Weave a Vicious Web: The Vanessa Marwood Crime Thriller Series

Tracy Buchanan's gripping series about a forensic entomologist is venomously good.

dr vanessa marwood series
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  • Photo Credit: Олег Мороз / Unsplash

Tracy Buchanan is a bestselling British author known for her imaginative and suspenseful and stories are equal parts mystery and thriller. Her books have topped charts around the world, including Wall of Silence, My Sister's Secret, and No Turning Back

Buchanan's great-grandfather was a London bus driver who spun Buchanan and her sisters fabulous bedtime stories, inspiring Buchanan to tell stories of her own.

After a career as an editor of a travel magazine, Buchanan published her first book, The Atlas of Us, in 2014.  

Buchanan has always loved nature, particularly insects. Several years ago, she endeavored to combine her love of insects with her love of writing crime thrillers (it certainly didn't hurt that her husband is a police detective).

The result was the Dr. Vanessa Marwood series, which follows the eponymous Vanessa Marwood as she uses her niche knowledge of insects and their habits to solve deliciously twisted crimes. 

With two books in the series published and a third on its way, now is the perfect time to get caught in Buchanan's thrilling web. 

Venom in the Blood

Venom in the Blood

By Tracy Buchanan

Forensic entomologist Vanessa Marwood has always been fascinated with insects. She even learned to make a career out of them. It turns out that these tiny creatures have much more to say about the scene of the crime than most people realize. 

When four people are murdered in her hometown of Greensands one night, spider silk sewn into their wounds, Vanessa is obvious person for the job.

Rather than board the plane to New York that was supposed to carry her far, far away from Greensands and all the bad memories it holds, Vanessa is sucked into what may be her darkest memory there yet. 

The more she investigates, the more she realizes this mysterious web may have been woven just for her. 

Death's Final Sting

Death's Final Sting

By Tracy Buchanan

Dr. Vanessa Marwood has finally begun her new life in Manhattan after her last case threw her plan of leaving Greensands off track. Just as she starts to settle in, though, another chilling case lands on her desk: a famous actress has been found dead, poisoned by a hair clip decorated with a live beetle.

Vanessa no sooner begins her investigation of the first case when another member of New York’s elite turns up dead, this time a fashion designer wearing an insect-encrusted bracelet. 

With the help of maverick NYPD detective Ru Hoshino, Vanessa must venture into the dark underbelly of New York City, following a trail of clues and criminals that will lead her, of all places, to the home of one her estranged mother’s old friends—and a dark past Vanessa would rather forget. 

Can she crack the case before the killer strikes again?

Moth to the Flames

Moth to the Flames

By Tracy Buchanan

Though detailed information about the third installment of the Dr. Vanessa Buchanan Thrillers has not yet been released, if its title suggests anything, it promises to be Vanessa’s most complex and compelling case yet.

Moth to the Flames is set to be released on March 18, 2025. Pre-order it today!