October 21, 2025
Now Available! A new unputdownable domestic thriller novella in which a man has laid the foundation for the perfect murder… or so he thinks.
HelenKay’s latest thriller, The Wife Deserved It, written as Darby Kane, is fast-paced and nasty in all the best ways, a story that takes place over the span of one terrifying night.
Read or listen to a chilling excerpt, check out the reviews, then get your copy in ebook or audio for perfect Halloween reading.
More Darby Kane is on the way: Such a Clever Girl is out on Jan. 20, 2026.
August 26, 2025
HelenKay’s debut thriller, Pretty Little Wife, written as Darby Kane, has just been released in mass market print! A Book of Month pick and an international bestseller, it garnered many rave reviews.
If you have not yet read this twisty domestic suspense, get started with Chapter One then ordering your copy to keep reading!
More Darby Kane is on the way: The Wife Deserved It on Oct. 21; and Such a Clever Girl on Jan. 20, 2026
March 11, 2025
“A lively and engaging narrative voice is the star of this cozy romance-mystery.” —Kirkus
HelenKay is thrilled to announce that her newest family caper, The Usual Family Mayhem, is NOW AVAILABLE in print (trade paperback and hardcover), digital and audio. You get romance. A mystery. Feisty grandmas. Bad decision-making. A bit of humor and poison pies!
Start by reading or listening to Chapter One, then order your copy in your favorite format today!
Stay tuned: HelenKay’s debut thriller as Darby Kane, Pretty Little Wife, will be out in mass market paperback on August 26. Preorder yours if you have not yet read this twisty thriller.
December 10, 2024
“I’d never attended a funeral before, but I needed to be in the room for this one, mostly to make sure the jackass in the casket stayed dead.”
That’s the first line in HelenKay’s latest thriller, What the Wife Knew, written as Darby Kane, which is NOW AVAILABLE in trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
Her twisty new domestic thriller is the story of a woman who blackmails her supposed hero husband into marriage to ruin him, but someone kills him first, which is a problem because that was her job.
Read chapter one, listen to an audio excerpt, check out the reviews, then ORDER YOUR COPY.
July 30, 2024
What The Wife Knew, a new twisty thriller from Darby Kane (HelenKay), starts at a funeral and things get worse from there.
Due out on December 10, the story is about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job. Her plan to marry Richmond, then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she’s not done with him yet.
She has to survive long enough to prove that he was not what he seemed—a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. But someone is determined to make sure she doesn’t.
Read an excerpt then pre-order your copy in ebook, print (paperback and hardcover), or audiobook.
Learn more about Darby Kane, HelenKay’s alter ego..
December 5, 2023
To survive this deadly party, they’ll need to stop a killer before they become prey.
When college friends gather on a private island in Maine, secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend.
HelenKay’s latest gripping and twisty thriller, The Engagement Party written as Darby Kane, is NOW AVAILABLE in all ways to read: digital, print (paperback and hardcover), and audio — pick your favorite!
Read chapter one, listen to an audio excerpt, check out the reviews, then ORDER YOUR COPY.
July 21, 2023
AUDIO! ON SALE RIGHT NOW ~ For a limited time ~ Possibly/probably through July (but one never knows) Her Other Secret and The Secret She Keeps, both books in HelenKay’s Whitaker Island series ~ $5.99 at most vendors, $4.99 at AppleBooks.
That’s right: it’s a two book series and both are deeply discounted right now.
Whitaker Island is the place people go to get lost and start over… but there are times when the past won’t let go. An island of quirky characters, including one who isn’t who he claims to be, and another trying to survive a scandal. And secrets. So many secrets.
Check out the audio excerpt for Her Other Secret and the audio excerpt for The Secret She Keeps, then get your audiobooks before the sale ends!
Already been to Whitaker Island and back? Trade one coast for another and land in the tangle of Moorewood Family Rules, where the family that steals together, stays together.
April 25, 2023
Let the hijinks begin! HelenKay is thrilled to announce that her newest novel, Moorewood Family Rules, is NOW AVAILABLE in print (trade paperback and hardcover), digital and audio.
This hilariously twisty story about a messy, dysfunctional family has been called “Knives Out and Oceans 8 meets The Nest,” and you can start with chapters 1 and 2 over on HelenKay’s website. She also has all ordering options, including international, so you can keep reading right away.
Hot news: Moorewood Family Rules has just been optioned as a tv series! More information to come as this exciting news develops.
Come say hi! HelenKay (and her alter ego Darby Kane) will be in New York for Thrillerfest next month and at the Las Vegas Book Festival in October. See all the details and find new events as they are added on her events page.
April 21, 2023
In FOUR DAYS Moorewood Family Rules comes out in ebook, print (trade paperback and hardcover) and audiobook, but HelenKay couldn’t wait! And now you don’t need to either because she’s posted another chapter for you to enjoy. That’s right, in the first chapter we learned where Jillian has been for thirty-nine months, but now that chapters 1 and 2 are online, you can find out how her family hid the truth from their unsuspecting mark.
But since Tuesday feels so far away, here are FOUR MORE HelenKay things you can do to get you through the next four days:
1) The Moorewoods are not HelenKay’s first fictional dysfunctional family. She breaks her books out by themes/tropes for readers — check out more Dysfunctional Families.
2) Check out HelenKay’s Author Notes for her Whitaker Island series: two books, two secrets, two inside peeks at the author at work: Her Other Secret, The Secret She Keeps
3) The Moorewoods aren’t exactly on the right side of the law, but HelenKay’s smoldering series Games People Play certainly is. Romantic suspense without undercover agents? HelenKay’s got you covered. Now if Jillian Moorewood can only get all the messy loose ends of her life covered…
4) And of course, preorder Moorewood Family Rules so you can have on April 25 when it releases!
FOUR DAYS… Tuesday can’t come fast enough!
December 6, 2022
Bad things happen to very bad men…
Behind it all is a powerful group of women, the Sophie Foundation, who meet over wine and cheese to review files of men who behave very, very badly—and then mete out justice.
The Last Invitation, HelenKay’s third standalone thriller written as Darby Kane, is NOW AVAILABLE in all ways to read: digital, print (paperback and hardcover), and audio — pick your favorite!
Meet the members of the Sophie Foundation in chapters 1, 2 & 3, listen to an audio excerpt, read the reviews, then ORDER YOUR COPY!
