Las Vegas (Nev.) book series in reading order

by Robert J. Randisi

by Jackie Collins

Carole Nelson Douglas, born in 1944 and died in 2021, wrote sixty novels across mystery, fantasy and science fiction. Two mystery series dominate: the Irene Adler novels, which take the Sherlock Holmes character as their detective, and the Midnight Louie books, narrated around a cat and his owner Temple Barr. Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, Sword and Circlet and Crystal Phoenix fill out the range. Douglas studied theatre and English literature, then worked as a newspaper reporter and editor around Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Forty-six titles are catalogued here, from 1982 to 2018.

Robert J. Randisi (August 24, 1951 – October 6, 2024) was an American author, editor and screenwriter working in detective fiction and westerns. Series credited to Randisi include Gunsmith, Shelter, Lady Gunsmith, Tracker, Angel Eyes, Rat Pack Mysteries, Miles Jacoby Mystery and Joe Keough Mystery. Catalogue subjects include Clint Adams, private investigators, police, serial murder and New York. Randisi is credited on 665 listed books, with titles such as Chain Gang Kill (1980), Circus of Death (1981) and Deadly Debt (2024).

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.

James Swain writes crime fiction and books on card magic. Two recurring figures carry the crime novels: Tony Valentine, a private investigator, and Jack Carpenter, a former police officer who recovers missing children. Card dealers, gambling crime, swindlers and Las Vegas run through the subject headings. The catalogue holds 28 books published between 1989 and 2026, from The Man Who Walked Through Walls (1989) to Neon Hustle (2026). Other series include Billy Cunningham, Lancaster & Daniels, Vincent Hardare and Peter Warlock. The magic titles, among them Miracles With Cards (1996) and 21st Century Card Magic (1999), are self-published. Swain, born in 1956, has twice been nominated for the Barry Award.

Erin McCarthy writes romance across contemporary, erotic and paranormal lines, with stock car drivers, vampires and Las Vegas among the recorded subjects. The catalogue holds 108 books from Bad Boys Online (2003) to Spring Fling (2026). Series include Fast Track, the Vegas Vampires, True Believers, Cuttersville, Ohio, the New York Girlfriends, South Beach Bodyguards, Tap That and Murder By Design. All 108 books are credited to McCarthy alone.

Robyn Carr is the American author of the Virgin River books, and an executive producer on the television versions of Virgin River and Sullivan's Crossing. The catalogue records 70 Carr books, from Chelynne (1980) to The Friendship Club (2024). Thunder Point, Sullivan's Crossing and the Grace Valley Trilogy are Carr's other series. Several novels, The Hero among them, reached The New York Times Best Seller list. Subject tags on the books include contemporary romance, California, single mothers, veterans and city and town life.

Fern Michaels was the pen name of Mary Ruth Kuczkir, born Mary Ruth Koval on April 9, 1933, who died on November 12, 2025. The American novelist wrote romance and thrillers, including the Texas quartet, the Captive series, Family Blessings, Pretty Woman and Crown Jewel. Michaels's output passed 200 books with an estimated 150 million copies sold. The catalogue lists 190 titles, from Pride and Passion (1975) to A Season of Secrets (2026). Series include the Sisterhood, Godmothers, Men of the Sisterhood, Lost and Found, Vegas, Kentucky and Twin Lights. Female friendship, vigilantes and revenge appear among the subject tags.

Kelley Armstrong, born 14 December 1968, is a Canadian writer working mainly in fantasy since 2001. Thirty-one fantasy novels carry the Armstrong name, thirteen of them in Women of the Otherworld, five in Cainsville, six in the Rockton books, and three each in Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising and Age of Legends. Armstrong also wrote the Nadia Stafford crime trilogy, three standalone teen thrillers, and the middle-grade Blackwell Pages trilogy with Melissa Marr. The catalogue runs to 177 titles, from Bitten (2001) to Last Resort at Haven's Rock, scheduled for 2027, with subjects including werewolves, witches, vampires and the supernatural.

Jackie Collins

40 books• 6 series

Jackie Collins wrote about Hollywood, the film business and the women who fought their way through it. 40 catalogued books run from The World Is Full of Married Men (1960) through The Stud (1969), The Love Killers (1974), The World Is Full Of Divorced Women (1975) and Lovers and Gamblers (1977), ending at The Santangelos. Lucky Santangelo is the character Collins is best known for, joined by the Madison Castelli and Fontaine Khaled books. The catalogue is likely complete.

B.V. Larson writes military and action-adventure science fiction, with catalogue subjects also recording extraterrestrial beings, space and time, paranormal fiction and crime. The catalogue is large: 103 books published between 2010 and 2026, from Amber Magic (2010) to Spawn World (2026). Series include Undying Mercenaries, Star Force, Galactic Liberation, Rebel Fleet, Red Company, Pax Solis, Rift Warrior, Star Runner, Killquest and the Lost Colonies Trilogy. Larson holds the sole credit on every catalogued title.

Carrie Vaughn

84 books• 16 series

Carrie Vaughn, born on 28 January 1973, is an American writer and the creator of the urban fantasy Kitty Norville series. Vaughn has published more than 60 short stories in science fiction and fantasy magazines, anthologies and online magazines, writes for the Wild Cards books, won the 2018 Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless and has been a Hugo Award nominee. The catalogue opens with Kitty and the Midnight Hour (2005), then Kitty Goes to Washington (2006) and Kitty Takes a Holiday (2007), and Blade Through the Heart (2026) is the newest title. Other series include Bannerless Saga, Cormac and Amelia, Graff and Naturalist Society. Subjects include werewolves, radio talk show hosts and Las Vegas.

Susan Andersen, born in 1950, has written American romance novels since 1989. Shadow Dance (1989) opens a catalogue of 26 books running to 2021, at a median 375 pages, and covers contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Five series divide the work: Marine, Sisterhood Diaries, Razor Bay, Showgirls and #Lovestruck. Police, single mothers, mothers and daughters, and Washington state recur across the books. No new title has appeared since 2021.

Deborah Coonts is an American novelist and lawyer whose main work is the Lucky O'Toole Las Vegas Adventures, a run of romantic, humorous mysteries about a casino executive. Wanna Get Lucky? (2010) opens the series, and the word Lucky carries almost every title through to Lucky Enough (2020). The Kate Sawyer medical thrillers and the Brinda Rose humorous mysteries sit alongside it. 23 books are catalogued, with nothing added since 2020.

Warren Burton Murphy was an American author, born September 13, 1933, who died on September 4, 2015. Murphy co-created The Destroyer series, which became the basis for the film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. The catalogue opens with Created The Destroyer (1971), followed in 1972 by Chinese Puzzle, Death Check and Mafia Fix, and counts 155 books in total. Remo and Chiun are listed as fictitious characters, and subjects include men's adventure, action and adventure, pulp and crime. Other series are Trace, Razoni & Jackson, New Destroyer, Forever King and Grandmaster.

Billionaires, princes, actresses and Las Vegas gambling fill the subject records for Cat Schield's contemporary romance. The catalogue holds 31 books dated 2011 to 2023, from A Win-Win Proposition (2011) to Breaking the Rancher's Rules (2023). Sweet Tea and Scandal, Las Vegas Nights, Case Brothers and Sherdana Royals are the four series under the Schield name. No title in the listing carries a date after 2023.

Bill Granger, June 1, 1941 to April 22, 2012, was an American novelist from Chicago who specialised in political thrillers and also published as Joe Gash and Bill Griffith. Newspaper work at the Chicago Tribune and other Illinois papers ran alongside the fiction. November Man is the series in the catalogue, and Devereaux and Jimmy Drover appear as recurring fictitious characters. Twenty-three books are listed between 1979 and 1994, among them Public Murders (1981), Schism (1981) and The Shattered Eye (1982). Subjects name espionage thrillers, the intelligence service, private investigators and sports betting.