Author Toby Neal travels the USA and writes books and series.

Toby Neal is a bestselling author.

If you're reading Toby Neal for the first time or if you're already a fan, this post will guide you through her electrifying world of fiction, which includes such titles as Blood Orchids and Scorch. You will also find a meticulously selected list of her works, along with authorly glimpses that shed light on not only her content but also her process. And then recommend to you where to start so that you too can be enthralled by one of today's most captivating crime writers.

Article Outline

About Toby Neal
How Did Toby Neal’s Career Begin?
What is the Paradise Crime Mysteries Series All About?
How Does Toby Neal Blend Mental Health and Crime in Her Stories?
Where Should You Start Reading Toby Neal Books? (Series in Order)
Toby Neal favorite books
Toby Neal’s Memoir and Personal Journey
Can You Learn to Write Like Toby? (Author Coaching and Writing Tips)

1. About Toby Neal

Toby Neal, raised on Kauai in Hawaii, is not only an author but also a mental health therapist, adventurer, and island native whose life experiences transform into unforgettable mystery and crime novels. Author Toby Neal sees her island upbringing permeate every page of her stories. That rich sense of place makes readers feel as if they’ve stepped onto a sun-drenched beach in Maui or Kauai and are solving a deadly crime.

Toby Neal's writing is outstanding because of her psychological insight. She has the up-close understanding of characters that only a counselor can have. Thus, Neal is able to create stunningly brave protagonists, who are not always as clear-cut as we might like heroes to be. We might not always be able to classify them as good or bad, but it is clear that the characters have guts: they take risks, face their fears, and sometimes even fail.

2. How Did Toby Neal’s Career Begin?

Toby Neal writes with the authority of someone who has lived a lot before deciding to tell her tales. She isn’t afraid to go deep into a character’s life or her own. After planting all those seeds of good storytelling and generous character development, she sits back and lets the stories unfold. Sometimes they unfold with riotous laughter, but often they unfold in the way real life does: with twists, turns, and a surprise ending that was never in the plot outline.

Toby attributes her counseling background to the depth and realism of her characters. Blood Orchids, her first novel, starts the Lei Crime Series. The book brings forth Detective Lei Texeira, a strong female lead who carries a troubled backstory and a commitment to see justice served without delay.

3. What is the Paradise Crime Mysteries Series All About?

Enjoy a brave female sleuth? Neal's Paradise Crime thrillers books, starring multicultural detective Lei Texeira, explore the crimes and issues of Hawaii from the bottom of the ocean to the top of volcanoes.

Spinoff Paradise Crime Thrillers, with Lei's friend Sophie, features a tech sleuth with a mean left hook on an ongoing vigilante justice manhunt.

Readers rave: "We love Toby's fast-paced, character-driven stories set in wonderful places. Nobody can read just one!"

The Paradise Crime Thrillers address contemporary concerns like hacking and surveillance—issues that cut very close to the bone these days—yet they do so in visually stunning, intricately-plotted narratives that resemble nothing so much as a high-stakes game of chess in which the good guys and bad guys are constantly re-evaluating their positions.

4. How Does Toby Neal Blend Mental Health and Crime in Her Stories?

Toby Neal makes one of the most powerful contributions to the field of crime fiction that you can make—she writes about mental health issues. Her protagonists often face trauma, PTSD, or addiction (which are as real and prevalent as they are in any non-crime-fiction narrative)—and those issues shape their behaviors and choices. Toby says that she draws on her counseling background to create characters who feel truly and deeply authentic.

This depth of psychology raises her work above the usual thrillers. Characters in her books aren’t just pursuing the next clue; they’re also dealing with personal issues. Whether it’s Detective Lei Texeira in the Lei Crime Series or Sophie Ang in the Paradise Crime Mysteries, the protagonists in Neal’s stories are resolving some deep-seated issue that makes them better people by the end of the book. They’re doing that while chasing the bad guy, of course.

5. Where Should You Start Reading Toby Neal Books? (Series in Order)

Best place to start is at the beginning with the Lei Crime series and Blood Orchids. This crime thriller is the first story that brought readers into the world of Lei Texeira—a world that is still exciting to be part of after all these years.

After that you can move onto the Paradise Crime thriller series with star Sophie Ang. If you prefer something lighter, we suggest the Paradise Crime Cozy Mysteries.

Reading it in chronological order is important if you want to follow the character development and how the plots are interconnected.

6. Toby Neal Favorite Books

For those new to the scene as well as for those who have been around for a while, here is a brief list of books.

Blood Orchids – Beginning of the Lei Crime Series
Torch Ginger – Book 2, intensifies the enigma
Wired In – Initiates the Paradise Crime sequence
Scorch – A gripping cybercrime and revenge novel

A favored cozy mystery that has been enjoyed by many. A stolen artifact brings trouble to a quiet town. What happens when a retired PI goes to his wife’s old hometown to try to help solve the mystery?

Every title spotlights Neal's versatility—from writing serious crime fiction to penning playful cozy reads. If you're in the market for book recommendations, these are musts.

7. Toby Neal’s Memoir and Personal Journey

Along with her fictional books, she has also written a memoir that offers an insider's view of her life. It includes her difficult career climb and the growth that made her a person of significance. It also includes the events that landed her on the path to becoming a bestselling author.

Neal shares not just the story of her recent life, but also the dimensions of her earlier world. It was this combination—old and new—that inspired her novels, which now reach readers far beyond the old southwestern coastline of her tropical girlhood.

8. Can You Learn to Write Like Toby? (Author Coaching and Writing Tips)

Toby Neal also has a passion for philanthropy. She not only gives money but also, and more importantly, her time. She is a life coach in many ways.

I sat in on several coaching sessions, and was amazed by the work Toby does. Yes, she helps the clients she sees in an obvious way. But her work has a ripple effect, because she is training her clients to think better and to become better leaders, which they will then pay forward.

If you are either considering a novel or just find the creative process interesting, her coaching provides a rare glimpse into the world of crafting crime and mystery stories. You will not find this kind of personal access to the mind of an author very often. Toby Neal shares what makes her work tick, and what makes it good.

Summary: Key Takeaways from the World of Toby Neal

Toby Neal, raised in Hawaii, is a bestselling author who writes electrifying and psychologically intense crime fiction.
The Paradise Crime Mysteries, the Lei Crime Series, and the Paradise Crime Cozy Mysteries are some of my favorite works by this author.
Neal's characters resonate with realism and emotional heft. This is a result of both the author's talent and her background in counseling.
Blood Orchids is the perfect place to begin, then move on to Wired In and Scorch.

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