and social dynamics to ground the stories. Sal is practical and persistent rather than glamorous, and her investigations often put strain on her home life and friendships.