Maggie O’Dell Books in Order
Alex Kava has written 13 books featuring Maggie O’Dell, published between 2000 and 2017: 12 in the Maggie O'Dell series and 1 related title. The first book is A Perfect Evil (2000) and the newest main-line book is Before Evil (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 13
- Published
- 2000–2017
- Confirmed
- 13 of 13 titles
- Pages on record
- 3,189 in 8 of 13 books
- Reading time
- 53–80 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,189 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 13 titles with a page count on record.
Maggie O'Dell is a criminal profiler, and Alex Kava has written 13 books about her. A Perfect Evil (2000) opens the sequence, followed by Split Second (2001), The Soul Catcher (2002), At the Stroke of Madness (2003), A Necessary Evil (2006), Exposed (2008), Black Friday (2009), Damaged (2010), Hotwire (2011) and Fireproof (2012). Before Evil (2017) is the most recent. Serial murder investigation drives the thrillers, with Washington D.C. and Nebraska among the settings.
How many Maggie O’Dell books are there?
Maggie O’Dell appears in 13 books, released between 2000 and 2017. 12 of them belong to the Maggie O'Dell series, and 1 related title sit outside it: short stories and novellas.
Maggie O’Dell Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 13 Maggie O’Dell 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.
- 120004003/4
- 220014083/4
- 320024113/4
- 420033783/4
- 520064963/4
- 620083323/4
- 72009–3/4
- 82010–3/4
- 92011–3/4
- 102012–3/4
- 1120134323/4
- 122016–3/4
- 1320173323/4
Do you have to read Maggie O’Dell books in order?
You should read the Maggie O'Dell series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 1 related title (short stories and novellas) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Maggie O’Dell book also stands alone.
Where to start with Maggie O’Dell
Start with A Perfect Evil (2000), the earliest published book in the Maggie O'Dell series.
What is the newest Maggie O’Dell book?
Before Evil (2017) is the newest book in the Maggie O'Dell series.
Is there a new Maggie O’Dell book coming?
No next Maggie O’Dell book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Maggie O’Dell at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest main-line Maggie O’Dell title on record is Before Evil (2017), 9 years ago.
- Release pace
- Maggie O’Dell books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 3,189 pages across the 8 of 13 books with a recorded length, a median of 404 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Maggie O’Dell books, 7 of 13, were published in the 2000s.
What the Maggie O’Dell books are about
11 of the 13 Maggie O’Dell books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: criminal profilers is tagged on 6 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Criminal profilers 6 of 11 books
- Thrillers 5 of 11 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 5 of 11 books
- Suspense 4 of 11 books
- Washington (D.C.) 2 of 11 books
More books by Alex Kava
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Alex Kava books in order 27 books
Series featuring Maggie O’Dell
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Maggie O'Dell books in order 12 books