Ginger Gold Mysteries in Order: How to read Lee Strauss’s series?

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Written by author Lee Strauss, the Ginger Gold Mysteries series brings us back to the 1920s. There, we meet young war widow fashionista Ginger Gold as she makes a cross-Atlantic journey with her companion Haley Higgins to London England to settle her father’s estate.

This is the beginning of a series of mysteries to solve as Ginger is only too happy to lend her assistance to the handsome Chief Inspector Basil Reed.

How to read the Ginger Gold Mystery Series in Order?

Every entry in the Ginger Gold book series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

  1. Murder on the SS Rosa – It’s 1923, and young war-widow Ginger Gold makes a cross-Atlantic journey with her companion Haley Higgins to London, England, to settle her father’s estate. When the ship’s captain is found dead, Ginger is only too happy to lend her assistance to the handsome Chief Inspector Basil Reed.
  2. Murder at Hartigan House – After a weeklong passage over the Atlantic from Boston to Liverpool, Ginger Gold arrives at her childhood London home Hartigan House to find the decade-old remains of some poor woman on the floor in the attic. Ginger’s Boston terrier, Boss, noses out a missing phalange from under the bed. It’s a mystery that once again puts Ginger alongside the handsome Chief Inspector Basil Reed.
  3. Murder at Bray Manor – Ginger Gold receives a letter from her sister-in-law, Felicia, requesting Ginger come straightaway to her late husband’s family home, Bray Manor. Dowager Lady Gold, Ginger’s nervous grandmother through marriage, believes the old manor is haunted. Ginger doesn’t believe in ghosts but is haunted nevertheless by memories of her husband and the lure of his gravesite she just can’t bring herself to visit.
  1. Murder at Feathers & Flair – It’s 1924, Ginger Gold s new Regent Street dress shop, Feathers & Flair, is the talk of the London fashion district, attracting aristocrats from Paris to Berlin to Moscow. Ginger is offered her first job as a private detective when her sister-in-law’s stage-actor friend goes missing, and though the dress shop takes most of her time, Ginger takes the case.
  2. Murder at the Mortuary – Unregistered corpses are showing up amongst the cadavers in the mortuary of the London School of Medicine for Women. Unnatural deaths. Murders. The first known victim is recognized by Haley Higgins, a third-year pathology student. Ginger Gold feels a responsibility for the man’s death and is determined to find his killer.
  3. Murder at Kensington Gardens – Ginger Gold makes a gruesome discovery while walking her dog, Boss, through Kensington Gardens. A woman of ill repute is dead. When Chief Inspector Basil Reed becomes a prime suspect, the blustery and oftentimes pigheaded Superintendent Morris pulls him off the case. Ginger’s not about to be pushed around by the superintendent and investigates the case on her own.
  1. Murder at St. George’s Church – Romance is in the air for the delightful Reverend Oliver Hill. Unfortunately, the wedding rehearsal ends abruptly with the sudden and disturbing appearance of a body. Ginger Gold is determined to find the killer even if it means working with the dashing, yet exasperating Chief Inspector Basil Reed, but only in her professional capacity as a private investigator.
  2. The Wedding of Ginger & Basil (Short Story) – This is the wedding you’ve been waiting for! The bride and groom prepare for their big day and, of course, things don’t go exactly as planned. Told from the alternating points of view of many of the beloved characters in the world of Ginger Gold, you’ll find yourself holding your breath, anticipating that happy ever after.
  3. Murder Aboard the Flying Scotsman – One blustery day in October of 1924, newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Basil Reed travel aboard the recently christened Flying Scotsman, a high-speed steam engine train that travels from London to Edinburgh, for their honeymoon. With only one short stop at York, Ginger anticipates time with her new husband will fly by. She’s wrong. Something terrible has happened in the Royal Mail carriage, which forces the train to stop dead in its tracks. There’s been a death and Chief Inspector Reed has been asked to investigate.
  1. Murder at the Boat Club – River Thames boat races between the London University colleges are popular events, and Mrs. Ginger Reed is excited to attend for the first time, especially since the son of a good friend of her new husband, Chief Inspector Basil Reed, is racing. When a very unusual murder presents itself at the boat club, Lady Gold’s Investigations is hired to take on the case.
  2. Murder on Eaton Square – Life couldn’t be better on Eaton Square Gardens where the most prestigious families lived, until one of their own dies and it’s murder. Ginger and Basil are on the case, but it’s not a simple glass of bubbly fizz. The more the clues present themselves, the trickier the puzzle gets, and Ginger feels she’s on a wild goose chase.
  3. Murder by Plum Pudding (Short Story) – There’s nothing more fun than a festive holiday dinner party and Ginger Reed, the former Lady Gold, has Hartigan House decorated and the gramophone playing. Dressed in her finest Parisian low-waisted gown, feather-topped tiara, and T-strapped Italian leather shoes, Ginger is ready to host the delectable event. It’s a jolly good time, until someone chokes on the pudding. Is it an accident or is it murder? And can Ginger unravel the mystery before the church bells ring and New Year’s Day dawns?
  4. Murder on Fleet Street – Mrs. Ginger Reed-the former Lady Gold-thought her past was dead and buried, but when the mysterious death of a British secret service agent threatens to expose her own Great War secrets, she’s faced with an unimaginable dilemma: break her legal vow to the Official Secrets Act or join the agency again, something she’s loathe to do. Because once they own your soul, there’s no getting it back.
  1. Murder at Brighton Beach – A family holiday turns deadly at Brighton Beach. When Ginger and Basil and their family check into the Brighton Beach Boutique Hotel on a lovely warm day in June of 1926, a shocking discovery upsets their plans to relax in the sun and surf. There’s a murderer amongst the holidayers: Is it the starlet? The earl? The disgruntled businessman?
  2. Murder in Hyde Park – The summer of 1926 brings high fashion to Hyde Park. Ginger’s Regent Street dress shop, Feathers & Flair, is a major sponsor, and when top designer Coco Chanel makes an appearance, the London fashion scene lights up. Until a model drops dead and Miss Chanel is suspected of murder. The fashion icon hires Lady Gold Investigations to clear her name, but can Ginger discover the murderer before becoming a lifeless mannequin herself?
  3. Murder at the Royal Albert Hall – Nothing ruins a night of Shakespeare faster than a duchess falling to her death. Mrs. Ginger Reed, also known by some as Lady Gold, is at the Royal Albert Hall with her husband, Basil Reed, a chief inspector at Scotland Yard, and the two of them are immediately at the scene. Was the duchess of Worthington’s fall accidental? Where was the duke? And what does Ginger’s grandmother, Ambrosia, the dowager Lady Gold have to do with the sordid affair? Something went terribly wrong with the dowager’s “sisterhood” of friends back in the 1860s, and it’s all coming home to roost.
  4. Mystery on Valentine’s Day (short story) – A Ginger Gold & Violet Carlyle Team Up. While both Ginger and Violet had plans for a romantic evening of dinner and dancing to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their husbands, something goes terribly awry. One by one, female patrons discover that they are missing jewelry.
  1. Murder in Belgravia – Wedding bells are ringing in Belgravia, and Ginger couldn’t be happier to attend the nuptials of Felicia Gold and Lord Davenport-Witt. If only she could put her mind at ease about the things she knew about the groom’s past. When a death occurs at the wedding party, Ginger is placed in a frightfully difficult position. Betray her vow of secrecy to the crown, or let a killer go free.
  2. Murder on Mallowan Court – As Mrs. Ginger Reed~also known as Lady Gold~waits impatiently for the coming of her baby, new neighbors move onto Mallowan Court. The Foote family is very much like Ginger’s own, if not the mirror opposite: Mr. and Mrs. Foote an unhappy couple; Mr. Rothwell an aging, irate patriarch; Miss Charlotte, whom Scout finds to be tantalizing if a confusing specimen of young ladyhood; along with a similar collection of staff. The sudden passing of a Foote family member is determined to be unsuspicious, but something about this strange family doesn’t sit right with Ginger.
  3. Murder at the Savoy – Mrs. Ginger Reed, known also as Lady Gold, settles into a homelife with her husband Chief Inspector Basil Reed, son Scout and newborn daughter Rosa, but when an opportunity to join a dinner party at the renowned Savoy Hotel is offered, she’s eager to engage in a carefree night with friends. Some of the guests are troubled when their party’s number lands at unlucky thirteen, as death is sure to come to the first person who leaves the table.
  1. Murder at the Circus – When Ginger Reed ~ aka Lady Gold ~ and Basil Reed’s son Scout runs away to join the circus, it’s not all fun and games. As a disgruntled teen unhappy at boarding school, Scout intends to work with his cousin Marvin, newly (and dishonorably) discharged from the navy. An animal lover at heart, Scout is tickled to assist the animal trainer and develops a particular bond with the matriarchal elephant, Tulip.
  2. Murder at the Boxing Club – Despite her misgivings and general distaste for fighting sports, Mrs. Ginger Reed, also known as Lady Gold, agrees to attend a boxing match to support her adopted son’s cousin, a street fighter who’s quickly risen in the ranks. But when his opponent, the presumed champion-to-be, drops out and then drops dead, Ginger and her husband, Basil, a chief inspector at Scotland Yard, investigate.
  3. Murder in France – When the Reed family-temporarily exiled to France-was once again safe, Ginger decides to turn the event into a much-needed holiday. And the absolute cake was Ginger’s reunion with her American friend Haley Higgins, who is working in France on a practicum to become a lady doctor. Ginger celebrates the happy reunion by throwing a party at their villa in Paris, but the joyous activities are halted when a body is discovered.
  1. Murder at Yuletide – Clive Pippins, Lady Ginger Gold’s beloved, elderly butler is Christmas shopping when a body is found. To the shock of everyone in Ginger’s household, the victim is the spinster cousin Pippins worked for during the years surrounding the Great War. As Ginger and her good friend Haley Higgins investigate, things begin to look grim for Ginger’s dear butler.
  2. Murder at Madame Tussauds – Madame Tussauds, London’s extravagant wax museum, reopens in 1928 to much fanfare. Ginger Reed and her good friend Haley Higgins are intrigued and eager to visit the museum which promises new and exciting exhibits. Of particular interest is the one on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Haley Higgins, with her forensics knowledge, is the first to notice that something is amiss, and that the beautiful figurine with two bloody holes in her neck isn’t made of wax at all, but is indeed made of flesh and bone! When a series of women are found dead in the streets of London in a similarly eerie fashion, it’s up to Scotland Yard, with Chief Inspector Basil Reed at the helm, to solve the case. Can Ginger and Haley work behind the scenes to bring this repeat killer to a stop, before one of them becomes the next victim with a deadly bite?
  3. Murder at St. Paul’s Cathedral – When Ginger’s former sister-in-law Felicia, now Lady Davenport-Witt, first received a mysterious note in the post, she dismissed it as coming from a nuisance writer. These things were known to happen to those who enjoyed social popularity. But with a third one, she began to feel ill at ease. Ginger, however, had been worried since the first short missive had arrived. Someone knew of a family secret that would upset Felicia’s apple cart in a very big way.

If you are searching for another female detective from the 1920s, go read Phryne Fisher’s mysteries. If you like our article about reading the Ginger Gold books in order, don’t forget to bookmark it!

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One Comment

  1. Looking forward to the new Ginger Gold book. I have read all of them so far and I really do like them.

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