J.A. Jance Books in Order

J.A. Jance has written 81 books, published between 1984 and 2026. The first book is After the Fire (1984) and the newest is The Taken Ones (2026). One more title is announced: Smoke and Mirrors (2027). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books: 81 + 1 announced
Published: 1984–2026
Confirmed: 82 of 82 titles
Pages on record: 19,779 in 56 of 82 books
Reading time: 330–494 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 19,779 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 56 of 82 titles with a page count on record.

See all 82 books in order Printable J.A. Jance checklist Next: Smoke and Mirrors (2027)

J.A. Jance writes mysteries and police procedurals, with J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds as recurring leads. The catalogue lists 82 books, starting with After the Fire (1984) and Until Proven Guilty (1985). The Taken Ones arrived in 2026, and Smoke and Mirrors is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include sheriffs, policewomen and women sleuths, and the Joanna Brady books form a named series alongside Jance's standalone novels.

How many J.A. Jance books are there?

J.A. Jance has 81 published books, released between 1984 and 2026. They include 3 separate series. One more, Smoke and Mirrors (2027), is announced.

J.A. Jance series and characters in order

Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.

J.A. Jance books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.

J.P. Beaumont books in order

29 books by J.A. Jance

1. Until Proven Guilty
2. Injustice For All
3. Trial by Fury
4. Taking the Fifth
5. Improbable Cause
6. A More Perfect Union
7. Dismissed with Prejudice
8. Minor in Possession
9. Payment In Kind
10. Without Due Process
11. Failure to Appear
12. Lying in Wait
and 17 more in the table above

Ali Reynolds books in order

20 books by J.A. Jance

1. Edge of Evil
2. Web of Evil
3. Hand of Evil
4. Cruel Intent
5. Trial by Fire
6. Fatal Error
7. Left for Dead
8. Deadly Stakes
9. Moving Target
10. A Last Goodbye
11. Cold Betrayal
13. Clawback
and 8 more in the table above

Walker Family Mysteries in order

4 books

1. Hour of the Hunter
2. Kiss of the Bees
3. Day of the Dead
4. Queen of the Night

Midnight Louie books in order

3 books by J.A. Jance

1. Catnap / Cat in an Alphabet Soup
10. Midnight Louie's Pet Detectives
26. Fruit of the Tomb

J.A. Jance Standalone Novels

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

MatchUp Collection

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

J.A. Jance Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the J.A. Jance books run from After the Fire (1984) to The Taken Ones (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for J.A. Jance in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read J.A. Jance books in order?

You only need to read J.A. Jance books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with J.A. Jance

Start with the first book of the J.A. Jance series you want to read: Joanna Brady starts with Desert Heat (1993), J.P. Beaumont starts with Until Proven Guilty (1985) and Ali Reynolds starts with Edge of Evil (2005). The earliest catalogued title overall is After the Fire (1984).

What is the newest J.A. Jance book?

The Taken Ones (2026) is the newest J.A. Jance book released so far.

Is there a new J.A. Jance book coming?

Yes. Smoke and Mirrors (2027) is the next J.A. Jance book announced in the catalogue. A publication year announced this far ahead moves, so it is worth rechecking: every announced title dated after 2026 sits on the upcoming book releases page.

J.A. Jance at a glance

Still publishing: J.A. Jance is still publishing. Smoke and Mirrors is announced for 2027.
Release pace: J.A. Jance books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length: 19,779 pages across the 56 of 82 books with a recorded length, a median of 372 pages each.
Busiest decade: Most J.A. Jance books, 28 of 82, were published in the 2010s.
Corroboration: 12 of the 82 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the J.A. Jance books are about

69 of the 82 J.A. Jance books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 24 of 69. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Police 24 of 69 books
J. P. Beaumont (Fictitious character) 23 of 69 books
Mystery & detective 19 of 69 books
Policewomen 18 of 69 books
Beaumont, j. p. (fictitious character) 17 of 69 books
Joanna Brady (Fictitious character) 17 of 69 books
Sheriffs 15 of 69 books
Brady, joanna (fictitious character) 14 of 69 books
Mystery & detective, women sleuths 14 of 69 books
Suspense 14 of 69 books
Ali Reynolds (Fictitious character) 13 of 69 books
Mystery & detective, police procedural 13 of 69 books