Below is the complete list of Jayne Ann Krentz’s Arcane Society books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Arcane Society Books
as Amanda Quick
About Arcane Society
For centuries, the Arcane Society has investigated the extraordinary abilities of individuals possessing heightened psychic talents. Its members include investigators, scientists, and powerful families whose unusual gifts can be used for protection, discovery, or dangerous manipulation. Jayne Ann Krentz builds this secretive organisation into an interconnected world of romantic suspense, historical mystery, and futuristic paranormal fiction, exploring the consequences of psychic power across generations.
The series is unusual because Krentz writes it under three different names. Her contemporary novels appear as Jayne Ann Krentz, the historical mysteries as Amanda Quick, and the futuristic stories as Jayne Castle. Rather than forming three unrelated collections, these books share a mythology involving the Arcane Society, its rival organisations, and the families whose psychic abilities have been passed down through generations.
The story begins with Second Sight (2006), published as Amanda Quick. Set in Victorian England, it introduces photographer Venetia Milton and Gabriel Jones, a member of the influential Jones family. Their relationship develops amid investigations involving dangerous psychic research and secrets connected to the society.
The Jones family becomes especially important throughout the series. Its members have long participated in the study of paranormal talents, and their influence extends across different historical periods. Their responsibilities frequently bring them into conflict with individuals seeking to exploit psychic abilities for personal or financial gain.
White Lies (2007) shifts the setting to contemporary America. Clare Lancaster possesses an unusual ability to recognise deception, a talent that complicates her relationships and makes her valuable to people investigating suspicious circumstances. Her involvement with Jake Salter introduces another aspect of the society’s continuing activities.
In Sizzle and Burn (2008), Raine Tallentyre and Zack Jones confront dangers associated with psychic experimentation and criminal organisations. Their investigation develops the conflict between the Arcane Society and the Nightshade organisation, whose members seek extraordinary power through dangerous scientific methods.
The historical storyline continues in The Third Circle (2008) and The Perfect Poison (2009), while Running Hot (2008) returns to contemporary romantic suspense. These novels explore different psychic abilities, including heightened perception, unusual sensory talents, and the capacity to identify traces of paranormal energy.
The series subsequently develops two interconnected trilogies that move deliberately between historical, contemporary, and futuristic settings.
The Dreamlight Trilogy begins with Fired Up (2009), featuring Jack Winters and Chloe Harper. Their investigation involves a dangerous family legacy and the mysterious Burning Lamp, an artefact connected to powerful psychic abilities.
Burning Lamp (2010), written as Amanda Quick, returns to Victorian England to explore earlier events involving the Winters family. Midnight Crystal (2010), published as Jayne Castle, carries the storyline into the futuristic world of Harmony, where paranormal abilities have become part of everyday life.
These three novels demonstrate how the consequences of scientific experimentation, family inheritance, and supernatural power can extend across centuries.
The Looking Glass Trilogy continues this approach with In Too Deep (2010), Quicksilver (2011), and Canyons of Night (2011). Its stories feature dangerous paranormal artefacts, unusual investigative partnerships, and the consequences of psychic research conducted by people willing to disregard ethical restrictions.
The futuristic instalments also connect with Castle’s wider Harmony and Ghost Hunters series. Harmony is a distant human colony where an alien civilisation left behind mysterious ruins, underground catacombs, and powerful energy fields. The setting provides a science-fiction counterpart to the historical and contemporary investigations.
The companion novella The Scargill Cove Case Files (2011) expands the Arcane Society world through a contemporary mystery involving unusual psychic phenomena.
Although individual novels generally centre on different romantic couples and investigations, recurring families, secret organisations, and paranormal concepts provide continuity. The books can often function as separate romantic mysteries, but their shared background becomes increasingly significant as the series develops.
Krentz uses psychic talents as more than convenient investigative devices. Her characters must learn to understand abilities that can isolate them from ordinary society, attract dangerous attention, or create complications within intimate relationships. Romantic trust becomes especially important when one partner possesses extraordinary powers that another may not fully understand.
The distinction between the three pen names also gives the series considerable variety. Victorian investigations emphasise social conventions and secret scientific experiments, contemporary stories explore criminal conspiracies and private investigators, while the Harmony novels imagine how paranormal talents might shape a technologically advanced civilisation.
The central Arcane Society sequence comprises twelve full-length novels, published between 2006 and 2011, together with the companion novella. Collected editions and connections with other Krentz series can produce differences in how the bibliography is presented.
Through its continuing mythology and interconnected characters, the Arcane Society combines the emotional intensity of romantic suspense with a multigenerational examination of power, secrecy, and inheritance. Its distinctive appeal lies in the way separate love stories contribute to a much larger fictional history, connecting mysteries across different eras through families whose extraordinary abilities carry both opportunity and danger.