Ex-convicts book series in reading order

by David Rosenfelt

by Steve Hamilton

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.

Walter Mosley

71 books• 6 series

Easy Rawlins, a Black private investigator in Los Angeles, is the figure Walter Mosley returns to most. Devil in a Blue Dress (1990) opens the catalogue, which holds 71 books and reaches Ghalen (2026). Leonid McGill heads a second detective sequence, and Fearless Jones, Socrates Fortlow, King Oliver and the Crosstown to Oblivion science fiction books make up further lines. Los Angeles and New York are the recurring settings.

Gilbert Morris produced Christian historical fiction at length: 248 catalogued books between 1977 and 2014. The House of Winslow follows one family across American history; the Appomattox Saga and Bonnets & Bugles take up the Civil War; Cheney Duvall, M.D. follows a woman physician; the Seven Sleepers, Dixie Morris and Too Smart Jones series sit alongside, with children's fiction among the subjects. The catalogue opens with Race Against Time (1977), reaches Raina's Choice, and is listed as likely complete.

Historical romance and paranormal young adult fiction share Sophie Jordan's 58-title catalogue. Once Upon a Wedding Night (2006) opens the historical side, which continues through the Derrings, Rogue Files, Debutante Files, Duke Hunt and Penwich School books. The Moon Chasers novels turn on werewolves and Firelight on dragons. Nobility and English social life fill the romances, and Spellcast is the 2026 entry.

John Grisham

65 books• 11 series

Legal thrillers are the core of John Grisham's work. Grisham is an American writer, lawyer and former politician, born in 1955, who studied at Mississippi State University and took a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1981. The catalogue holds 65 books, running from A Time to Kill (1989) through The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client to Shaken (2026). Series include Jake Brigance, Mitch McDeere, Camino Island, Rogue Lawyer and Theodore Boone. The American Academy of Achievement credits Grisham with 37 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers and 300 million copies sold.

Andy Carpenter leads David Rosenfelt's longest series, a run of legal mysteries set in New Jersey in which dogs recur throughout. Rosenfelt's catalogue holds 49 titles, opening with Open and Shut (2002) and running to Bark Humbug (2026). The K Team and Doug Brock series and a set of standalone novels complete the list. Murder trials and investigation are the recurring subjects.

Mary Higgins Clark

62 books• 8 series

Mary Higgins Clark, born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins, was an American suspense novelist who lived from December 24, 1927 to January 31, 2020. Where Are the Children? (1975) was the debut suspense novel, and by 2015 that book was in its 75th printing. Each of Clark's 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and in European countries. The catalogue starts with Aspire to the Heavens / Mount Vernon Love Story (1968) and reaches It Had to Be You (2024). Alvirah and Willy are recurring characters, and Under Suspicion is a Clark series. Clark worked as a secretary, a copy editor and for one year a Pan-American Airlines flight attendant, and short stories supplemented the family income.

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.

Alex McKnight, a private investigator in Michigan, is the recurring lead in Steve Hamilton's crime novels. A Cold Day in Paradise (1998) opens a catalogue of 19 titles that reaches An Honorable Assassin, with The Dark Side of the Street dated 2027. Nick Mason heads a second series, and standalone novels fill out the rest. Murder, missing persons and organised crime run through the subject tags.

Eric Jerome Dickey wrote about African American men and women, love and betrayal, often in Los Angeles. 33 catalogued books run from Sister, Sister (1996) to The Son of Mr. Suleman, including Friends and Lovers (1997), Milk in My Coffee (1998), Cheaters (1999) and Liar's Game (2000). The Gideon novels, the McBroom Sisters and Nia Simone Bijou head series of their own, alongside standalone fiction, short stories and graphic novels. The catalogue closed in 2021.

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).

Kristen Ashley

109 books• 24 series

Kristen Ashley, born Kristen A L Moutaw on April 8, 1968, has reached the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists with 100 books published in 14 languages and more than three million copies sold. Two of the novels have been adapted into film. The catalogue carries 109 Ashley titles, from Rock Chick (2008) to After the Fall (2026). Rock Chick, River Rain, Colorado Mountain, 'Burg, Fantasyland, Dream Team, Dream Man, Unfinished Hero, Misted Pines and Avenging Angels are among the series. Subjects include contemporary and erotic romance, romantic suspense, motorcycle clubs and Denver.

Suzanne Brockmann, born 1960, is an American writer of romantic fiction, some of it under the name Anne Brock. Brockmann lives near Boston, Massachusetts. The catalogue counts 69 books, opening with Future Perfect in 1993 and running to Jules Cassidy, P.I. in 2026. Troubleshooters and Tall, Dark & Dangerous are recurring series, and Navy SEALs, terrorism, kidnapping and government investigators appear in the subjects, together with romantic suspense.

Dan Simmons

41 books• 9 series

Dan Simmons (1948-2026) wrote science fiction and horror, often mixing the two inside a single novel. The Hyperion Cantos is Simmons's central work, opening with Hyperion (1989) and continuing in The Fall of Hyperion (1990); the Ilium cycle is the other major sequence. Song of Kali (1985), his first book, won the World Fantasy Award. Simmons also wrote mysteries and thrillers, some following the recurring character Joe Kurtz, plus standalone horror, short fiction and non-fiction. 41 catalogued titles run to Omega Canyon (2020) at a median of 480 pages, with the 1990s his heaviest decade.

Maggie Shayne, born 1965, is an American novelist with more than 70 novels to that name, and the subject tags centre on paranormal romance, vampires and romantic suspense. Awards include the RITA Award, Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice and Career Achievement Awards, and the P.E.A.R.L. Award. The catalogue holds 121 books from Reckless (1993) to Lone Wolf (2026). Wings in the Night, Texas Brands, Immortal Witches, Shattered Sisters, Brown & de Luca and Secrets of Shadow Falls are among the series.

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.

Motorcycle club romance is what Joanna Wylde is known for, with the Reapers MC as the recurring setting and single mothers, widowers and ex-convicts among the figures. Wylde's 23 catalogued books span 2002 to 2019, from The Price of Pleasure (2002) to Eli's Triumph (2019), and take in the Saurellian Federation and Silver Valley series. The writing sits in erotic and contemporary romance with a suspense strand. Volumes median 326 pages, and nothing new has followed 2019.

Dave Zeltserman was born in Boston on 23 May 1959 and writes noir, mystery, thriller and horror. Small Crimes (2008) became a Netflix film in 2017 with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the lead, and Pariah followed in 2009. The novelette Julius Katz took both the Shamus and the Derringer award in 2010, and Julius Katz Detective is one of the series headings. Morris Brick, a serial killer series, carries the pseudonym Jacob Stone. The catalogue holds 36 books from Fast Lane (2004) to Trust Nothing (2025), with Bill Shannon, Interloper and Badass Gets Out of Jail as further headings. Subject tags name police procedurals, ex-convicts, the Mafia and Massachusetts.

George P. Pelecanos

27 books• 8 series

Washington, D.C. is the home ground of George P. Pelecanos, an American crime novelist who also works in television as a writer and producer. The 27 catalogued Pelecanos books run from A Firing Offense (1992) to The Blue Flame (2026). The Nick Stefanos, Derek Strange & Terry Quinn and Spero Lucas series sit beside the D.C. Quartet and standalone novels. For television, Pelecanos wrote episodes of The Wire and Treme with David Simon, and the two co-created The Deuce and We Own This City for HBO. Pelecanos was born in 1957.

Wesley Chu

12 books• 5 series

Wesley Chu, born in Taipei in 1976, is a Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction. Twelve books are catalogued between 2013 and 2025, from The Lives of Tao (2013) to The Art of Legend (2025). Four series carry the Chu credit: Tao, War Arts Saga, Time Salvager and Io. Subject headings cover science fiction, space opera, time travel, espionage, extraterrestrial beings and post-apocalyptic fiction. The Rise of Io (2016), Time Siege (2016), Typhoon (2019) and The Art of Prophecy (2022) also sit in the catalogue.

Allan Guthrie, born Allan Buchan in 1965, is a Scottish crime writer who also works as a literary agent and editor. Guthrie was born in Orkney and has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life; Edinburgh heads the places indexed in the catalogue, alongside hard-boiled mystery, revenge, extortion and ex-convicts. Two-Way Split (2004) was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger and took the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2007, and Kiss Her Goodbye (2005) drew Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe nominations. Ten books are catalogued through to Bad Men (2013), and the Pearce series carries the Guthrie credit.