Baltimore (Karen Rose) Books In Order

Publication Order of Baltimore Books

Baltimore is a series of romantic suspense novels set in the city of Baltimore. The books chronicle the lives of men and women that are striving to figure their romantic lives out even as they encounter vicious killers.

+The Story
By the time Karen Rose wrote and published ‘You Belong to Me’, the first novel in the Baltimore series in 2011, she had made quite a name for herself as an author of taut thrillers set in various states around the United States.

The Baltimore series merely continued her trend of exploring the lives of desperate souls struggling to find one another in a hostile setting. All of Karen Rose’s books are connected. They are only separated by their locations.

As such, it could be argued that the author’s bibliography is one long series. Even though ‘You Belong to Me’ is described as the first novel in the Baltimore series, it is actually the 12th in a series of novels whose characters and plot threads cross over from time to time.

‘You Belong to Me’ specifically tells the story of J.D. Fitzpatrick. Long ago, a young woman was assaulted. She was beaten and raped. Those individuals that witnessed her plight did nothing to help her.

When ‘You Belong to Me’ begins, these witnesses have begun to die. J.D. Fitzpatrick is a detective in Baltimore who is called upon because the bodies have begun to pile up faster than the police can process them.

Fitzpatrick is fairly certain that the murders have something to do with Lucy Trask, a medical examiner. After all, the killer keeps positioning his victims in a way that Lucy is all but guaranteed to find them.

However, when Fitzpatrick finally meets and gets to know Lucy, his only desire is to keep her safe. Lucy, for her part, has fallen for the detective. But she has skeletons in her closet that won’t permit her to get too close to him.

Fitzpatrick and Lucy have to learn to trust one another if they are to overcome the machinations of a deadly killer.

Your experience with the Baltimore series will be greatly improved if you choose to make ‘You Belong to Me’ the first novel you read. That is because the protagonists of ‘You Belong to Me’ play minor roles in other Baltimore novels.

However, ‘You Belong to Me’ is not essential reading. For the most part, all the novels in the Baltimore series can be read independently of their predecessors and sequels. Each Baltimore novel tells a standalone story with its own heroes, villains, and storylines which have a beginning and an end.

No one novel plays such a critical role in the Baltimore series that an understanding of its events is necessary for anyone to read and enjoy its sequels. That being said, because all the novels are loosely connected, your enjoyment of the Baltimore series will be augmented if you read these books in order.

In fact, you are better off reading Karen Rose’s entire bibliography from start to finish. There are characters in future Baltimore novels whose backstories were covered in stories that took place before the Baltimore series began.

All of the author’s books feature a familiar theme. The romantic aspect is often manifested in the connection that forms between the hero and the heroine. Rose’s protagonists in the Baltimore series normally fall for one another from the moment they meet.

However, even though their emotions for one another are mutual, they are both hesitant to pursue a relationship. Eventually, one of them, either the hero or the heroine, attempts to grow closer to the target of their affection.

But a barrier keeps arising to keep them apart, typically a secret held by one of the protagonists, or even some past trauma that has made them hesitant to pursue love.

This romantic aspect of the Baltimore series always acts as a backdrop to a serious plot involving a sinister mystery with a dastardly antagonist at its center. In most cases, the actions of the antagonist compel the hero and the heroine to find one another, after which they must learn to trust each other in their efforts to foil the bad guy’s ploy.

The Baltimore novels have been commended for their highly complex stories which feature multiple characters, plots, mysteries and an endless train of twists and turns.

Some readers have complained that Karen Rose introduces way too many characters in the individual Baltimore novels, to the point of creating confusion with all the subplots and motives in play.

The Baltimore novels are also very long, exceeding the average page count of the typical romantic suspense novel.

+The Author
Karen Rose was born in the Maryland Suburbs of Washington. That is also where she was raised. A graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in Chemical engineering, the years Rose spent working in the engineering field were hardly fulfilling because she couldn’t stop her brain from generating stories and characters.

She eventually sat down to write fiction and realized that she had finally discovered her calling. Her first novel was published in 2003.

+No One Left to Tell.
Paige Holden is a rookie Private Investigator whose life rapidly spirals out of control when one of her clients dies in her arms. The woman uses her last breathe to leave Paige with a cryptic message and a flash drive.

Grayson Smith is an attorney who was quite proud of the work he did years ago when he had a murderer imprisoned. But when Paige hands him a flash drive, the evidence he uncovers casts doubts on the conviction he helped make.

+Did You Miss Me
Daphne Montgomery is an Assistant State’s Attorney who just helped convict a white supremacist for murder. She should be celebrating. But the only emotion tearing through her heart is grief.

Someone has taken Daphne’s son and she’s quite certain that her recent victory has something to do with it. But FBI Agent Joseph Carter isn’t so sure. When he learns that Daphne’s son’s girlfriend is also missing, he begins to suspect that the pair might be pawns in a far more dangerous game.