Molly Murphy Series

I get a little giddy whenever someone asks about digging into an author’s work, so here’s how I’d approach Molly Gallagher — even if there are a couple of people with that name out there. I don’t have a definitive list memorized, but I usually start with the obvious: find her author page (publisher site, personal website, or a Goodreads author profile). Those places usually list every title, the publication order, and sometimes blurbs that tell you whether she writes contemporary romance, thrillers, or something else.

If you want a specific place to begin, pick one of two routes: the debut or the most-talked-about book. Debuts often showcase an author’s voice raw and distinct, while the most-reviewed book will tell you what most readers loved (or didn’t). If Molly has a series, absolutely begin with book one — series authors expect you to meet characters in order. If she writes standalones, skim a couple of blurbs and read the first chapter sample on Amazon or your library app; that quick taste will tell you if her pacing and character style click for you.

Practical tip from my late-night reading habit: read a handful of 4–5-star reviews and a couple of 2–3-star ones to see recurring praise or complaints (character depth, pacing, twisty plotting). If you want, tell me which Molly Gallagher you found (cover shot, genre, or a snippet) and I’ll help pick the exact first book — I love matching people to the right starter title.

Okay, quick heads-up: there are multiple writers named Mary Murphy, and that makes this question a tiny bit like chasing a moving target. I've dug through my own bookshelf vibes and online sleuthing habits to give you a practical way forward, because listing titles without knowing which Mary Murphy you mean can easily lead to mistakes.

First, if you want a straight list of which Mary Murphy books form a series, the most reliable places are the author's official website, the publisher's catalog, and library catalogs like WorldCat. On retail sites like Amazon or on 'Goodreads' a book page will often include a 'series' field (e.g., 'Book 2 of ...'), and librarians add series statements in the catalog record. If a paperback has a number on the spine or the copyright page references a series name, that's another giveaway.

Second, keep an eye out for reprints or alternate titles. Sometimes publishers bundle previously standalone books into a named series later on, or rename a series for different markets. If you give me one specific Mary Murphy book title or the genre (children's picture books, historical fiction, romance, mystery, etc.), I can zero in and list the exact books that belong to that series. I like solving these little book puzzles—it's like tracking a character across volumes—and I’d be glad to help pin this down for you.

I stumbled upon this series years ago and got hooked, but the order threw me for a loop at first because some lists mix up the original novels and the later anthologies. You want to start with 'Murphy's Law' – it's the origin story for Molly in 1901 New York. Then just go by publication date: 'Death of Riley', 'For the Love of Mike', and so on. I'd skip the anthologies like 'The Molly Murphy Mysteries' until you've read the core novels they collect, or you'll hit major spoilers.

A quick tip – the author, Rhys Bowen, also writes the Royal Spyness series, and there's a tiny bit of stylistic crossover in the early books. The reading order gets really solid around book four or five; the character dynamics with Daniel Sullivan and the historical details about early 20th-century New York become the backbone of the whole thing. My paperback copy of 'In Like Flynn' has a list in the front that I still check sometimes.

I've read all the Molly Murphy books and calling them historical romance feels off to me. Sure, there's a romantic thread with Daniel Sullivan that develops over the series, but it's not the engine of the plots. The core of each book is Molly stumbling into a mystery, using her wits to investigate, and navigating her independence in turn-of-the-century New York.

The romantic elements are more like a subplot that adds personal stakes. Sometimes the relationship tension gets in the way of her sleuthing, which honestly annoyed me in a couple of the later books. The focus is really on historical detail and the puzzle. If you're picking these up hoping for a romance-heavy narrative, you might be a bit disappointed—it's a detective series first.

The whole series is out there for audio listeners, and the narrator choices make a world of difference. I’ve been working my way through them while commuting and some are a joy, while others… take getting used to. The early books have a couple different narrators before they settle on one consistent voice. The switch can be jarring if you're binge-listening, but the later books really hit their stride.

You can find them all on Audible and likely through your library's app like Libby or Hoopla. The latter is a solid move if you want to try before you buy, since some historical mystery series can feel a bit samey after a dozen installments.