Danielle Girard is the author of dark thrillers and police procedural novels and series, including her series featuring Annabelle Schwartzman, a medical examiner who not only solves cases with her friend and colleague, Hal, but also deal with some heavy personal issues at home. She has two additional series, including her first The Rookie Club, and her latest, Badlands.
Here are the Danielle Girard books in order of reading and publication.
New Danielle Girard Books
Up Close (Badlands Thriller #3), 2023
The Rookie Club Series in Order
- Dead Center, 2006 (aka The Rookie Club)
- One Clean Shot, 2012
- Dark Passage, 2013
- Interference, 2014
- Everything To Lose, 2014
Dr. Schwartzman Books in Publication in Order
Dr. Schwartzman Books in Chronological in Order
Badlands Thriller Series in Order
Standalone Danielle Girard Books in Publication Order
- Savage Art, 2000
- Ruthless Game, 2001
- Chasing Darkness, 2002
- Cold Silence, 2002
Danielle Girard Biography
Danielle Girard was born in 1970 in Palo Alto, California. She attended Cornwell University as a premed, and after graduating, she enrolled at Queens University from where she received her MFA.
As a child, she never really dreamed of writing books, unlike many authors who know that this is what they want to be when they grow old. Her father was a doctor, and her mother graduated from Stanford Business School, so neither of their jobs were lending themselves towards promoting artistic talent in their daughter.
As a first born, she had her path laid down before her: business or medicine, but definitely not art.
In fact, after college, she went to work for a financial institution, which is, again, on the practical side of the business. She stayed in the financial business for 10 years.
Right until she was in her early twenties, she never even thought of writing books at all. She once met a romance novelist while she was working in finance in Cincinnati, Ohio, who told her to try her hands at writing something, which she did.
When after the first few pages one of the character died, Danielle realized that romance writing is not what she is destined to do.
Before finally getting published, she wrote three novels that got rejected. The fourth book, which became her debut novel, finally made it past the gatekeepers.
Just like many other authors, she keeps all the many rejection letters in her drawers. It’s interesting that in an interview she mentioned still getting rejection letters even today when Danielle Gerards is an accomplished author.
She wrote her first seven books (the three unpublished ones and the first four standalone novels she got published) while she was working in the finance sector. When she started her Rookie Club series, she was working as a marketing writer and freelancer. She really became a full-time author in 2016, when she spent her majority of time writing her books rather than doing other types of work.
The standalone Danielle Girard books have been published by Penguin, and when she started the first book in the Rookie Club series, she didn’t see eye to eye with the publisher, who wanted it a standalone novel as well, given the previous books’ success. So Danielle wrote that book, and initially titled it The Rookie Club.
Then, she wrote the next four books in the series and self-published them on Amazon. She also changed the first book’s title to Dead Center. With Dr. Schwartzman, she is now publishing through Thomas & Mercer.
The last book in The Rookie Club series, Everything to Lose features Annabelle Schwartzman, who eventually got her own time in the limelight in her own series that started in 2016 and spanned four books with the latest one, Expire, published in 2019.
In 2020, Danielle Girard started a new series titled Badlands Thrillers, with a first book, White Out, released midyear, featuring Kylie Milliard, Hagen’s only detective.
The author is trying to write around 1000 words every day, including weekends, to get as much writing down as possible to publish at least one book or more per year, especially now that she is a full-time writer.
To write her books, she does extensive research, although not as much as her friend and author Lisa Gardner. She does, however, speak with a lot of relevant people in those fields, especially medicine and law enforcement, who can help her with details about those jobs.
In an interview, Danielle Girard mentioned that writing makes her happy, she is addicted to writing just as much as she is to chocolate. In fact, she believes her family is teasing her about writing, saying “If you’re not killing someone in your basement, you’re really grumpy.”
Currently, Danielle Girard is living with her husband and three kids and spending their time between San Francisco and the Northern Rockies. She is working on her next book.
Who is Dr. Annabelle Schwartzman?
Annabelle Schwartzman is quite the intriguing person. She is a medical examiner who is running from the past, specifically her abusive husband, Spencer, whom she left seven years ago when she knew her life was in serious danger.
She moved to San Francisco, where she began working for theSan Francisco Police Department with quite success. Still, her past would haunt her forever since Spencer wouldn’t leave her alone.
When she is called to a crime scene which eerily reminds her of Spencer, she can’t shake the feeling that somehow the case has to do with him. As she had just confided in her two friends at the police station about her ex (well, technically not ex because he didn’t sign the divorce papers), they caught on to her fears right away.
To add salt to her injury, she is diagnosed with breast cancer, so she needs to have a double mastectomy and chemotherapy for treatment.
She is a strong but quite character, and her charm comes out only when she forgets about her problems for a few minutes. She becomes rather close to Hal Harris, one of the two police detectives who know about her abusive past, and it’s interesting to follow along as their relationship develops in each new book. Still, the books are not romantic suspense as hardly any romance is involved.
Danielle Girard Awards and Nominations
- Cold Silence was nominated for the Barry Award for Best Paperback original in 2003
Praise For the Danielle Girard Books
Compelling and compassionate, with three of the strongest female characters to have graced the genre in years. (John Connolly)
Utterly riveting [and] brilliantly plotted. A gritty new cop series that can beat out the “old boys network” any day of the week. (Lisa Gardner)
… grabs your curiosity and your emotions, and then shakes the hell out of both. (Jonathon King)
High Speed. High Stakes.High Suspense. (Lee Child)
The Ex is both a compelling character study and murder mystery, giving fans of Girard’s Annabelle Schwartzman series a closer look at their beloved ME… a brilliant stand-alone work of psychological suspense that is sure to satisfy lovers of all crime genres. (Wendy Walker on The Ex)
Annabelle Schwartzman is a superb ME and Danielle is at the top of her game. (JT Ellison)
References
Books Reading Order » Thriller Authors »
In the past few months I have read White Out, the Rookie Club Series, and just finished the 5th book in the Dr. Schwartzman series. What an amazing writer! Love her books!!