Order of Book Series
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Christopher Valen Books in Order

Christopher Valen has written 12 books, published between 2008 and 2025. The first book is White Tombs (2008) and the newest is Shadow Falls (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
12
Published
2008–2025
Pages on record
2,334 in 7 of 12 books
Reading time
39–58 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,334 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 12 titles with a page count on record.

See all 12 books in order Printable Christopher Valen checklist

John Santana, a St. Paul homicide detective, is the whole of Christopher Valen's fiction. The police procedurals take in the city's Hispanic and Hmong communities and run from White Tombs (2008) through The Black Minute, Bone Shadows, Death's Way and Speak For The Dead. Twelve books reach Shadow Falls (2025), and Valen keeps publishing.

How many Christopher Valen books are there?

Christopher Valen has 12 books, released between 2008 and 2025. 10 of them belong to the John Santana series.

Christopher Valen Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 12 Christopher Valen books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of White Tombs by Christopher Valen, book 1 of the John Santana series (2008)
  2. Cover of The Black Minute by Christopher Valen, book 2 of the John Santana series (2009)
  3. Cover of Bad Weeds Never Die by Christopher Valen, book 3 of the John Santana series (2011)
  4. Cover of Bone Shadows by Christopher Valen, book 4 of the John Santana series (2012)
  5. Cover of Death's Way by Christopher Valen, book 5 of the John Santana series (2014)
  6. Cover of The Darkness Hunter by Christopher Valen, book 6 of the John Santana series (2015)
  7. Cover of Speak For The Dead by Christopher Valen, book 7 of the John Santana series (2017)
  8. Cover of All The Fields by Christopher Valen (2018)
  1. 1
    White TombsJohn Santana #12008 · 347 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008347
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Black MinuteJohn Santana #22009 · 326 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009326
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Bad Weeds Never DieJohn Santana #32011 · confirmed 2/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Bone ShadowsJohn Santana #42012 · 333 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012333
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Death's WayJohn Santana #52014 · 348 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2014348
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Darkness HunterJohn Santana #62015 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Speak For The DeadJohn Santana #72017 · 374 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017374
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    All The Fields2018 · 222 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018222
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    City of Stones2019 · confirmed 2/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Price Of LifeJohn Santana #82021 · confirmed 2/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    No Way To DieJohn Santana #92023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Shadow FallsJohn Santana #102025 · confirmed 2/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Christopher Valen books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

John Santana in order

10 books
  1. 1. White Tombs
  2. 2. The Black Minute
  3. 3. Bad Weeds Never Die
  4. 4. Bone Shadows
  5. 5. Death's Way
  6. 6. The Darkness Hunter
  7. 7. Speak For The Dead
  8. 8. The Price Of Life
  9. 9. No Way To Die
  10. 10. Shadow Falls

Standalone books

2 books

2 Christopher Valen titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Christopher Valen books in order?

You only need to read Christopher Valen books in order within the John Santana series, which holds 10 of the 12 Christopher Valen books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Christopher Valen

Start with White Tombs (2008), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Christopher Valen book?

Shadow Falls (2025) is the newest Christopher Valen book released so far.

Is there a new Christopher Valen book coming?

No next Christopher Valen book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Christopher Valen at a glance

Still publishing
Christopher Valen published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
Christopher Valen books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,334 pages across the 7 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 347 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Christopher Valen books, 7 of 12, were published in the 2010s.

What the Christopher Valen books are about

8 of the 12 Christopher Valen books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective, police procedural is tagged on 4 of 8. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.