In April of 2016, it was revealed in an exclusive with Entertainment Weekly that Caleb Carr would be returning to the Alienist series. Mulholland Books announced that they would be publishing two new Alienist novels that would act as ‘bookends’ for the two current novels in the series, The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness.
The first of the two new novels was described as being set 18 years after The Angel of Darkness, in New York City of 1915. Josh Kendall, VP, Executive Editor, and Editorial Director of Mulholland Books explained that this book would be “set against a stage of rising nationalist violence and the early spy state,” and was “centered on nativist violence and terrorism during America’s involvement in World War I.”
The second of the novels, on the other hand, would take us back in time again, presumably to the late 1870s or early 1880s (assuming the events in the summary from the publisher’s press release matches the timeline already established in the series so far). In this novel, titled The Strange Case of Miss Sara X, “a youthful Kreizler, after finishing his psychology training at Harvard, falls under the spell of William James, has his first run-in with Roosevelt, and delves into the secret life of Sara Howard, heroine of the first books.”
Unfortunately, it was reported in August of 2021 that the books suffered a significant delay due to a necessary change in their concept and plot from what had originally been announced. At the same time, Caleb found himself waging a formidable health battle that was further delaying their progress. Sadly, he passed away in May of 2024 before the books could be finished.