Criminal investigation book series in reading order

by Mark Hodder

by Donald J. Sobol

by James Runcie

by Allan Zullo

by John E. Douglas

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.

Donald J. Sobol (1924-2012) was an American author known for children's books, above all the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. Each Encyclopedia Brown volume gathers short cases for the reader to solve alongside the boy detective, starting with Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (1963). Sobol's 55 catalogued titles run from The Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk (1961) to a 2013 collection, peak in the 1980s, and hold a median length of 110 pages.

Laura Griffin writes romantic suspense around forensic investigators, police officers and FBI cases. One Last Breath (2007) opens a catalogue of 38 books, and the Tracers series and the Texas Murder Files are the central strands, with Alpha Crew, Wolfe Security, Borderline and the Glass Sisters alongside them. Serial murder investigations carry much of the work, which continues into 2026.

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Stephanie Laurens is an Australian romance novelist and a winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. The catalogue counts 105 books between Tangled Reins (1992) and Who Killed The Earl Of Moran? (2026). Cynster Next Generation, Bastion Club, Black Cobra Quartet, Casebook of Barnaby Adair and Legend of Nimway Hall are among the series, and subject tags name the Cynster family. Subjects also include historical Regency romance, England and the nobility.

M. William Phelps, born in 1967, is an American crime writer and investigative journalist who also works as a podcaster and television presenter. True crime is the bulk of the work: murder case studies, homicide investigation and serial murderers, women among them. Forty-five books run from Perfect Poison (2003) to They Came For Blood (2026), including Murder In The Heartland (2006), I'll Be Watching You (2008) and Cruel Death (2009). Phelps also wrote Nathan Hale (2008) and the Tom Callahan series.

Katherine Ramsland, born January 2, 1953, is an American nonfiction author and professor of forensic psychology who writes about crime, forensic science and the supernatural. Ramsland is Assistant Provost and Professor Emerita of Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice at DeSales University. The catalogue lists 70 books from 1989 to 2025, including Prism of the Night (1991), The Vampire Companion (1991) and Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography (1997). Subjects include Anne Rice, criminal investigation and case studies.

Mark Hodder is an English author who has lived in Spain since 2008. The six-part Burton & Swinburne steampunk series opened with The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, winner of the 2010 Philip K. Dick Award, and continued with The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (2011) and Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (2012); the second of those drew a Sidewise Award nomination, as did the fourth novel, The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi (2013). The catalogue holds 29 books published between 2010 and 2024, reaching A Dark and Subtle Light (2024), and Macallister Fogg, Black Pentagram and Machiavelli The Immortal are the other series listed. Subjects cover science fiction, fantasy, Great Britain, criminal investigation and the legendary figure Spring-heeled Jack.

Jerry Labriola is the author of the Dr. David Brooks Mystery series. The catalogue's Labriola list opens with Murders At Hollings General (1999) and includes Murders At Brent Institute (2002) and The Maltese Murders (2005). Listed subjects include medical fiction, physicians, murder and forensic science. The listing also carries a Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic line, including Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files (2006). The newest listed title is Threats and Challenges (2020), and the list is marked likely complete.

Nora Roberts

279 books• 37 series

Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer of romance under that name. As J. D. Robb, Roberts writes police procedurals with science-fiction elements, and has also published as Jill March and, in the UK, as Sarah Hardesty. This listing carries 280 Roberts books, opening with Irish Thoroughbred (1981); The Missing is scheduled for 2027. Series on the page include the In Death Universe, the MacGregors, Night Tales, the Calhoun Women, the Chesapeake Bay Saga, Irish Hearts and the O'Hurleys.

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.

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.

Robert Galbraith is the author of 7 catalogued crime novels, with Cormoran Strike as the recurring character. The run goes from The Silkworm (2014) through Career of Evil (2015), Lethal White (2018), Troubled Blood (2020), The Ink Black Heart (2022) and The Running Grave (2023) to The Hallmarked Man (2025). The books have a median length of 649 pages. Catalogue subjects include crime, England, missing persons, criminal investigation and detective fiction, and the Galbraith catalogue remains ongoing.

Lynette Eason writes Christian inspirational romantic suspense, with work on the ECPA and CBA bestseller lists and several awards. The catalogue records 83 books from Gift of Grace (2004) to Christmas K-9 Security (2026). Series include Women Of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Elite Guardians, Blue Justice, Danger Never Sleeps, Lake City Heroes, Extreme Measures, Wrangler's Corner and Rose Mountain Refuge. A Silent Pursuit, A Silent Fury and A Silent Terror all date from 2009. Subject headings include police, murder and Christian suspense.

John Lescroart, born January 14, 1948, writes legal and crime thrillers built around three recurring characters: Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky and Wyatt Hunt. More than 10 million copies of Lescroart's novels have sold, in 22 languages across more than 75 countries, and 18 titles have reached the New York Times bestseller list. San Francisco appears in the subject tags. The catalogue lists 35 books, opening with Sunburn (1981), then Son of Holmes (1986), Rasputin's Revenge (1987) and Dead Irish (1989). The Vig (1990), Hard Evidence (1993) and The 13th Juror (1994) come next. The Auguste Lupa Mystery series and standalone novels also appear.

Terry Pratchett

148 books• 18 series

Terry Pratchett (28 April 1948 to 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist and satirist. Discworld, a run of 41 comic fantasy novels published from 1983 to 2015, is the work most associated with Pratchett, together with Good Omens (1990), written with Neil Gaiman. The Carpet People (1971) was the first Pratchett novel, and The Colour of Magic (1983) opened Discworld. The Shepherd's Crown, the last Discworld novel, came out in August 2015, five months after Pratchett's death. The catalogue also lists the Long Earth, Bromeliad Trilogy and Johnny Maxwell series, with The Discworld Bestiary dated 2026.

John Connolly

51 books• 11 series

John Connolly is an Irish writer, born in 1968, best known for the novels featuring private detective Charlie Parker. The catalogue opens with Every Dead Thing (1999), followed by Dark Hollow (2000) and The Killing Kind (2001), and lists 52 books to 2026. Other series include Samuel Johnson vs. the Devil, Chronicles of the Invaders and Nocturnes, and The Book of Lost Things appeared in 2006. Subjects include private investigators, Maine, serial murders and fantasy. The Castle is scheduled for 2027.

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Lemony Snicket is the pen name of Daniel Handler, an American writer, musician and television producer born February 28, 1970. A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions are the children's series published under the Snicket name. A Series of Unfortunate Events became a film in 2004 and a Netflix series that ran from 2017 to 2019. Handler publishes adult novels and a stage play under the real name. The catalogue records 33 books from The Bad Beginning (1999) to Poison for Breakfast (2021), with orphans, siblings and humorous stories among the subjects.

Martin Edwards is a crime writer who took a first in law at Balliol College, Oxford, trained as a solicitor in Leeds, moved to Liverpool on qualifying in 1980 and became a partner at Mace and Jones in 1984. Harry Devlin, Lake District Mysteries and Rachel Savernake are the series. Edwards belongs to the Murder Squad collective, chairs the nominations sub-committee for the CWA Diamond Dagger and became Archivist of the Crime Writers Association in 2007. Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife (2025) is the newest title.

April Henry

26 books• 4 series

April Henry writes mysteries for young readers and adults, much of it set in Oregon. Claire Montrose leads the early novels from Circles of Confusion (1999). Girl, Stolen (2010) starts a run built on kidnapping, and the Point Last Seen books follow. Twenty-four titles are catalogued, reaching In the Blood in 2026.

Andrea Camilleri

38 books• 5 series

Sicily is where Andrea Camilleri set his crime fiction, and Salvo Montalbano is the police inspector who works the murders in it. The novels were written in Italian and are catalogued here in English translation, from The Shape of Water (1994) and The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996) through Voice of the Violin (1997) to Excursion to Tindari (2000). Thirty-eight titles are listed, beginning at Hunting Season (1992) and ending at Riccardino in 2021.

James Runcie, born 7 May 1959, is a British novelist, documentary filmmaker, television producer and playwright, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a visiting professor at Bath Spa University. From 2016 to 2020 Runcie served as Commissioning Editor for Arts on BBC Radio 4. The catalogue holds 14 books, from The Colour of Heaven (2000) and The Discovery of Chocolate (2001) through Canvey Island (2006) and East Fortune (2009) to The Great Passion (2022). Sidney Chambers titles run from Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012) to Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (2017), and Grantchester Mysteries is the listed series. Clergy, murder, England and the 1950s appear in the subjects.

Kathryn Casey

21 books• 2 series

Kathryn Casey works both sides of the crime shelf: true crime case studies and mystery novels. Twenty-one catalogued books run from Evil Beside Her in 1995 to Bone Cold in 2024, with Texas murders, the Texas Rangers and criminal profilers as recurring subjects. She Wanted It All, published in 2005, is the best known of the non-fiction, recounting how Celeste Beard married an Austin multimillionaire and then persuaded her lover Tracey Tarlton to kill him. The Sarah Armstrong and Detective Clara Jefferies books make up the fiction.

Marie Ferrarella is an American romance writer, born Marie Rydzynski in Germany on 28 March 1948. Ferrarella has also written as Marie Nicole, Marie Michael and Marie Charles, and the novels have been translated into at least seven languages. The catalogue lists 328 books from 1983 to 2024, beginning with Scenes from the Heart, issued as Marie Charles. Series include Cavanaugh Justice, Matchmaking Mamas, Forever Texas, Baby of the Month Club and ChildFinders, Inc. Subjects include contemporary, western and suspense romance, police, physicians, single fathers and single mothers. Cavanaugh Justice: Cold Case Squad (2024) is the newest title.