Florida book series in reading order

by John D. MacDonald

by Randy Wayne White

by Ed McBain

by Lawrence Sanders

by James W. Hall

by Paul Levine

by Randy Wayne White

by John Grisham

by Carl Hiaasen

John D. MacDonald wrote hard-boiled crime fiction, most of it in Florida, and created the Fort Lauderdale salvage investigator Travis McGee. 82 catalogued titles open with The Brass Cupcake (1950) and continue through Judge Me Not (1951), Murder for the Bride (1951) and Weep For Me (1951), with early science fiction in Wine of the Dreamers (1951) and Ballroom of the Skies (1952). Standalone novels, short stories and non-fiction fill out a catalogue that closed in 2019.

Tim Dorsey

28 books• 2 series

Serge A. Storms, a Florida serial killer, runs through all of Tim Dorsey's novels, which are catalogued as humorous crime fiction. Florida Roadkill (1999) opens a 28-book run that ends with The Maltese Iguana in 2023. Florida itself is the constant setting, and the 2010s were the busiest decade. No new Tim Dorsey title has appeared since 2023.

Doc Ford, a marine biologist in Florida, anchors most of Randy Wayne White's fiction. White's 62 catalogued books also hold the Hannah Smith novels, the Sharks Incorporated books, the Dusky MacMorgan thrillers written as Randy Striker and the Hawker series written as Carl Ramm. The list begins in 1981 with Key West Connection and reaches Tomlinson's Wake in 2025.

Lawrence Sanders wrote crime fiction across five series: Archy McNally, Edward X. Delaney, the Commandment books, Peter Tangent and Timothy Cone. The Anderson Tapes (1970) is the earliest of 43 catalogued titles, with The First Deadly Sin (1973) and The Second Deadly Sin (1977) among them, and McNally's Bluff the last. Private investigators, Florida and hard-boiled detection fill the subject tags.

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).

John Lutz

66 books• 6 series

John Lutz (1939-2021) was an American writer in mystery, crime and suspense, with a career past fifty years, at least fifty books and roughly 250 short stories to it. Three private investigators carry the series work, Alo Nudger, Fred Carver and Frank Quinn, with St. Louis, Florida and New York among the settings. SWF Seeks Same, filmed in 1992 as Single White Female, is his best known title, and Lutz led both the Mystery Writers of America and the Private Eye Writers of America as president. The catalogue holds 66 books, from The Truth of the Matter (1971) to Single White Female Seeks Same (2022).

South Florida is where James W. Hall sets his crime fiction. The American author and longtime creative writing professor is best known for the Thorn novels, whose title character is a loner who ties fishing flies and works alongside his private-investigator friend Sugarman. Key Largo and Miami supply the geography, and the books hold poverty against wealth. Hall's 30 catalogued titles open with Under Cover of Daylight (1987) and reach Stare Down (2024); Harper McDaniel names the later series. Hall is actively publishing.

Blaize Clement was an American mystery writer, born 18 August 1932 and died 20 July 2011. A Dixie Hemingway Mystery is the series Clement is known for, published by St. Martin's Press and continued after Clement's death by her son John Clement. Fifteen catalogued books run from Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (2005) to The Cat Sitter and the Canary (2016). Pet sitting, ex-police officers, Florida, cats, dachshunds and murder investigation recur as subjects.

Heather Graham is the name under which Heather Graham Pozzessere, an American writer born on 15 March 1953, publishes mainly romance fiction; Shannon Drake is a further pen name. Graham's work has been published in about 25 languages, with more than 75 million copies printed. The catalogue records 311 books from Tender Taming (1983) to Destiny Rising (2026). Krewe of Hunters, Harrison Investigation, Cafferty & Quinn, Alliance Vampires, Keepers: L.A., New York Confidential and Finnegan Connection are among the Graham series. Subjects span historical, paranormal, contemporary and suspense romance.

Barbara Parker (1947-2009) wrote American mystery and legal suspense. Her 12 novels open with Suspicion of Innocence (1994), a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first mystery novel by an American author, and close with The Dark of Day (2008). Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana are the recurring characters, across Suspicion of Guilt (1995), Suspicion of Deceit (1998), Suspicion of Betrayal (1999), Suspicion of Malice (2000), Suspicion of Vengeance (2001), Suspicion of Madness (2003) and Suspicion of Rage (2005). Miami and Florida, women lawyers and public prosecutors are the recurring subjects. Parker sat on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America and chaired its membership committee for two years.

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.

Carl Hiaasen

33 books• 8 series

Carl Hiaasen, born March 12, 1953, is an American journalist and novelist who started out as a newspaper reporter and was writing novels in spare hours by the late 1970s. Hiaasen writes for adults and for middle grade readers. The adult novels are humorous crime thrillers set in Florida, peopled with eccentric and sometimes grotesque characters, satirising American popular culture and often touching on environmentalism and political corruption. Two Hiaasen novels became feature films and two became TV series. The catalogue lists 33 books from Powder Burn (1981) to Fever Beach (2025), with series including Skink, Andrew Yancy and Mick Stranahan.

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.

Legal thrillers make up most of Paul Levine's work. Jake Lassiter, a former football player turned Miami lawyer, carries fifteen of the 28 catalogued books, starting with To Speak for the Dead (1990). Levine also wrote the four Solomon vs. Lord novels in the mid-2000s and the Einstein-Chaplin books, which draw on the friendship between Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. Miami, murder trials and lawyers fill the subject tags, and Midnight Patriots (2026) is his newest title.

James O. Born writes crime thrillers, drawing detail and dialogue from a career in law enforcement. Walking Money (2004) opens the catalogue and was shortlisted for the Barry Award; Escape Clause, the third novel, took the gold medal in the first Florida Book Award. Bill Tasker and Alex Duarte head the two series. Eight books are catalogued through Putin's Gambit (2017), with Florida police work, undercover operations and murder investigation as recurring subjects. Born also co-writes novels with James Patterson.

Cheryl Hollon writes cozy mysteries in two series. Webb's Glass Shop puts murder in a Florida stained-glass business, opening with Pane and Suffering (2015) and continuing through Shards of Murder, Etched in Tears and Shattered at Sea. The Paint and Shine mysteries follow, from Still Knife Painting (2020) to Death a Sketch (2022). The catalogue holds 9 titles and has been dormant since 2022.

Mary Kay Andrews writes women's fiction and mysteries set in Georgia. Every Crooked Nanny (1992) opens the catalogue and introduces Callahan Garrity, an Atlanta woman sleuth. Andrews wrote the Truman Kicklighter mysteries as Kathy Hogan Trocheck, and later work turns to contemporary romance and beach-town novels, with the Weezie & Bebe mysteries in between. The catalogue holds 39 titles through Road Trip (2026).

Michael Koryta

23 books• 5 series

Michael Koryta is an American author of crime and supernatural fiction, born September 20, 1982. Koryta's novels have made The New York Times Best Seller list, and Envy the Night (2008) won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and became a Reader's Digest Condensed Book. Other award nominations include the Edgar and the Shamus. The 23 catalogued books run from Tonight I Said Goodbye (2004) to Die Famous (2026), with Lincoln Perry and Markus Novak as the named series. Cleveland and Florida appear among the subject headings.

Ridley Pearson

56 books• 11 series

Ridley Pearson, born March 13, 1953, is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books, several of which have made The New York Times Best Seller list. The catalogue lists 56 titles, opening with Never Look Back (1985) and Blood of the Albatross (1986). Undercurrents (1988), Probable Cause (1990) and The Angel Maker (1993) are among the earlier books, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure (2026) is the newest. Series include Boldt & Matthews, Walt Fleming, Risk Agent, Lock and Key, Steel Trapp and Kingdom Keepers. Subject tags name Lou Boldt, Daphne Matthews and police psychologists, alongside children's fiction and fantasy.

Eugenia Price wrote Christian non-fiction before turning to historical novels of the American South. Discoveries (1953) opens a catalogue of 40 books, with the fiction starting in 1965. The Savannah Quartet, the St. Simons Trilogy, the Florida Trilogy and the Georgia Trilogy make up the series work, set in Georgia and on St. Simons Island, with religious life and women's biography among the subjects.

Katherine Applegate

228 books• 20 series

Katherine Applegate, born October 9, 1956, and sometimes published as K. A. Applegate, is an American author of children's and young adult fiction. Animorphs, Remnants and Everworld are the series most tied to Applegate, and The One and Only Ivan (2012) won the 2013 Newbery Medal. Applegate received the Publishers Weekly Best New Children's Book Series Award in 1997. The catalogue lists 228 books, from Welcome to Junior High! (1990) to The Littlest Elephant (2026), including Girl Talk, Making Out and Roscoe Riley Rules.

Emilie Richards has 78 books in the catalogue, from Angel and the Saint (1985) to Peaks and Valleys (2022), and no new title has appeared since. Richards is an American writer of contemporary romance and mystery novels. Series include MacDonald Sisters, Shenandoah Album, Tales of the Pacific, Goddesses Anonymous, Happiness Key, Iron Lace, Whiskey Islands and Ministry Is Murder. Brendan's Song (1985), Gilding the Lily (1985) and Something So Right (1986) are among the early titles. Subjects include female friendship, mothers and daughters, sisters and family life.

Peter Matthiessen

41 books• 3 series

Peter Matthiessen is the only writer to win the National Book Award in both nonfiction, for The Snow Leopard in 1979, and fiction, for Shadow Country in 2008. Matthiessen, an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, Zen teacher and one-time CIA agent, was born May 22, 1927, died April 5, 2014, and co-founded The Paris Review. Nonfiction covered nature, travel and American Indian history, including In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983) on the Leonard Peltier case, and Matthiessen was also a prominent environmental activist. The catalogue lists 41 books from The Year of the Tempest (1957) to In Paradise (2014), including Wildlife in America (1959), The Cloud Forest (1961) and At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965).

Charles Willeford wrote fiction, poetry, autobiography and literary criticism, and published steadily from the 1940s. Wider attention came with Miami Blues (1984), the first novel about the hardboiled Miami detective Hoke Moseley, now counted among the most influential crime novels of its decade. Four Willeford novels were filmed: Cockfighter, Miami Blues, The Woman Chaser and The Burnt Orange Heresy. Thirty-one catalogued titles start at High Priest of California (1953).