Nora Kelly Books in Order
Nora Kelly contains 6 books, published between 1999 and 2025. The first book is Thunderhead (1999) and the newest is Badlands (2025). One more title is announced: Dead Man's Journey (2027). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 6 + 1 announced
- Published
- 1999–2025
- Confirmed
- 7 of 7 titles
- Pages on record
- 2,245 in 5 of 7 books
- Reading time
- 37–56 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,245 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 5 of 7 titles with a page count on record.
Nora Kelly, an archaeologist, leads a series of seven catalogued books by Douglas Preston. Thunderhead (1999) opens the run and Old Bones (2019) restarts the series twenty years later, with Lincoln Child credited on one title. Archaeology, cold cases and the American southwest supply the plots, Quivira, Pueblo sites, Utah, the Donner Party, and Dead Man's Journey is scheduled for 2027.
How many Nora Kelly books are there?
Nora Kelly has 6 published books, released between 1999 and 2025. One more, Dead Man's Journey (2027), is announced.
Nora Kelly Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 7 Nora Kelly 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.
- 1Thunderhead1999 · 548 pages · confirmed 4/419995484/4
- 2Old Bones2019 · 369 pages · confirmed 4/420193694/4
- 3The Scorpion's Tail2021 · 592 pages · confirmed 4/420215924/4
- 4Diablo Mesa2022 · 368 pages · confirmed 4/420223684/4
- 5Dead Mountain2023 · 368 pages · confirmed 4/420233684/4
- 6Badlands2025 · confirmed 4/42025–4/4
- 7Dead Man's Journey2027 · confirmed 3/42027–3/4
Do you have to read Nora Kelly books in order?
You should read the Nora Kelly books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Nora Kelly book also stands alone.
Where to start with Nora Kelly
Start with Thunderhead (1999), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Nora Kelly book?
Badlands (2025) is the newest Nora Kelly book released so far.
Is there a new Nora Kelly book coming?
Yes. Dead Man's Journey (2027) is the next Nora Kelly 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.
Nora Kelly at a glance
- Still running
- Nora Kelly is still running. Dead Man's Journey is announced for 2027.
- Release pace
- Nora Kelly books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
- Length
- 2,245 pages across the 5 of 7 books with a recorded length, a median of 369 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Nora Kelly books, 4 of 7, were published in the 2020s.
- Corroboration
- 6 of the 7 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
- Attribution
- Of the 7 titles, 6 are credited to Douglas Preston and 1 to Lincoln Child.
What the Nora Kelly books are about
5 of the 7 Nora Kelly books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. No subject is tagged on more than one of them, so each one below describes a single book. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Action & adventure 1 of 5 books
- American literature 1 of 5 books
- Cold cases (criminal investigation) 1 of 5 books
- Donner Party 1 of 5 books
- Historians 1 of 5 books
- Horror 1 of 5 books
- Museum curators 1 of 5 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 1 of 5 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 1 of 5 books
- New Mexico 1 of 5 books
- Supernatural 1 of 5 books
- Prehistoric Hoards 1 of 5 books
Other series by Douglas Preston
Each series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Pendergast books in order 25 books
- Gideon Crew books in order 5 books
- Wyman Ford books in order 4 books