Kathryn Dance
thriller
Series · thriller
Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell
The Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell series by Chelsea Cain has 6 known books (6 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Heartsick (2007).
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 2007
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Thriller
Start here: Heartsick (2007)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Heartsick
Heartsick launches the series in 2007, two years after Detective Archie Sheridan finally caught the Beauty Killer, Gretchen Lowell, who tortured him for ten days before inexplicably letting him live. Now addicted to the painkillers that got him through captivity, Sheridan is pulled back into an active case and forced to consult Lowell herself; the novel won the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Heartsick - Book 2:
Sweetheart
Sweetheart followed in 2008, matching Heartsick's 336-page length exactly, continuing the uneasy obsession, dependency, and mutual damage between Sheridan and his imprisoned nemesis Gretchen Lowell as Chelsea Cain complicates whether he can ever really be free of her. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sweetheart - Book 3:
Evil at Heart
Evil at Heart, the third entry, was published in 2009 at 352 pages, deepening the Sheridan-Lowell dynamic through her escapes, recaptures, and manipulations that drive the series far more than any single case. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Evil at Heart - Book 4:
The Night Season
The Night Season, from 2011, runs 387 pages, the longest book in the series up to that point, continuing Archie Sheridan's fraught pull toward Gretchen Lowell as the fourth installment in Chelsea Cain's Portland-set thriller series. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Night Season - Book 5:
Kill You Twice
Kill You Twice appeared in August 2012 as the fifth novel, running 326 pages, keeping the Sheridan-Lowell relationship at the center as Chelsea Cain moves the series toward its conclusion the following year. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Kill You Twice - Book 6:
Let Me Go
Chelsea Cain closed the series with Let Me Go in August 2013, a 384-page sixth and final book that resolves Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell's obsessive, damaging dynamic after six novels of escapes, recaptures, and manipulation. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Let Me Go
Key facts about the Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell series
The Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell series has 6 books on our list. Since all 6 are out now, you can read the whole list today.
Start with Heartsick, since it opens the publication order in 2007. Sweetheart is book 2, from 2008. Evil at Heart is book 3, from 2009.
The Night Season is book 4, from 2011. Kill You Twice is book 5, from 2012. Let Me Go is book 6, from 2013.
Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.
The books came out between 2007 and 2013, while their length runs from 326 to 387 pages. That is a run of 6 years.
Chelsea Cain has 9 books on our list. Additionally, they write Kick Lannigan. We shelve the books under thriller.
About the Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell series
Detective Archie Sheridan spent years hunting the serial killer known as the Beauty Killer before she caught him instead, tortured him for ten days, and then -- inexplicably -- let him live and turned herself in. Chelsea Cain's series opens two years later in Heartsick (2007): Sheridan, addicted to the painkillers that got him through his captivity, is pulled back into an active case and finds he needs to consult the one person who understands the new killer's psychology best -- Gretchen Lowell herself, now his prisoner as much as he was once hers. Their relationship, equal parts obsession, dependency, and mutual damage, is the engine of the whole series far more than any individual case.
Cain, a Portland-based novelist and former alt-weekly columnist, built the series around the gap between the two lead characters -- rather than a straightforward hunter-and-hunted structure, each book complicates whether Sheridan can ever really be free of Lowell, and whether he even wants to be. Heartsick won the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named among Stephen King's best books of the year; the five sequels that followed kept the same uneasy central dynamic through Lowell's escapes, recaptures, and manipulations until the story's conclusion in Let Me Go (2013).
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series?
Six novels, from Heartsick (2007) through Let Me Go (2013).
Did Heartsick win any awards?
Yes -- it won the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named among Stephen King's six best books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly.
Is the series complete?
Yes, it concluded with Let Me Go in 2013; Chelsea Cain moved on to a new series, Kick Lannigan, afterward.
Does the series need to be read in order?
Yes -- the central relationship between Sheridan and Lowell develops continuously across all six books.
If you like the Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell series
Last updated