Carol O’Connell Books In Order

Publication Order of Kathleen Mallory Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Mysterious Profiles Books

Carol O’Connell is one of the most reputed authors of America, who likes to write all her books based on the mystery, crime fiction, and thriller genres. A large series of her crime fiction books is set around the life of the main protagonist named Kathleen Mallory. Author Carol was born on May 26, 1947, New York, The United States. The first novel that she wrote in the Kathleen Mallory series was sent to England. There, it got successfully auctioned all over Europe. When the novel was brought back to America, it became the most sought after book. The novel was titled as ‘Mallory’s Oracle’. Its success helped author Carol to work on the other books of the Kathleen Mallory series, all of which also became similarly successful as the first book. Before going on to become an established author, Carol obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Arizona State. Immediately after, she started her career as an artist, but did not see much success in it. Therefore, she decided to try a hand in the writing career. Initially, author Carol started writing books as a hobby. But several attempts, she found that she actually liked it and can pen down interesting crime fiction stories. She was successful in getting a literary agent who helped her publish her initial written works. When author Carol saw that there is some hope in this career, she decided to continue writing and eventually published a few more novels. The books of the Kathleen Mallory series became the highlight of her writing career. The immense success of these novels helped author Carol to establish herself as one of the prominent authors of the crime fiction genre.

The Kathleen Mallory series written by author Carol O’Connell consists of 12 books in total, which were released between the years 1994 and 2013. All the books in the series feature the main character in the form of Kathleen Mallory, who is depicted as a Detective Sergeant working in the New York Police Department. The debut novel of this series is titled as ‘Mallory’s Oracle’. It was released by the G.P. Putnam & Sons publishers in the year 1994. The central plot of this novel deals with the web of several unsolved murders that take place in the Gramercy Park in New York and the only woman who makes it her obsession to solve those murder cases. As the story of the novel begins, Kathleen Mallory is depicted as an extraordinarily wild woman and a policewoman for the New York City police. She was orphaned as a child and was adopted by a police officer and his wife from the streets. Even after years of living as a civilized person, Kathleen is still not forgotten her uncivilized manners completely. Recently, she got promoted to the post of a Sergeant of the section of Special Crimes. With the help her green gunslinger’s eyes and ferocious intelligence, Kathleen tries to operate in her own style. She does not like to get called by any other names except Mallory. She has the habit of judging things as right and wrong based on her intuition. With her own sense of justice, Kathleen gets driven in several unpredictable ways.

Because of all the antique and wild things that she does, Kathleen is often referred to as a thing apart. However, she seems to get possessed indoors more often than being outdoors, solving cases. She seems to have grown fond of computers so much that she spends most of her time in their company. But, when she comes to know that her adoptive father named Louis Markowitz has been stabbed to death, Kathleen is forced to get back onto the streets. The dead body of Louis is found next to that of a wealthy woman from Gramercy Park. After investigating, Kathleen Mallory learns that the two murders were linked to a couple of other homicides in Gramercy Park that Louis Markowitz was investigating. As a result, the death of Louis becomes Kathleen’s cause and his cases also become hers. With determined efforts, Kathleen begins to prowl on the streets, drawing on Louis’s circle of colleagues and friends, and sifting through the clues. Soon, she plunges into a world of light and dark, where people appear to be quite different from what they try to portray themselves and truth keeps on changing without prior warnings. In the middle of everything, a brutal murderer waits for the next move of Kathleen, who also seems to be as unpredictable and wild as she is. In the end, the plot of the book seems to be filled with the seductive and deep atmosphere of lies and deception. It also depicts a razor sharp prose, which turns out to be a resonating, gripping, suspenseful, and tantalizingly complex. All these factors make the novel to be an unforgettable read for the readers all over the world. Author Carol says that this novel will suit best to all those are extremely fond of reading crime fiction books.

One of the other initial novels of the Kathleen Mallory series written by author Carol O’Connell was published under the title ‘Killing Critics’. It was released by the Jove publishers in the year 1995. The story of this book continues to revolve around the life of the main protagonist, Kathleen Mallory. At the beginning of the plot of this book, it is shown that a man named Andrew Bliss has written about some interconnecting attacks of art, artist, and architecture. His writings gave way to a new form of terrorism called as Art Terrorism. Andrew Bliss was known to be an alcoholic, art critic, and a serious and state of the art shopper of Bloomingdales’. Among the common people and artists, he was not much celebrated for his straight and radical opinions. No one even suspected he might be aware of something related to a terrible crime that was committed around 12 years ago in one of the art galleries of Avril Koozeman. Previously, Inspector Louis Markowitz used to work on the double homicide case that happened at the gallery. But after his death, his daughter, Detective Sergeant Kathleen Mallory has decided to reopen the case, in spite of the fact that the police department does not want her to do so. This is because of the fact that several secrets of a number of prominent people are buried with the case and they certainly do not want them to come out in open.

6 Responses to “Carol O’Connell”

1. d. yvonne chabino: 3 years ago

   i have been impatiently waiting for the next book. i love mallory. there hast to be more books.

   Reply
2. Judith Fortney: 3 years ago

   I have read all her books and love them all.

   I’m hoping for more.

   Reply
3. Beverly: 3 years ago

   If there will be no more Mallory books, could you at least provide a summary of what happened to Charles and Mallory? Did they marry? If not, who did Charles marry? You hint at grandchildren, and it seem Mallory died before Charles; how?

   Thank you for the best series ever written.

   Beverly

   Reply
   • June Locke: 2 years ago

     When will you produce the next Mallory book? Retirement can last only so long before you become bored to death. We all want a new Mallory book!

     Reply
4. Claire Laluna: 5 years ago

   I also love these books, and wonder if she is still writing.

   Reply
5. Julie: 7 years ago

   I love her books. ‘The Chalk Girl’ is one of my favourites as is ‘Winter House’. I loved loved loved ‘Judas Child’. One of the things I like about this author is that she doesn’t do things to type. Things don’t end as you expect.

   Reply