Best Val Mcdermid Books In Order

Ice had seen courage under fire, in many cases literally, back in his SEAL days. But he’d never seen anything like Vixen that day. When he first caught sight of her, she was standing with her feet wide apart, solidly braced on those mile-high, mid-thigh black boots, the ones that he loved fucking her in. Her minute green skirt had ridden high and tight up her perfect legs, and her dark eyes were dilated to black as she grimly stared down the approaching vehicle, shooting and shooting, both hands holding the gun. She’d looked every inch the hot female assassin in some blockbuster Hollywood movie, right down to her hair flowing behind her in the autumn wind. **** Ice Johansson is the Road Devils MC’s Chief Enforcer: cold, ruthless, and built for violence. He doesn’t feel guilt, except where Vix is concerned. Weeks ago, he crossed a line with the one woman who mattered to him. Now an enemy attack leaves her badly injured, and Ice wants one thing: to protect her, if she’ll let him close again. Victoria “Vixen” Shaw owns her reputation as the club’s favorite ride. No shame. No apologies. For eighteen months, though, she’s been Ice’s alone. What he did shattered her trust, but when Ice becomes her caretaker – no sex, no demands, just presence – she begins to see the man beneath the ice. As the Road Devils are pushed to the brink, Ice and Vix find intimacy where they never expected it: clothed, raw, and vulnerable. But if Ice reveals the darkest parts of himself – the violence he embraces to protect his family – can Vix accept him? And even if she does, can loving a man like Ice ever truly be safe?

In a deadly game of spies and dealers, trust is the ultimate weapon—and love the most dangerous betrayal. Sabrina is a cold, detached assassin, trained to infiltrate, manipulate, and eliminate without hesitation. But her latest mission is different: Viktor, a sadistic arms dealer with a dangerous empire, is her target. What begins as a professional operation soon turns into a psychological nightmare. Viktor has secrets of his own and plays a twisted game, pushing her to her limits with violence and manipulation. As Sabrina is drawn deeper into his dark world, she begins to lose herself, torn between completing the mission and the suffocating love Viktor offers. She must decide: escape or join him in the darkness.

When Clara Davis accidentally switches suitcases at the airport, she expects an awkward exchange— not a gun, stacks of cash, and a stranger calling her Mrs. Vale. Lucien Vale, a cold, beautiful man with blood on his hands, insists she’s his wife—and that men are hunting her. Dragged into a world of covert missions and deadly secrets, Clara must live under an alias to survive. But the longer she stays by his side, the more she questions everything: Is Lucien her captor or her protector? Is this marriage fake—or fate? One suitcase, one lie, one love that could cost them both their lives.

Her husband killed her for her inheritance. Reborn three years before her death, she refuses to be the obedient, "useless" wife she once was. For three years, Ahtisa lived as a submissive wife to Adrian Vale, enduring his coldness and his mother's bitter humiliations. She gave up her career as a police officer and her identity just to support his ambitions. But on the night of their anniversary, the illusion shattered. She caught Adrian in a hotel room with Isabella the very girl Ahtisa had saved from the streets. Instead of showing remorse, Adrian struck her down, leaving her to bleed out on the floor while they gloated over stealing her late father’s forty-billion-dollar fortune. As her vision faded, only one man arrived to save her: Lucien Blackwell, the ruthless billionaire she had once personally arrested because of her husband's lies. With her last breath, she vowed to make them pay. Waking up three years in the past, the docile wife is gone. Back in the interrogation room on the day of her greatest mistake, Ahtisa refuses to arrest Lucien. Instead, she offers him a dangerous pact: Power for revenge. When Adrian arrives at the reading of her father's will, expecting her to blindly sign over her fortune, Ahtisa tears the contract to pieces in front of his greedy eyes. "I won't be transferring a single dime. And I am filing for divorce." Adrian begs for a second chance. But she is already untouchable with the city's most feared man guarding her from the shadows.

"You kill so wonderfully well, little Raven," he murmured, his voice incredibly smooth, "but you did a terrible job hiding yourself. That beautiful scent of yours... wood, jasmine, and blood. It's unmistakable." Thirteen years ago, ten-year-old Romy Hawthorne hid in the vineyard and watched the Supreme Alpha, Rowan Ashwing-Kael Vexley, pull a bloodied blade from her sister’s chest as her home burned. Now, Romy is "Viper"—a lethal, wolf-less assassin. When a twenty-million-dollar bounty drops on the man known as the Beast of Flames, she eagerly takes the job. Her mission: infiltrate his territory, plunge a silver knife into his heart, and avenge her family. But her target is a dangerously powerful Fire Lord who has spent the last decade hunting the real syndicate that murdered his fiancée. When Romy breaks into his stronghold, he doesn't find a victim, he finds the surviving little sister of the woman he lost. And to their absolute horror, she is his fated mate. Bound by an agonizing supernatural tether where every ounce of physical pain she inflicts on him is violently mirrored in her own body, Romy is completely trapped. With enemies closing in, she must make a choice: Will she fulfill her lifelong vow and kill the monster who ruined her life? Or will she surrender to the intoxicating fire of the Alpha who would burn the world down to keep her safe? #Enemies to Lovers #Fated Mates #Assassin/Alpha #Touch Her and Die #Revenge #Forced Proximity, #Misunderstanding #Hidden Identity #Steamy.

“If I could not escape in peace as the victim, then this time, I would be the executioner. This time… I would kill him first.” Forced into a marriage of convenience to secure the Sinclair family’s billion-dollar inheritance, Julia spends ten years trapped with a cold and unfaithful husband. On the very day she is finally supposed to be free, she is betrayed, humiliated… and murdered by her own husband and his lover. But she wakes up on her wedding day. Protected by an amulet passed down through the women of her family, she relives the same cycle for the third time. In her previous attempts, running away and submitting did not prevent her death. Now, Julia decides to change the rules: instead of trying to survive, she will seek revenge. Colder and more dangerous, Julia begins manipulating the Sinclair power games while growing closer to Caleb, her husband’s best friend, the only man who ever treated her as a choice rather than an obligation. Scarred by deep trauma, Julia struggles to trust again, while Caleb slowly wins her over with respect, consistency, and loyalty. Amid love triangles, betrayals, family secrets, and premeditated murder, Julia plans to destroy Michael, frame his lover, and bring down the empire that imprisoned her. But the greatest choice will not be revenge. It will be allowing herself to love again.