Chrissy McMullen Books In Order

Publication Order of A Chrissy McMullen Mystery Books

Chrissy McMullen Series by Lois Greiman are a set of humorous, zany, and fast-paced romance novels that have been compared to the Stephanie Plum novels. Greiman the author was born on a cattle ranch in North Dakota, where she went to school before she moved to Minnesota. She worked as a professional trainer of Arabian horses for a few years, before she took a range of job ranging from veterinary assistant, fitness instructor, and high fashion model. However, the writing bug put a stop to her various occupations and by 1992, she had sold her first manuscript to Avon. She now has several highly successful series such as the “Highland Brides,” “Highland Rogues,” “Sedonia,” “Chrissy McMullen,” and “Men of the Mist” among several others. Most of her works are historical romances set in medieval Scotland. Her novels have received many awards including the Romantic Times K.I.S.S. Award, the Affaire de Couer’s Critic’s Choice Award and a nomination for the prestigious RITA by the Romance Writers of America. She has also been a Barnes and Nobles bestselling author. Lois Greiman currently writes fulltime and is one of the most prolific romance authors, churning out an average of two to three novels every year. When she is not writing, she is caring for her children and a menagerie of pets and horses on her Minnesota farm.

The Chrissy McMullen Series is very similar to Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich as both characters just have the worst luck. The lead is Chrissy, a cocktail waitress turned psychologist that juggles her psychology work with some amateur sleuthing that often gets her in some comical and dicey predicaments. She is a sassy, funny and sometimes sarcastic character that exemplifies the saying people with problems become psychologists. Among her most serious issues include an inability for her brain and mouth to have consensus on reality and major trust issues. She also has a pathological capacity to avoid the truth though she can share and understand it particularly well. Nonetheless despite Chrissy’s issues, she has top notch sleuthing instinct which she showcases throughout the series. While the series is mainly about Christina, her love interest turned lover is also a prominent character. Jack Rivera is a homicide detective with a velvet touch, wicked smile, and killer body. In her work as a psychologist, Chrissy has handled everything from her guilt tripping mother, love struck drunks and obsessed patients but nothing prepared her for Rivera. She seems to have an irresistible old fashioned attraction towards the man that she cannot explain. Other characters include her colleague and mentor Dr. David, Elaine her best friend and Solberg the computer geek.

“Unzipped,” the first novel of the Chrissy McMullen series introduces Christina “Chrissy” McMullen who lives in Chicago. She used to be a cocktail waitress at one of Chicago’s most popular clubs before she became a psychologist serving all manner of clients from her Los Angeles office. Among her most prominent clients is Andrea “Bomber” Bomstad, a former Detroit Lions player who is a regular therapy client. Chrissy is a good therapist but Andrea is a different kettle of fish. He tries to proposition her and when that fails, tries to rape her only to drop dead minutes into chasing her around the office. She has been hounded by the CPD who believe she is a suspect in the suspicious homicide. She had managed to shake off most of the accusations but the detective Jack Rivera refuses to let go. The no nonsense detective digs deep convinced that she must have engaged in some unethical behavior. But the more Chrissy wants to understand the circumstances that led to Andrea’s death the more violent and frequent the attempts on her life became. She needs to clear the name by cracking the case but what she does not know is that the suspect may be someone she could never have imagined it would be. She will need to use her sex appeal, street smarts and a little love if she is to crack the case and get the detective off her back.

“Unplugged,” the second novel of the series continues the story of psychologist extraordinaire Christina McMullen. She has a lot of problems not least of which is a schizophrenic system, needy clients and her fizzling-sizzling romance with Jack Rivera her lover. But there are bigger problems she has to deal with though she would rather avoid. The boyfriend of her secretary had gone on a business trip to Vegas and had never been heard from in more than a week. Chrissy has never liked the Jeen Solberg, the vertically challenged man that she met while she was doing her waiting job in Chicago. Nonetheless, she owed Solberg a favor and he asked for a date with her beautiful secretary. Chrissy had obliged and set it up, never thinking that she would fall for the guy, but she did. Her friend and secretary Laney had dreams of becoming an actress and Christina thought the geek was holding her back. She prays and even hopes that the computer geek has departed from her friend’s life. Moreover, she does not think that there is any reason to believe that there has been foul play. But she had spent years as a cocktail waitress and when her instincts start screaming she knows that she has to protect her friend from something that could be more devastating than a heartbreak. But when she starts investigating, she has to work with Lieutenant Rivera and the sexual tension between them lights up like a torch.

“Unscrewed,” opens to Lieutenant Rivera arriving for his first real date with Chrissy, looking as delicious like a Latina dancer. As he is making his moves on Christina, his phone rings and he says he needs to leave and go see his father. Knowing that he has always had a strained relationship with his father, she allows him to leave hoping that they could finally reconcile. A few moments after he leaves, Chrissy thinks she knows the tune “Like A Virgin” which was the ring tone that played when he got the call. She thinks it very suspicious that he would have such a ringtone for his father and decides to investigate. She follows him only to find that she has bitten more than she can chew. On the floor in the living room of the house is Rivera, unconscious next to his very dead and beautiful ex-girlfriend that had left him to be with his father. Her investigations soon unearth some unusual son-father issues but even more disturbing is information that her prospective boyfriend may not be as innocent as he had made her believe. But her investigations into the woman’s past unearths a ton of information that makes Chrissy think that maybe there is hope for their relationship after all.