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fantasy
Series · urban fantasy
Diana Tregarde
The Diana Tregarde series by Mercedes Lackey has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Burning Water (1989).
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 1989
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: Burning Water (1989) — 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:
Burning Water
Burning Water opens the trilogy in 1989 at 320 pages, sending romance novelist and secret Guardian Diana Tregarde to track an Aztec blood-god being summoned in modern Dallas.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Burning Water - Book 2:
Children of the Night
Children of the Night followed in 1990, shorter at 313 pages, though set roughly a decade earlier in 1970s Greenwich Village, where Diana investigates murders tied to a vampire and the era's occult subculture.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Children of the Night - Book 3:
Jinx High
Jinx High closes the trilogy in 1991, matching Burning Water's 320 pages as Diana confronts a teenage sorceress destroying classmates at an Oklahoma high school.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Jinx High
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
Children of the Night
Children of the Night followed in 1990, shorter at 313 pages, though set roughly a decade earlier in 1970s Greenwich Village, where Diana investigates murders tied to a vampire and the era's occult subculture.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Children of the Night - Book 2:
Burning Water
Burning Water opens the trilogy in 1989 at 320 pages, sending romance novelist and secret Guardian Diana Tregarde to track an Aztec blood-god being summoned in modern Dallas.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Burning Water - Book 3:
Jinx High
Jinx High closes the trilogy in 1991, matching Burning Water's 320 pages as Diana confronts a teenage sorceress destroying classmates at an Oklahoma high school.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Jinx High
About the Diana Tregarde series
Diana Tregarde writes romance novels for a living and works as a Guardian — one of a small number of psychically gifted people who quietly hold the line against supernatural threats — on the side. Each of the three novels drops her into a different American setting and a different flavor of horror: Burning Water has her tracking an Aztec blood-god being summoned in modern Dallas by a killer re-enacting ancient sacrifice rituals; Children of the Night is set in 1970s Greenwich Village, where Diana investigates a string of murders tied to a vampire and the era's occult subculture; Jinx High moves to an Oklahoma high school where a teenage sorceress with real power is destroying classmates who cross her, forcing Diana to intervene before the girl does permanent damage.
Written before "urban fantasy" was a codified marketing category, the trilogy is an early example of the genre's now-familiar shape: a modern American setting, occult forces hiding just under the surface of ordinary life, and a courageous, wisecracking woman equipped with real magic to stop them. The books share Diana as protagonist but are otherwise self-contained, each built around a single case with its own villain, cast, and resolution.
Frequently asked questions
How many Diana Tregarde books are there?
Three novels: Burning Water (1989), Children of the Night (1990), and Jinx High (1991). A shorter story, 'Arcanum 101,' set in the same continuity was published later (2010) in an anthology.
What order should I read the Diana Tregarde books in?
Publication order (Burning Water, Children of the Night, Jinx High) is the standard default. Readers who prefer Diana's life in chronological sequence instead read Children of the Night first, since it's set about a decade before the other two.
Do I need to read the Diana Tregarde books in order?
No. Each novel is a self-contained case with its own villain and supporting cast; Diana is the only throughline, and past events are referenced only lightly.
Is Diana Tregarde connected to Valdemar or Lackey's other series?
No. It's a standalone contemporary urban fantasy setting with no connection to Valdemar, the Five Hundred Kingdoms, or Lackey's other continuities.
Is there a fourth Diana Tregarde novel?
No full-length fourth novel was ever published; the trilogy stands at three books plus the later short story 'Arcanum 101.'
If you like the Diana Tregarde series
Reading order last verified .