Order of Book Series
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P.M. Carlson Books in Order

P.M. Carlson has written 14 books, published between 1985 and 2006. The first book is Audition for Murder (1985) and the newest is Crossfire (2006). Publication order is the reading order below. 8 of the 14 books listed here are in the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series, which has its own page: Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor books in order.

Books
14
Published
1985–2006
Pages on record
3,142 in 12 of 14 books
Reading time
52–79 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,142 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable P.M. Carlson checklist

P.M. Carlson wrote mystery fiction, and Maggie Ryan and Marty Hopkins are fictitious characters named in the recorded subjects. The catalogue lists 14 books from Audition for Murder (1985) to Crossfire (2006). Listed series are Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor, Marty Hopkins, and P.M. Carlson Short Story Collection. Subjects also include police, policewomen, New York, Indiana and Vietnam. Murder Is Academic (1985), Murder Unrenovated (1987), Murder in the Dog Days (1990) and Gravestone (1993) are other titles. The list is marked likely complete.

How many P.M. Carlson books are there?

P.M. Carlson has 14 books, released between 1985 and 2006. They include 2 series and 1 title listed outside any series.

P.M. Carlson Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 P.M. Carlson 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 Audition for Murder by P.M. Carlson, book 1 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1985)
  2. Cover of Murder Is Academic by P.M. Carlson, book 2 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1985)
  3. Cover of Murder Is Pathological by P.M. Carlson, book 3 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1986)
  4. Cover of Father Of The Bride by P.M. Carlson (1988)
  5. Cover of Murder in the Dog Days by P.M. Carlson, book 6 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1990)
  6. Cover of Murder Misread by P.M. Carlson, book 7 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1990)
  7. Cover of Bad Blood by P.M. Carlson, book 8 of the Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor series (1991)
  8. Cover of Gravestone by P.M. Carlson, book 1 of the Marty Hopkins series (1993)
  9. Cover of Renowned Be Thy Grave by P.M. Carlson, book 1 of the P.M. Carlson Short Story Collection series (1998)
  10. Cover of Deathwind by P.M. Carlson, book 3 of the Marty Hopkins series (1998)
  11. Cover of Crossfire by P.M. Carlson, book 4 of the Marty Hopkins series (2006)
  1. 1
    Audition for MurderMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #11985 · 225 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985225
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Murder Is AcademicMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #21985 · 196 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985196
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Murder Is PathologicalMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #31986 · 214 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986214
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Murder UnrenovatedMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #41987 · confirmed 1/4
    1987–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Father Of The Bride1988 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Rehearsal for MurderMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #51988 · confirmed 1/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Murder in the Dog DaysMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #61990 · 274 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990274
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Murder MisreadMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #71990 · 244 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990244
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Bad BloodMaggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor #81991 · 296 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1991296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    GravestoneMarty Hopkins #11993 · 328 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993328
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    BloodstreamMarty Hopkins #21995 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Renowned Be Thy GraveP.M. Carlson Short Story Collection #11998 · 230 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998230
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    DeathwindMarty Hopkins #31998 · 246 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998246
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    CrossfireMarty Hopkins #42006 · 265 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006265
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

P.M. Carlson series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

P.M. Carlson 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.

Marty Hopkins in order

4 books
  1. 1. Gravestone
  2. 2. Bloodstream
  3. 3. Deathwind
  4. 4. Crossfire

P.M. Carlson Short Story Collection

1 book

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

Standalone books

1 book

1 P.M. Carlson title here is not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read P.M. Carlson books in order?

You only need to read P.M. Carlson books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with P.M. Carlson

Start with Audition for Murder (1985), the first Maggie Ryan and Nick O'Connor book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest P.M. Carlson book?

Crossfire (2006) is the newest P.M. Carlson book released so far.

Is there a new P.M. Carlson book coming?

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

P.M. Carlson at a glance

No recent titles
The newest P.M. Carlson title on record dates from 2006, 20 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
P.M. Carlson books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
3,142 pages across the 12 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most P.M. Carlson books, 7 of 14, were published in the 1990s.

What the P.M. Carlson books are about

7 of the 14 P.M. Carlson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 5 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.