Mystery authors: books in reading order

Freida McFadden is the pen name of Sara Cohen, an American author born on May 1, 1980, who writes psychological thrillers. The catalogue lists 35 books from The Devil Wears Scrubs (2013) through The Witch (2026), with series including Housemaid, Dr. Jane McGill and Pick Your Poison Adventure. The Housemaid (2022) became an international bestseller, and a 2025 feature film adaptation stars Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. Subjects attached to the books range from medical and humor to crime and suspense. McFadden is still publishing.

J.D. Robb

41 books• 3 series

J.D. Robb is the name under which Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, publishes police procedurals with science fiction elements. The catalogue holds 42 J.D. Robb books from 1995 to 2027, opening with Naked in Death (1995). Subjects include Eve Dallas, women detectives and New York City. Fury in Death (2026) is the newest release, and Perfect in Death is scheduled for 2027. Nora Roberts also publishes romance under the Nora Roberts name and has used the names Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

Agatha Christie

290 books• 18 series

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer of detective fiction, the author of 66 detective novels and 14 short-story collections. Three sleuths anchor the work. Hercule Poirot first appears in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), Tommy and Tuppence in The Secret Adversary (1922) and Miss Marple in The Murder at the Vicarage (1930). The catalogue also carries Superintendent Battle, Harley Quin and Parker Pyne stories, standalone novels, plays and non-fiction, with many short stories listed individually. Christie was born Agatha Miller and published under her first married name.

Janet Evanovich

79 books• 13 series

Stephanie Plum, a bail bond agent turned bounty hunter, is the recurring lead of Janet Evanovich's longest series. Evanovich writes humorous mystery and romance, and the catalogue holds 79 books from Full House (1981) to Split Second in 2026. Other recurring lines include Kate O'Hare & Nicolas Fox, Lizzy & Diesel, Knight and Moon, Alexandra Barnaby and the Culhane Family.

Ann Cleeves

52 books• 10 series

Ann Cleeves is a British crime writer, born in 1954, with 52 catalogued books spanning 1986 to 2026. The run opens with A Bird in the Hand (1986) and reaches The Dying Light in 2026. Cleeves wrote the Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn series, and all three have been adapted for television. Raven Black, the first Jimmy Perez novel, won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006. Other series listings include Palmer-Jones, Inspector Ramsay, Matthew Venn / Two Rivers and Willow Reeves & Jimmy Perez. Subjects include police procedurals, women detectives, England and Scotland.

Richard Osman

14 books• 3 series

Richard Osman is an English television presenter, producer and novelist, born on 28 November 1970, who created the BBC One quiz show Pointless and was one of its co-presenters. Osman's 14 catalogued books start with quiz and trivia titles such as The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World (2013). The Thursday Murder Club (2020), The Man Who Died Twice (2021) and The Bullet That Missed (2022) follow, and murder and older people appear among the subject headings. Osman's series are Thursday Murder Club and We Solve Murders, and the newest title is We Chase Shadows (2026).

Elly Griffiths

49 books• 6 series

Elly Griffiths is the pen name of Domenica de Rosa, a British crime novelist born in 1963. Three series appear under the Griffiths name: the Ruth Galloway books, a series featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto, and the Harbinder Kaur novels. The catalogue lists 49 books from 2001 to 2026, the earliest being The Little Book of Shakespeare and Food, credited as Domenica de Rosa. The Crossing Places (2009) and The Janus Stone (2010) come later, and the Justice Jones and Ali Dawson series are also listed. Subjects include women forensic anthropologists and archaeologists.

Elizabeth George

36 books• 6 series

British police procedurals are Elizabeth George's main line of work, centred on Inspector Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers investigating murders across Great Britain. The catalogue holds 36 books from A Great Deliverance (1988) to A Slowly Dying Cause in 2025. George also wrote the Saratoga Woods and Abandonment of Hannah Armstrong titles, short stories and non-fiction. At a median of 576 pages these are long novels, and the series remains ongoing.

Joanne Fluke is the pen name of Joanne Fischmann, an American writer born Joanne Gibson around 1943 in Swanville, Minnesota. Fluke is chiefly known for the Hannah Swensen cozy mysteries about a small-town baker, and six Hallmark Channel films draw on that series. The catalogue counts 64 books between 1980 and 2024, opening with The Stepchild (1980), The Other Child (1983) and Winter Chill (1984); the newest entry is Pumpkin Chiffon Pie Murder (2024). Other pen names include Jo Gibson, Chris Hunter and Kathryn Kirkwood.

Craig Johnson has 32 books in the catalogue, from The Cold Dish (2004) to The Brothers McKay (2026). Walt Longmire is the recurring character, and the subject headings list sheriffs, Wyoming, westerns and police procedural mystery. Early titles include Death Without Company (2006), Kindness Goes Unpunished (2007) and Another Man's Moccasins (2008). The Johnson list also carries Walt Longmire short stories and novellas plus standalone novels.

Robert Crais

30 books• 5 series

Robert Crais, born June 20, 1953, is an American writer of detective fiction who first worked as a screenwriter. Crais wrote television scripts for Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. Crais names Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Parker and John Steinbeck as influences, and the novels appear in 62 countries. The catalogue counts 30 books, from The Monkey's Raincoat (1987) to The Big Empty (2025), set largely around Los Angeles private investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Scott James & Maggie is a second series.

Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels. Subjects attached to the books include game wardens, wilderness areas, Maine, missing persons and murder. The catalogue holds 26 books between 1998 and 2026; the earliest listed title is Eating Between The Lines (1998), and The Poacher's Son (2010), Trespasser (2011), Bad Little Falls (2012) and Massacre Pond (2013) follow. Storm Tide (2026) is the newest entry.

Donna Leon

42 books• 4 series

Venice is where Donna Leon sets her police procedurals, and Guido Brunetti is the character the books return to, in cases of murder and criminal investigation. Leon's 42 catalogued titles open with Death at La Fenice (1992) and reach Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life in 2025, with a Brunetti companion volume and non-fiction beside the novels. Leon remains actively publishing.

Sue Grafton

33 books• 4 series

Sue Grafton is known for the alphabet mysteries, a California series starring the private investigator Kinsey Millhone that runs from A is for Alibi (1982) to Y is for Yesterday (2017). Grafton's catalogue holds 33 books in total, beginning with the novel Keziah Dane in 1967 and taking in standalones and non-fiction. The catalogue is listed as complete.

Robert B. Parker

87 books• 9 series

Robert B. Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer working mainly in mystery and detective fiction. The Spenser novels, about a private detective, are Parker's most famous works and inspired the ABC series Spenser: For Hire and a run of TV movies. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), God Save the Child (1974) and Mortal Stakes (1975) are among the early titles. Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall are further characters, and Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch form another series. Parker's books draw on detailed knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area, and Robert Crais, Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane are among those who credit the Spenser novels with renewing the detective genre.

Ellie Alexander writes mysteries, with subjects that include bakeries, family-owned businesses, Oregon and women sleuths. The catalogue lists 58 books from 2010 to 2027; the earliest, Underneath the Ash (2010), appeared as Kate Dyer-Seeley. Meet Your Baker (2014), A Batter of Life and Death (2015) and On Thin Icing (2015) come next. Series include Bakeshop Mysteries, Secret Bookcase Mysteries, Meg Reed Investigates, Novel Detectives Mystery and the Sloan Krause shorts. The Pumpkin Vice Cafe (2026) is the newest title and A Fatal Frost is set for 2027.

Jacqueline Winspear

23 books• 5 series

Jacqueline Winspear, a mystery writer born on 30 April 1955, is the author of Maisie Dobbs, a series examining the aftermath of World War I. Books in the series have won Winspear several mystery writing awards. The catalogue lists 24 Winspear books, starting with Maisie Dobbs (2003) and including Birds of a Feather (2004) and Pardonable Lies (2005). The Comfort of Ghosts (2024) is the newest published title, and Charlie Bright is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include women private investigators, both world wars and missing in action.

Laura Lippman

56 books• 8 series

Laura Lippman, born January 31, 1959, is an American journalist and the author of more than 20 detective novels. Subjects on the books include Tess Monaghan, women private investigators, murder and Baltimore. The catalogue lists 56 Lippman books, beginning with Baltimore Blues and Charm City (both 1997) and reaching Murder Takes a Vacation (2025). Lippman's awards include an Edgar Award, an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards and two Shamus Awards.

Martha Grimes is an American detective novelist born on May 2, 1931. The best-known Grimes series features Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector, and Melrose Plant, an aristocrat who became an amateur sleuth. The catalogue opens with The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981), followed by The Old Fox Deceiv'd and The Anodyne Necklace, and totals 40 books through The Red Queen (2025). Emma Graham, Andi Oliver and Foul Matter are among the other series.

Dennis Lehane

19 books• 7 series

Dennis Lehane, born August 4, 1965, is an American novelist and screenwriter. Lehane's first several novels formed a mystery series with recurring characters, among them A Drink Before the War (1994). Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, both private investigators, are named in the subject tags. Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone, Baby, Gone and Live by Night were each filmed under the same title, and the short story Animal Rescue became the 2014 film The Drop. The catalogue counts 19 books up to Small Mercies (2023), including the Coughlin novels, graphic novels and standalone fiction.

Ngaio Marsh

38 books• 3 series

Inspector Roderick Alleyn of the English police carries almost all of Ngaio Marsh's detective fiction. 38 catalogued books run from A Man Lay Dead (1934) to Money in the Morgue, taking in Enter a Murderer (1935), The Nursing Home Murder (1935), Death in Ecstasy (1936), Vintage Murder (1937) and Artists in Crime (1938). Marsh also published short stories and non-fiction. The catalogue is likely complete.

Tonya Kappes writes mysteries with women sleuths, and the catalogue lists 176 Kappes books from Bead of Doubt (2011) to Feasts, Fifth Wheels, & Felonies (2026), with A Deadly Hissy Fit due in 2027. The series include Camper & Criminals Cozy, Killer Coffee, Magical Cures Mysteries, Kenni Lowry, Ghostly Southern Mysteries, Mail Carrier Cozy Mysteries, Maisie Doss Mysteries and Olivia Davis Paranormal Mysteries. Murder investigations, ghosts, magic, Kentucky and small business are among the tagged subjects.

Cozy mysteries with a trade attached are Jenn McKinlay's speciality: a library, a cupcake bakery, a hat shop and a resale business each anchor a series. The catalogue reaches 69 titles between 2002 and 2026, including contemporary romance in the Bluff Point and Museum of Literature books and the Decoupage mysteries written as Lucy Lawrence. Stuck on Murder (2009) and Sprinkle with Murder (2010) start the main cozy runs, and Booking for Trouble is the most recent title.

Sara Paretsky

34 books• 6 series

Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, born June 8, 1947, and most noted for the novels built around the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. The catalogue holds 34 Paretsky books, from Indemnity Only (1982) to Bad Company (2026), including Deadlock (1984), Killing Orders (1985), Bitter Medicine (1987) and Burn Marks (1990). Subjects on the books include women private investigators, women detectives and Chicago, and the list also carries short story collections and standalone novels.

Lilian Jackson Braun wrote the Cat Who mysteries, in which the journalist Jim Qwilleran solves crimes alongside his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. 32 catalogued books span 1966 to 2007, among them The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967), The Cat Who Turned On And Off (1968), The Cat Who Saw Red (1986), The Cat Who Played Brahms (1987) and The Cat Who Played Post Office (1987). The last catalogued title is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers, and short stories sit alongside the novels.

Lee Goldberg

87 books• 12 series

Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, producer and publisher, with television crime work that includes Diagnosis: Murder, Monk, The Glades and SeaQuest. Lost Hills and True Fiction are bestselling Goldberg novels. The catalogue carries 88 books from 1990 to 2027, beginning with Unsold TV Pilots: The Greatest Shows You Never Saw (1990) and later Successful Television Writing (2003). Fiction series include Monk, Diagnosis Murder, Eve Ronin, Ian Ludlow Thrillers, Sharpe & Walker, Charlie Willis and Crown Vic. Split Screen appeared in 2026 and The Invisible Architect is due in 2027.

Jane Casey is an Irish-born crime novelist, born in Dublin in 1977 and raised in Castleknock. Casey read English at Jesus College, Oxford, and edited children's books before publishing fiction. Two 2010 titles open the catalogue: The Missing, shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award, and The Burning. Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan leads the main series, and Jess Tennant is a second. The catalogue lists 23 books up to The Secret Room (2025), with Everything She Didn't Say due in 2027.

Faith Martin is a pen name used by the English author Jacquie Walton, whose detective series stars DI Hillary Greene. Walton also publishes as Maxine Barry and Joyce Cato, and ranks among the decade's most-read Kindle Unlimited authors in the UK. Under the Faith Martin listing sit 48 books, beginning with Murder on the Oxford Canal / A Narrow Escape (2004). Series include DI Hillary Greene, Jenny Starling / Travelling Cook Mysteries, Ryder & Loveday Mystery, Val & Arbie Mysteries and Lyssa Moore Mysteries. A Dangerous Train of Thought appeared in 2026, and Death at Deepdene Hall is due in 2027.

Peter May

33 books• 5 series

Peter May, born 20 December 1951, is a Scottish novelist, crime writer and television screenwriter. The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and France's Cezam Prix Litteraire, and The Lewis Man took Le Telegramme's Grand Prix des Lecteurs. Entry Island won two awards in 2014, and May received France's Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere in 2025. Sales exceed twelve million copies. The catalogue lists 33 books, from The Reporter (1978) to The Black Loch (2024), with the China Thrillers, the Enzo Files and the Lewis Tetralogy among the series.

Ruth Rendell

88 books• 7 series

Ruth Rendell (17 February 1930 to 2 May 2015) was an English writer of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries who held the title Baroness Rendell of Babergh. Chief Inspector Wexford is the creation most associated with Rendell. Separate standalone crime novels looked into what drives criminals and their victims, and the pseudonym Barbara Vine carried that interest into a third body of work. Rendell's novels have sold an estimated 20 million copies. The catalogue records 88 books, starting with From Doon With Death (1964), then To Fear a Painted Devil (1965) and Vanity Dies Hard (1966).

Sara Rosett writes cozy mysteries with women sleuths, 39 catalogued books published between 2006 and 2025. Ellie Avery, an Air Force spouse and mother, solves the earliest cases: Moving is Murder (2006), Staying Home is a Killer (2007), Getting Away is Deadly (2008) and the Magnolias, Mint Juleps and Mimosas titles that followed. High Society Lady Detective, Murder on Location, the 1920s Lady Traveler in Egypt books and Zara Keane extend the catalogue, which reaches Murder on the S.S. Cleopatra.

Ed McBain

127 books• 7 series

Ed McBain is the pen name under which Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino (October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005), published the 87th Precinct police procedurals. Cop Hater, The Mugger and The Pusher, all dated 1956, are early entries in the listing, and Steve Carella and the imaginary city of Isola appear among the subjects. Matthew Hope is a second series character. Under the Evan Hunter name, the author wrote The Blackboard Jungle, a semi-autobiographical novel filmed in 1955, and the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).

Fly fishing and murder meet in Victoria Houston's Loon Lake mysteries, set in Wisconsin around the police officer Lew Ferris and Doc Osbourne. Dead Angler (2000) opens that series, followed by Dead Creek and Dead Water. Houston's catalogue holds 30 books, the earliest of them non-fiction from the 1980s, and reaches The Wolves Are Watching in 2026.

Ellis Peters

21 books• 5 series

Ellis Peters was a pen name of Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 to 14 October 1995), an English writer across many categories, especially history and historical fiction. Pargeter also received honours for translating Czech classics. Murder mysteries set in both medieval and modern times include The Cadfael Chronicles, featuring Brother Cadfael, and books with George Felse. The site lists 21 books from Holiday with Violence (1952) to Fair Young Phoenix (2020), including Death Mask (1959) and Flight of a Witch (1964).

Brittany is the setting for the police procedurals of Jean-Luc Bannalec, which follow a French commissaire through murder investigations along the coast. Death in Brittany, also published as Death in Pont-Aven, opened the series in 2012, followed by Murder on Brittany Shores, The Fleur de Sel Murders and The Killing Tide. Sixteen books reach The Secrets of the Abbey, and The Winemaker's End is scheduled for 2027.

Patricia Wentworth was the pen name of Dora Amy Turnbull (formerly Dillon, born Elles), a British crime writer who lived from 15 October 1877 to 28 January 1961. Miss Maud Silver, a woman private investigator in England, is the recurring character of the Miss Silver series. The Wentworth list begins with A Marriage Under the Terror (1910), and the 1930s are the busiest decade. Benbow Smith, Ernest Lamb and Frank Garrett are the other series characters.

Reginald Hill wrote English police procedurals, and Dalziel and Pascoe is the partnership he is known for, introduced in A Clubbable Woman (1970). Joe Sixsmith, a private investigator, heads a second series, and Hill also published as Patrick Ruell and Dick Morland, with titles including The Castle of the Demon and Matlock's System. Sixty titles make up the catalogue, which ends with the collection A Candle for Christmas & Other Stories.

Jess Lourey has 38 books in the catalogue, published from 2006 to 2026. May Day (2006) is the first title on file, followed by June Bug and Knee High by the Fourth of July (2007) and August Moon (2008). Series under the Lourey name include the Murder-By-Month Mystery, Salem's Cipher Mystery and Steinbeck and Reed, plus the Catalain Book of Secrets series published as Jessica Lourey. Subjects include Minnesota, women sleuths, cryptographers and women journalists. The Crying Killer (2026) is the newest title.

Kate Ellis writes police procedurals in which archaeology recurs alongside murder investigation. Wesley Peterson heads the main series, opening with The Merchant's House (1998), and Joe Plantagenet and Inspector Albert Lincoln lead two more. Forty-four catalogued books reach The Chapel of Bones (2026), at a median length of 346 pages. England, police work and archaeologists recur as subjects.

Sue Minix writes the Bookstore Mystery series, cozy crime built around a small-town bookshop. Eight titles are catalogued, opening in 2023 with A Chapter on Murder, Murder at the Bookstore and The Murderous Type, followed by A Cover for Murder (2024), A Murderous Plot (2024) and Sentenced to Murder (2024). A Christmas Bookstore Murder is the newest title, and the series is ongoing.

Stephen Booth, an English crime writer born in 1952, is the author of the Cooper and Fry series, set in Derbyshire and built around Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. The catalogue holds 26 Booth books, from Black Dog (2000) through Dancing with the Virgins (2001), Blood on the Tongue (2002) and The Dead Place (2005) to Drowned Lives (2019). No title has been added since 2019, and the run is marked as likely complete. Policewomen, murder and England appear among the subjects.

Shannon Baker writes mysteries and thrillers, with women sleuths among the subject tags. The catalogue lists 23 books from Tainted Mountain / Height of Deception (2013) to Scorched Line (2026), with South Forty announced for 2027. Kate Fox, Nora Abbott and Michaela Sanchez are the series listings. Subjects include murder investigations, ski resorts, environmentalists, embezzlement and Hopi Indians. Stripped Bare (2016), Bitter Rain (2018) and Ashes of the Red Heifer (2019) are among the titles.

Bruce Hammack writes mystery fiction, 38 books catalogued between 2013 and 2026. Season of Justice (2013) opens the run and Magic City Murder (2026) is the newest title. Four series carry the output: Smiley and McBlythe, Detective Steve Smiley, the Fen Maguire Mysteries and Star of Justice. Hammack publishes several titles a year, and the run is ongoing.

Patricia Moyes wrote traditional English detective fiction, 20 books published between 1959 and 1996. Moyes, born Patricia Pakenham-Walsh in 1923 and dead in 2000, built the catalogue around Inspector Henry Tibbett of the C.I.D. Emmy Tibbett recurs beside him, and the subject headings name married people, police spouses, England and London. Dead Men Don't Ski (1959) opens the run and Who Killed Father Christmas? (1996) closes it. Who Saw Her Die (1970), published in the United States as Many Deadly Returns, drew an Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination in 1971, the year Moyes joined the Detection Club. Juvenile fiction and short stories sit beside the Tibbett novels.

Sally Spencer writes English police procedurals, and the catalogue holds 66 books from Salt of the Earth (1994) to The Final Beat of the Drum (2023). Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend, DCI Monika Paniatowski and Inspector Sam Blackstone are the recurring detectives. Spencer's series also include the Marston Trilogy, Jennie Redhead Mystery and Detective Sam Brody Thriller, alongside standalone novels. The Salton Killings (1998) and Murder at Swann's Lake (1999) are among the earlier titles. No new Spencer title has appeared since 2023.

Angela Pepper writes mystery fiction, and the catalogue lists 35 books from Death of a Dapper Snowman (2014) to Wisteria Wisdom (2025). Librarians, witches, private investigators and murder investigations appear among the subject headings. Pepper's series are the Wisteria Witches Mysteries, Stormy Day Mystery, Eli Carter & the Ghost Hackers Paranormal Mysteries, Gia Pere's Domestic Thrillers and Restless Spirits of the Southwest.

Inspector Luke Thanet, an English police detective, appears throughout Dorothy Simpson's mysteries. Simpson (1933-2020) wrote police procedurals, and took a Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain for Last Seen Alive (1985). The series opens with The Night She Died (1980) and runs through Puppet For A Corpse (1982), Close Her Eyes (1984), Dead on Arrival (1986), Suspicious Death (1988) and Doomed To Die (1991). The 1980s were Simpson's heaviest decade, at a median of 238 pages a book.

Addison Moore has 221 books in the catalogue from 2011 to 2027, with cozy mystery, paranormal and romance among the subjects. The earliest titles, from 2011, include Ethereal, Burn, Tremble, Vex and Wicked. Series include Murder in the Mix, Country Cottage Mysteries, 3:AM Kisses, Celestra, Brambleberry Bay Murder Club, Meow for Murder and Hot Flash Homicides. Black Forest Cake and Bigfoot (2026) is the newest release, and Atomic Blondies is scheduled for 2027.