Kelley Armstrong is a bit of a powerhouse. Honestly, if you look at her shelf space in a bookstore, it’s slightly intimidating. She’s written over 50 novels. That’s not even counting the novellas, the graphic novels, or the short stories that bridge the gaps between her major series. She doesn't just stick to one lane, either. You’ve got werewolves in Toronto, a hidden town in the Yukon, and a Victorian housemaid who’s actually a modern-day forensic accountant. It’s a lot.
Basically, if you’re looking for author Kelley Armstrong books, you aren't just looking for a "good read." You’re looking for a doorway into about five different worlds. Some people know her as the woman who paved the way for modern urban fantasy with Bitten. Others only know her as a thriller writer. The weird thing? Both groups are right.
Why people still obsess over the Women of the Otherworld
Back in 2001, the urban fantasy landscape looked a lot different. Then came Elena Michaels. She was the world’s only female werewolf, and she wasn't some damsel waiting for a "pack leader" to save her. She was grumpy, physically stronger than most men, and deeply conflicted about her own nature.
The Women of the Otherworld series is where most people start, and for good reason. It’s thirteen books long, but it doesn't just follow Elena. Armstrong was smart—she knew that a dozen books about the same werewolf might get stale. So, she shifted perspectives.
You get Paige Winterbourne, a witch trying to find her footing in a world of corporate demon cabals. Then there’s Eve Levine, a half-demon who’s already dead and navigating the afterlife. It sounds chaotic, but it works because the world feels lived-in. Armstrong treats magic like a job. If you’re a sorcerer, you probably have a lawyer. If you’re a werewolf, you’re worried about DNA evidence and security cameras. It’s grounded in a way that makes the supernatural feel like a plausible, albeit dangerous, neighbor.
The proper reading order (mostly)
- Bitten (The one that started it all)
- Stolen (Broadens the world significantly)
- Dime Store Magic (Switches to the witches)
- Industrial Magic (Deep dive into the Cabals)
- Haunted (The first "ghost" story)
- Broken (Back to Elena)
- No Humans Involved (Jaime Vegas, the necromancer)
- Personal Demon
- Living with the Dead
- Frostbitten
- Waking the Witch
- Spell Bound
- Thirteen (The big finale)
The Rockton shift: No magic, just murder
Around 2016, Armstrong did something risky. She stepped away from the spells and fangs to write a "pure" thriller series. Enter Rockton.
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Imagine a town in the middle of the Yukon. It’s not on any map. It has no internet, no electricity, and no contact with the outside world. The only way in is to pay a massive fee to a shadowy council. Why would you go? Because you’re a victim of a crime, or you’re a criminal yourself, and you need to disappear for a few years.
Detective Casey Duncan heads there with her best friend, thinking it’s a sanctuary. It’s not. It turns out that when you fill a town with people who have dark secrets, someone eventually starts killing them. The Rockton books—starting with City of the Lost—are gritty. They feel cold. You can almost feel the frostbite through the pages.
The series technically ended with The Deepest of Secrets, but because Armstrong can't seem to stop writing (thankfully), she launched a spinoff called Haven's Rock. It follows the same main characters, Casey and Dalton, as they try to build their own version of a hidden town. It’s essentially "Rockton 2.0," and honestly, it’s just as addictive.
Time travel and Victorian forensics
Lately, the buzz around author Kelley Armstrong books has shifted toward her A Rip Through Time series. This one is wild. Mallory Atkinson is a modern-day police consultant who gets strangled in Edinburgh and wakes up in the body of a Victorian housemaid in 1869.
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It’s not just a "fish out of water" story. Mallory has to use her 21st-century forensic knowledge to solve murders in an era where "fingerprinting" isn't even a thing yet. It’s a brilliant blend of historical fiction and police procedural.
If you like Outlander but wish it had more autopsies and less pining, this is your series. The third book, Disturbing the Dead, came out in 2024, and the series is still going strong into 2026 with An Ordinary Sort of Evil.
The Cainsville connection
I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn't mention Cainsville. It’s arguably her most complex work. It’s got omens, gargoyles, and a protagonist named Olivia Taylor-Jones who discovers her parents were convicted serial killers.
She flees to a town called Cainsville, which is... odd. The residents are a bit too helpful. The crows seem to be talking to her. It’s heavy on folklore—specifically Welsh and Celtic myths—and features one of the most agonizing "slow burn" romances I’ve ever read between Olivia and a morally gray lawyer named Gabriel Walsh.
The series is five books: Omens, Visions, Deceptions, Betrayals, and Rituals. If you want something that feels like a foggy autumn evening, this is it.
Where should you actually start?
It depends on your mood. Kinda.
- If you want "classic" urban fantasy: Start with Bitten. It’s the foundation.
- If you want a locked-room mystery vibe: Go with City of the Lost.
- If you’re a history nerd: A Rip Through Time is the winner.
- If you want something for your teenager: Check out the Darkest Powers trilogy (The Summoning). It’s YA, but it doesn't talk down to the reader. It’s about kids in a group home who realize they aren't "mentally ill"—they’re just manifesting supernatural powers that a corporation wants to harvest.
Kelley Armstrong is one of those rare authors who manages to be prolific without losing quality. She writes the kind of books you stay up until 3:00 AM reading because you "just need to know who the killer is."
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Your next steps
Stop scrolling and pick a lane. If you’ve never read her before, grab a copy of City of the Lost or Bitten. Most libraries have them in ebook format, so you don't even have to leave your house. Once you finish the first one, check her website for the "Otherworld stories" order—there are dozens of free shorts that fill in the history of the characters. Happy reading.