New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 16 books, the latest of which will be released in January 2026.

Rother is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of HOOKED, the first in her new “Katrina and Goode” series of thrillers, in a two-book deal with Thomas & Mercer. The new series features investigative reporter Katrina Chopin and surfing homicide detective Ken Goode, who investigate murders in La Jolla, CA, while navigating ethical lines that force them to work independently and a powerful sexual attraction that draws them together. HOOKED will be released in January 2026. (See below for details on NAKED ADDICTION, the prequel to this series.)

Coming in June 2025 is a controversial behind-the-scenes investigative exploration of the McStay family murders, titled DOWN TO THE BONE: A Missing Family’s Murder and the Elusive Quest for Justice, a narrative nonfiction book that is chock full of new and exclusive details about the case. After the McStay family mysteriously vanished from their house in Fallbrook, CA, in February 2010, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department investigated their disappearance as a missing persons case. They ultimately dropped the search after deciding the family had voluntarily gone to Mexico. When their skeletal remains were found in two shallow graves in the desert eight months later, their deaths became a homicide, investigated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. Charles “Chase” Merritt, one of two business associates of Joseph McStay, was arrested a year later, and was sentenced to death in 2020. Merritt, his defense attorneys and family, and others who believe the investigations and trial were flawed due to confirmation bias, claim he was wrongly convicted. (Citadel/June 2025)

Rother’s other recent title is a significantly updated edition of BODY PARTS, the true story of Wayne Adam Ford, a serial killer who killed four troubled women, then did the rare deed of turning himself in before he could kill again. This new edition includes 10,000 words of new material about the recent identification of his first victim, Kerry Anne Cummings, through forensic genetic genealogy. Ford dismembered Kerry after murdering her in 1987, rendering her unidentified for 25 years. Today, her family has closure and Kerry Anne Cummings has her name back. (Citadel Press/February 2025)

Also recently published is DEATH ON OCEAN BOULEVARD: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case, about the mysterious death of Rebecca Zahau at the Spreckels Mansion in Coronado, which was deemed a suicide by authorities, but as a murder by a civil jury and the Zahau family. (Citadel Press/2021)