Criminals book series in reading order

by Donald E. Westlake

by Donald E. Westlake

by Patricia Highsmith

by Lawrence Block

by Mark Walden

by Ian Hamilton

by Gordon Korman

by Marie Lu

by J.T. Ellison

by Barbara Nadel

by Andrew Vachss

by Timothy Hallinan

by Eric Jerome Dickey

by Andrew Vachss

Donald E. Westlake

127 books• 11 series

Donald E. Westlake (July 12, 1933 to December 31, 2008) was an American writer credited with more than one hundred novels and non-fiction books. Crime fiction was Westlake's specialty, comic capers above all, with occasional science fiction. Westlake created two professional criminals with long-running series: the hardboiled Parker, published under the pen name Richard Stark, and John Dortmunder, the lead of a more humorous series. Westlake won the Edgar Award three times. The catalogue holds 127 Westlake books from 1959 to 2022, and other listings include Alan Grofield, Sam Holt and the Mitch Tobin books written as Tucker Coe.

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Ann Rule

37 books• 3 series

Ann Rule's books are true crime: case studies of murders, murderers, homicide investigations and the trials that followed. The catalogue holds 37 titles, opening with The Stranger Beside Me (1980) and taking in Lust Killer, The I-5 Killer, Small Sacrifices and the Crime Files line of collections. Lying in Wait and Other True Cases is the last entry, and the catalogue is listed as likely complete.

Lawrence Block

262 books• 22 series

Lawrence Block, born June 24, 1938, is an American writer of crime, mystery and suspense fiction whose career spans more than half a century. Block is best known for two long-running series set in New York: Matthew Scudder, a recovering alcoholic private investigator, and Bernie Rhodenbarr, a gentleman burglar. The Mystery Writers of America named Block a Grand Master in 1994. The catalogue begins in 1958 with Carla and A Fire At Night and reaches Writing Drunk, Writing Sober in 2025. John Keller, Evan Tanner, Kit Tolliver and Ehrengraf for the Defense are further series, and books written as Jill Emerson form another.

John Creasey (17 September 1908 to 9 June 1973) was an English novelist of detective and crime fiction who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns, producing more than six hundred novels under twenty-eight pseudonyms. Creasey characters include The Toff (Richard Rollison), Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, Inspector Roger West, The Baron (John Mannering), Dr Emmanuel Cellini and Dr Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey. Gideon, introduced in Gideon's Day (1955), was the basis for the 1958 John Ford film Gideon's Day and the television series Gideon's Way (1964 to 1966). The catalogue lists 497 books from Seven Times Seven (1932), with early titles as M.E. Cooke and Margaret Cooke.

Patricia Highsmith

36 books• 1 series

Psychological suspense was Patricia Highsmith's territory: criminals, psychopaths, murder, and the strain that identity puts on ordinary morality. Highsmith (1921-1995), born Mary Patricia Plangman, was an American novelist and short story writer whose work drew on existentialist literature and produced more than two dozen film adaptations. Five novels follow the character Tom Ripley, starting with The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955). The catalogue holds 36 titles, from Strangers on a Train (1950) to the collected diaries and notebooks issued in 2021, with the 1960s her heaviest decade.

Andrew Vachss

47 books• 10 series

Andrew Vachss (Andrew Henry Vachss, October 19, 1942 to November 23, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, a child protection consultant and an attorney who represented only children and youths. Burke is the recurring character, and private investigators, New York and hard-boiled mystery appear in the subjects. The catalogue runs from The Life Style Violent Juvenile (1979) through Flood (1985) and Strega (1987) to Blood Line (2022), and also lists the Cross and Aftershock series, graphic novels with Geof Darrow and non-fiction.

Ralph Cotton (1945-2024) was an American writer of westerns. The debut novel, While Angels Dance: The Life and Times of Jeston Nash, appeared from St. Martin's Press in 1994, and more than 80 novels followed, three of them carrying Ralph Compton's byline after Compton died. 75 titles are catalogued here, through to Gunman's Pass (2022). Ranger Sam Burrack is the recurring lead, with the Jeston Nash, Will Summers, Sherman Dahl, Gun Culture, Long Riders and Dead Or Alive sequences alongside. Arizona Rangers, outlaws, gunfights and frontier life carry the subject tags.

Charlie Higson

35 books• 7 series

Charlie Higson, born 3 July 1958, is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer who has also written and produced for television. Higson is the author of The Enemy, a young adult post-apocalyptic series, and wrote the first five Young Bond novels. King of the Ants (1992) opens the catalogue of 35 titles, followed by Happy Now (1993), Full Whack (1995) and Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen (1996). The Dalek Factor (2004) appears next, then SilverFin (2005), Blood Fever (2006), Double or Die (2007) and By Royal Command (2008). Spies, zombies, survival and London appear in the subject tags.

Elmore Leonard

65 books• 12 series

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.

Marie Lu

29 books• 11 series

Marie Lu, born Xiwei Lu on 11 July 1984, is an American author of young adult science fiction and fantasy. The Legend series, set in a dystopian and militarised future, is Lu's best known work, alongside Young Elites, Warcross and Batman: Nightwalker in the DC Icons line. The catalogue lists 30 books from Legend (2011) to Rebel (2026), with Silver Dawn listed for 2027. Skyhunter, Stars and Smoke and New Alchemists are further series. Subjects include resistance to government, plague, fugitives, soldiers and the supernatural.

Subjects attached to Kiki Swinson's books include urban and street lit, African American women, drug dealers, criminals, revenge and suspense. The catalogue holds 59 books from Wifey (2004) to Where There's Smoke (2024), including I'm Still Wifey, The Candy Shop and A Sticky Situation. Series listed for Swinson include Wifey, Cheaper to Keep Her, Notorious / Playing Dirty, New York's Finest, Black Market and Schemes. The status is listed as ongoing.

Teri Woods is an American novelist from Philadelphia who works in urban fiction. True to the Game (1998) is the first book: after six years of rejections, Woods had copies printed and sold them to booksellers directly, then founded Teri Woods Publishing. The 15 catalogued titles take in the Dutch Trilogy, from Dutch (2003) to Dutch II: Angel's Revenge (2005), plus the Deadly Reigns books and two further True to the Game sequels. Subjects cover drug dealers, organised crime and African American life in Philadelphia.

Holly Black

60 books• 18 series

Holly Black is an American writer and editor, born in 1971, working in children's and young adult fiction, with fantasy and faeries prominent in the subjects. The Spiderwick Chronicles, created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and the Folk of the Air series are the best-known work, and the Modern Faerie Tales form the debut trilogy. The catalogue opens with Tithe (2002) and lists 60 books to 2026, including Curse Workers, Book of Night and the Stolen Heir Duology, with 2 titles shared with Cassandra Clare. Black has received a Nebula Award, a Newbery Honor and a Mythopoeic Award.

Mario Puzo

15 books• 1 series

Organised crime is Mario Puzo's subject. The Godfather (1969) sits in the middle of a catalogue of 15 books that starts with The Dark Arena (1955) and takes in The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965), Fools Die (1978), The Sicilian (1984) and The Fourth K (1990). Mafia families, Italian American immigrants and gambling run through the subjects, and nothing later than 2018 is catalogued.

Ken Bruen has 47 books in the catalogue, from Funeral: Tales of Irish Morbidities (1992) to Galway's Edge (2025). Bruen, an Irish author of hardboiled and noir crime fiction, was born on 3 January 1951 and died on 29 March 2025. Series include Jack Taylor, Inspector Brant and Max and Angela. Early titles include Rilke on Black (1997), The Hackman Blues (1997), A White Arrest (1998) and The Guards (2001). Subjects include private investigators, ex-police officers, Ireland, London and the characters Detective Sergeant Brant and Chief Inspector Roberts.

Max Allan Collins

199 books• 34 series

Max Allan Collins, born March 3, 1948, is an American mystery writer who also works in comics, graphic novels and screenplays. Collins created the Ms. Tree and Road to Perdition comics, the second of which became a film, and the series characters Quarry, a hitman, Nolan, a thief, and private investigator Nate Heller. Collins wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for years, and the Mystery Writers of America named Collins a Grand Master in 2017. Catalogue entries run from Bait Money (1973) to Quarry's Reunion (2026), with Eliot Ness, Mallory and Disaster among the other series.

Jennifer Estep writes fantasy across 76 catalogued books published between 2007 and 2027. Magic, assassins, psychic ability and boarding schools recur through the subject headings, in urban and paranormal registers. Estep's series include Elemental Assassin, Mythos Academy and Mythos Academy: Colorado, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, Black Blade, Bigtime, Galactic Bonds and Section 47, beside standalone novels, short fiction and non-fiction. The list runs from Karma Girl (2007) to Queen of Foxes (2026), and Only Bright Destinies is announced for 2027.

London's gangster underworld is Martina Cole's territory. The British crime writer has 29 catalogued books published between 1992 and 2025, from Dangerous Lady (1992) to No Regret (2025). Dangerous Lady, The Jump, The Take and The Runaway were adapted as television dramas, and UK sales pass fourteen million. Two named series sit in the catalogue, DI Kate Burrows and Maura Ryan, alongside standalone novels and non-fiction. Criminals, families and crime in London are the standing subjects. Cole is actively publishing.

Max Brand

345 books• 13 series

Max Brand was the main pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust, an American writer who died in 1944 and whose westerns fill most of a 345-title catalogue. Faust also created Dr. James Kildare, a young medical intern, for pulp fiction; the character later carried into Paramount and MGM films, radio, two television series and comics. Other Faust pseudonyms include George Owen Baxter, John Frederick, Evan Evans, David Manning, Peter Dawson, George Challis and Frederick Frost. Series strands include Silvertip, Dan Barry, Thunder Moon, Ronicky Doone and Bull Hunter. Harrigan (1918) is the earliest catalogued title, with reissues dated as late as 2022.

Tod Goldberg, born in Berkeley in 1971, is an American author and journalist. His 14 catalogued books open with Fake Liar Cheat (2000) and reach Only Way Out (2025), taking in Living Dead Girl (2002) and Gangsterland (2014). The Burn Notice series is also his, with the character Michael Western and a Miami setting among the listed subjects, and the Gangsterland books turn on the Mafia. Criminals, intelligence officers, missing persons and short stories round out the subject list.

Donald Eugene Pendleton (December 12, 1927 to October 23, 1995) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction who created Mack Bolan, a character with hundreds of millions of copies sold since a 1969 debut. From 1980, other authors wrote the Bolan books under the Pendleton name, at first with Pendleton's editorial guidance. Pendleton also wrote six Joe Copp, Private Eye novels and six Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective novels. Early titles include The Insatiables (1967), War Against the Mafia (1969) and Miami Massacre (1970).

Sigmund Brouwer, born in 1959, is a Canadian author writing for children, young adults and adults, with more than 100 titles and four million books in print. Dead Man's Switch won the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for best Canadian young adult mystery, and Shock Wave won the same award in 2025. Thief of Glory, a novel for adults, was named Book of the Year at the Christy Awards and also won an Alberta Readers Choice Award. The Last Disciple, co-authored with Hank Hanegraaff, was featured in Time magazine. The catalogue holds 162 books from Lost Beneath Manhattan (1990) to A Dangerous Game (2026), across series such as Accidental Detectives, Mars Diaries, Winds of Light, Lightning on Ice, Cyberquest and Robot Wars.

Anthony Horowitz

106 books• 23 series

Anthony Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter, born 5 April 1955, who specialises in mystery and suspense. For children and young adults Horowitz created Alex Rider, a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6, along with The Power of Five (titled The Gatekeepers in the US) and The Diamond Brothers. The catalogue holds 106 Horowitz books from Enter Frederick K. Bower (1978) to A Deadly Episode (2026). Other listed series include Detective Daniel Hawthorne, Susan Ryeland, Groosham Grange and the Pentagram Chronicles. Horowitz is still publishing.