Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of Lisa M. Lilly's books

286 ratings | 118 reviews | avg rating:4.61

more photos (1)

Lisa’s Year In Books

Lisa’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Lisa’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Lisa’s 2025 Year in Books

Lisa M. Lilly’s Followers (154)

Lisa’s Bookshelves

to-read (74)
currently-reading (59)
read (360)
did-not-finish (0)
buffy-the-vampire-slayer-analysis (6)
business-marketing (12)
essays (1)
fractured-man-research (2)
memoir (3)
mystery-private-eye (33)
See all bookshelves »

Lisa’s Friends (959)

Toni

1,708 books | 123 friends

D. Martin

1,193 books | 576 friends

Cheryl

8,529 books | 2,662 friends

Courtney

513 books | 226 friends

Greg Sisco

49 books | 3,147 friends

Colby Rice

888 books | 422 friends

Laura Thomas

3,963 books | 2,621 friends

Katherine Gilraine

111 books | 444 friends

More friends…

Lisa M. Lilly

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://lisalilly.com/

Twitter

lisamlilly

Genre

Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy

Influences

Ira Levin, Jane Austen, Stephen King, Minette Walters,Ayn Rand ...more

Member Since

March 2011

edit data

In addition to the Q.C. Davis Mysteries, a traditional detective series that includes The Worried Man, The Charming Man, The Fractured Man, The Troubled Man, The Hidden Man, and the novella No Good Plays, Lisa M. Lilly also is the author of the four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series.

Like her character Quille C. Davis, Lilly lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Under L.M. Lilly, she is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. She also hosts the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story.

Lilly also writes horror, including When Darkness Falls, a gothic horror novel set in Chicago’s South Loop, and the short-story collection The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror, the title story of which was made into the ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Lisa M. Lilly questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Lisa M. Lilly’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 2,412 ratings · 290 reviews · 46 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Awakening (The Awakening #1) 3.59 avg rating — 860 ratings — published 2011 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Worried Man (Q.C. Davis #1) 3.99 avg rating — 409 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unbelievers (The Awakening #2) 4.06 avg rating — 180 ratings — published 2014 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Forgotten Man: A Q.C. Davis Mystery 4.23 avg rating — 159 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Awakening Series Complete Supernatural Thriller Box Set: The Awakening, The Unbelievers, The Conflagration, The Illumination 4.31 avg rating — 121 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Conflagration (The Awakening Book 3) 4.32 avg rating — 109 ratings — published 2016 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel 4.34 avg rating — 99 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Illumination (The Awakening Series Book 4) 4.23 avg rating — 87 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Troubled Man (Q.C. Davis #4) 4.18 avg rating — 50 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The One-Year Novelist: A Week-By-Week Guide To Writing Your Novel In One Year 3.73 avg rating — 48 ratings — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Lisa M. Lilly…

223 posts
Lisa M. Lilly's Blog

Choosing the Viewpoint Character

Deciding which character will tell a story might be the most important part of any piece of fiction. The authors whose viewpoint characters I love the most are the same ones whose books I race to read the first week they’re for sale. (Louise Penny, Sara Paretsky, John Sandford, to name a few.)

Sometimes as a writer I think the choice is obvious, then discover it’s not. For instance, when I w

Series by Lisa M. Lilly

The Awakening (4 books)
by

Lisa M. Lilly (Goodreads Author)

3.77 avg rating — 1,236 ratings

Q.C. Davis (7 books)
by

Lisa M. Lilly (Goodreads Author)

4.05 avg rating — 733 ratings

Writing as a Second Career (12 books)
by

Lisa M. Lilly (Goodreads Author)

4.10 avg rating — 254 ratings

Lisa is Currently Reading

Lisa Lilly is currently reading

The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1)

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 15, 2026 05:07PM

Lisa Lilly is currently reading

Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis

by Christopher Nowinski

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 14, 2026 10:21AM

Lisa Lilly is currently reading

Short Stories in French For Intermediate Learners: From Classroom French to Real Fluency — Learn Naturally Through Authentic, Fun Short Stories (French Short Stories for Adult Learners)

by Mind Smith

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 20, 2026 01:48PM

rss
Lisa’s Recent Updates

Lisa Lilly is currently reading The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 15, 2026 05:07PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly is currently reading Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis by Christopher Nowinski	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 14, 2026 10:21AM · like
Lisa Lilly finished reading The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 08, 2026 08:11PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Husbands by Holly Gramazio <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly is currently reading The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2026 11:35AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Husbands by Holly Gramazio <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly finished reading El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2026 06:38AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly is currently reading El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 01, 2026 08:04PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly finished reading That's Not My Name by Megan Lally (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 24, 2026 04:47PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of That's Not My Name by Megan Lally. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — That's Not My Name by Megan Lally <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly is currently reading Short Stories in French For Intermediate Learners: From Classroom French to Real Fluency — Learn Naturally Through Authentic, Fun Short Stories (French Short Stories for Adult Learners) by Mind Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 20, 2026 01:48PM · like
Lisa Lilly is currently reading That's Not My Name by Megan Lally (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 18, 2026 08:16PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of That's Not My Name by Megan Lally. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — That's Not My Name by Megan Lally <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Lisa Lilly finished reading Everybody Lies (Talkeetna #1) by L.J. Breedlove (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 13, 2026 08:15PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Everybody Lies by L.J. Breedlove. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Everybody Lies by L.J. Breedlove <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Lisa's books…

Quotes by Lisa M. Lilly (?)

“I don’t want to become like him. Become one of those people who believe it’s okay to do anything to anyone if it achieves the ‘right’ end.”
― Lisa M. Lilly, The Conflagration

tags: ethics-and-morality, philosophy

0 likes

“Sometimes the families people choose work better than those they were born into.”
― Lisa M. Lilly, The Awakening

0 likes

“While girls and women are raised to fear strangers – to worry about being raped, murdered, or assaulted in the street or in parking garages, which are real dangers – statistically, the most dangerous men are those they know and, particularly, those they live with. So Willow Springs started as a community for battered women, with only women.”
― Lisa M. Lilly

0 likes

See all Lisa M. Lilly's quotes »