Missing persons book series in reading order

by Kerry Greenwood

by Elisabetta Dami

by William Kent Krueger

by Susan Hill

by Keith McCafferty

by Kate Ellis

by Ellen Hart

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

by Paul Doiron

by Rhys Bowen

by Brian Freeman

by Laurie R. King

by Mary Higgins Clark

by Lisa Unger

by Robert J. Randisi

by Nevada Barr

by Walter Mosley

by Nancy Springer

by John Connolly

by David Baldacci

by Peter Lovesey

by Robert Dugoni

by Steve Hamilton

by Robert Crais

by Anne Perry

by Marcia Muller

by Enid Blyton

by Sue Grafton

by John Gilstrap

by Frances Brody

by Dennis Lehane

by Loren D. Estleman

by Seanan McGuire

by Franklin W. Dixon

by Sara Blaedel

by Deon Meyer

by Faye Kellerman

by Stephen White

by James D. Doss

by Christopher Greyson

by Andrea Kane

by Kate White

by Mo Hayder

by Peter Corris

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Shannon Mayer has 98 books in the catalogue, published from 2011 to 2026 and tagged as urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy and paranormal romance. Dark Waters (2011) opens the list and Forged by Fate (2026) is the newest. Rylee Adamson appears as a character listing, and subjects include missing children, psychic ability and investigations. Series listings include Forty Proof, Desert Cursed, Alpha Territories, Nix, Questing Witch, Nevermore Trilogy, Celtic Legacy, Honey and Ice Trilogy, Golden Wolf and Inkbound.

Harlan Coben

41 books• 8 series

Harlan Coben, born January 4, 1962, is an American writer whose honours include an Edgar Award, a Shamus Award and an Anthony Award. Coben's books have been translated into 46 languages and have sold more than 90 million copies. The 41 books catalogued here start with Play Dead (1990) and reach Plot Twist (2026). Subjects attached to them include thrillers, missing persons, sports agents and the fictional character Myron Bolitar. Coben's series include Mickey Bolitar, Wilde and Windsor Horne Lockwood III.

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.

Carla Cassidy, born Carla Bracale in Kansas, is an American romance novelist who has published since 1988. The first novels carried the maiden name Carla Bracale, later ones the married name Cassidy, and one fantasy novel appeared under the name Carla Cook. The catalogue lists 184 books, from Falling for You (1988, as Carla Bracale) to The Final Victim (2026). Series include Cowboys of Holiday Ranch, Wild West Bodyguards, Scarecrow Murders, Mustang, Montana, Lawmen of Black Rock, Cherokee Corners, Men of Wolf Creek and Kings of Coyote Creek. Subjects include romantic suspense, cowboys, bodyguards and serial murderers.

Franklin W. Dixon is the author name on the Hardy Boys books, and the catalogue lists 473 titles under the Dixon name from 1927 to 2023. The Tower Treasure, The House on the Cliff and The Secret of the Old Mill all date from 1927. Dixon series include Hardy Boys Casefiles, Hardy Boys Adventures, Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, Hardy Boys: Secret Files and Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery, plus the Ted Scott Flying Stories. Undercover Bookworms (2023) is the newest title.

David Baldacci

71 books• 16 series

David Baldacci is an American novelist, born on 5 August 1960, who trained as an attorney and writes mostly suspense fiction and legal thrillers. The catalogue lists 72 Baldacci books, starting with Absolute Power (1996); All In appeared in 2026 and Boom Town is scheduled for 2027. Recurring leads include Amos Decker, Will Robie, John Puller, Atlee Pine and Aloysius Archer, alongside the Camel Club and the Sean King & Michelle Maxwell books. Baldacci novels have been published in more than 80 countries and 45 languages, with worldwide sales above 130 million copies.

Lisa Gardner, born in 1972, is an American suspense novelist and a #1 New York Times bestseller. Gardner started out in romantic suspense under the name Alicia Scott, and three series here carry that pseudonym. The domestic thriller The Perfect Husband (1997) was the breakthrough. Gardner's series follow Detective D.D. Warren, Tessa Leoni and Frankie Elkin, and police investigations, missing persons and Boston recur in the subjects. The catalogue counts 48 books from Walking After Midnight (1992) to You'll Be Sorry (2026). Gardner's novels appear in more than 30 countries, and screen credits include At the Midnight House, The Survivors Club and Hide.

Lisa Jackson

189 books• 27 series

Lisa Jackson, born Susan Lisa Jackson in 1952, is an American author of romance and romantic suspense novels, with more than 75 to that name. The catalogue holds 189 Lisa Jackson books, from A Twist of Fate (1983) to Not What It Seems (2026). Subjects across the list include serial murders, women detectives, Montana and contemporary romance. Jackson's series include Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli, McCaffertys, Cahills / San Francisco, Savannah and the Dark Jewels Trilogy, plus a historical trilogy issued as Susan Lynn Crose. New Jackson titles continue to appear.

Lisa Unger

40 books• 11 series

Lisa Unger, born Lisa Miscione on April 26, 1970, is an American writer whose contemporary fiction is mainly psychological thrillers. Angel Fire (2002) opens a catalogue of 40 books that reaches Served Him Right (2026). Lydia Strong, Ridley Jones and House of Crows are series. Other listed titles include Beautiful Lies (2006), Black Out (2008) and Fragile (2010). Subjects cover women journalists, missing persons, married people and women sleuths.

Philip Pullman

51 books• 10 series

Philip Pullman's catalogue covers fantasy and children's adventure, with detective stories, fairy tales and graphic novels alongside. His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust are the sequences it is built around, joined by the Sally Lockhart mysteries, the New Cut Gang, the Canongate Myths and The Adventures of John Blake. Sixty-five catalogued titles run from The Haunted Storm (1972) through The Ruby in the Smoke (1985) to The Rose Field in 2025.

Deon Meyer

23 books• 6 series

South Africa is the setting for Deon Meyer's crime novels. Benny Griessel heads the main series, with Mat Joubert, Lemmer and Thobela Mpayipheli leading the others, and Dead Before Dying (1999) opens the catalogue. Twenty-four books reach Leo in 2025, taking in missing persons, kidnapping, cold cases and vigilante justice.

Tim Weaver

16 books• 3 series

Tim Weaver, born 13 July 1977, is an English crime thriller writer. David Raker, an investigator of missing persons, is the recurring lead, and the David Raker Missing Persons series sits alongside standalone novels. The catalogue counts 16 books from Chasing the Dead (2009) to The Lost Women (2026), with Vanished (2012), Never Coming Back (2013) and I Am Missing (2017) among them.

Romantic suspense is the field recorded for Carol Ericson, whose subjects also list police and law enforcement romance, police procedural mystery, missing persons, murderers, undercover operations, Colorado and the United States Navy SEALs. The catalogue holds 72 books, from A Doctor-Nurse Encounter (2008) to Rebooting Conor Flynn (2026), with the 2010s the heaviest decade. Series credited to Ericson include Red, White and Built, Guardians of Coral Cove, Brody Law, Target: Timberline, Holding the Line, Kyra and Jake Investigation, Lost Girls and Discovery Bay.

Tabor Evans is a house pseudonym used by a number of authors at Jove Books for the Longarm westerns. The Longarm novels follow Custis Long, known as Longarm, a U.S. Deputy Marshal working out of Denver, Colorado in the 1880s. The catalogue lists 464 books, from Longarm (1978) to Longarm and the Model Prisoner (2015), with the 2000s the busiest decade. Longarm Giant is also listed as a series. Subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, U.S. marshals, missing persons and Wyoming.

Elisabetta Dami

309 books• 22 series

Elisabetta Dami, born 1 January 1958, is an Italian children's author known for the Geronimo Stilton book series. The catalogue credits Dami with 309 books from 1998 to 2026. Titles from 2000 include Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, Attack Of The Bandit Cats and Four Mice Deep in the Jungle. Other listings include Geronimo Stilton: Thea Stilton, Mouseford Academy, Kingdom Of Fantasy, Geronimo Stilton Cavemice, Geronimo Stilton Spacemice and Creepella von Cacklefur. Subjects include mice, journalists, time travel and humorous stories. The Legend of Chocolate Hills (2026) is the newest title.

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.

Debra Webb, born 1958, is an American author of suspense novels and a USA Today bestseller. The catalogue credits Webb with 180 books from 1999 to 2026, starting with Tempting Trace (1999). Series include Colby Agency, Faces of Evil, Undertaker's Daughter, Shades of Death, Lookout Mountain Mysteries and Winchester, Tennessee. Subjects cover romantic suspense, private investigators, serial murderers and missing persons. The Woman I've Become (2026) is the newest title.

Kate Ellis writes police procedurals in which archaeology recurs alongside murder investigation. Wesley Peterson heads the main series, opening with The Merchant's House (1998), and Joe Plantagenet and Inspector Albert Lincoln lead two more. Forty-four catalogued books reach The Chapel of Bones (2026), at a median length of 346 pages. England, police work and archaeologists recur as subjects.

Carolyn Keene is a Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, the credit on the Nancy Drew mysteries. Mildred Wirt Benson, one of the writers behind the name, used it from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. The catalogue lists 647 Carolyn Keene books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery (all 1930) and reaching Vans & Villains (2026). Series include Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, Nancy Drew Diaries, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.

Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels. Subjects attached to the books include game wardens, wilderness areas, Maine, missing persons and murder. The catalogue holds 26 books between 1998 and 2026; the earliest listed title is Eating Between The Lines (1998), and The Poacher's Son (2010), Trespasser (2011), Bad Little Falls (2012) and Massacre Pond (2013) follow. Storm Tide (2026) is the newest entry.

Romantic suspense and police procedural thrillers make up Tami Hoag's catalogue of 38 books, published from Rumor Has It (1988) to Bad Liar (2024). The 1990s hold the largest share of the list. Recurring lines include Kovac and Liska, Broussard and Fourcade, Oak Knoll, Deer Lake, Elena Estes, Quaid Horses, Doucet and the Rainbow Chasers. Serial murder, missing persons and police investigation recur as subjects.

Linwood Barclay

37 books• 9 series

Linwood Barclay, born in 1955, is an American-born Canadian novelist, humorist and former columnist. Barclay's detective novels have been bestsellers in Canada and abroad since No Time for Goodbye (2007). The catalogue holds 37 Barclay books, reaching back to Father Knows Zilch (1996) and forward to Not a Word (2026). Series include Promise Falls, Zack Walker, Keisha Ceylon and Chase, and the subjects take in suspense, missing persons, journalists, families and humor.

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).