Murderers book series in reading order

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.

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.

Erik Larson

11 books• 2 series

Erik Larson is an American journalist, born in 1954, who writes mainly historical nonfiction. The Devil in the White City (2003) won the 2004 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. The catalogue holds 11 books from 1992 to 2024, opening with The Naked Consumer (1992) and continuing through Isaac's Storm (1999), In the Garden of Beasts (2011), Dead Wake (2015) and The Splendid and the Vile (2020). The newest is The Demon of Unrest (2024). Subjects include history, biography and murder.

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.

Howie Carr

13 books• 1 series

Howie Carr is an American radio host, reporter and author with 13 catalogued books. The Brothers Bulger (2006) opens the run, followed by Hitman (2011), Hard Knocks (2012), Ratman (2013), Rifleman (2013), Plug Uglies (2014), Killers (2015) and What Really Happened (2018), reaching Mass Corruption in 2025. Two volumes of Kennedy Babylon appeared in 2018 and 2020. Organised crime in Boston, gangsters, murderers, political corruption and Massachusetts politicians run through the subjects. Carr hosts The Howie Carr Show from Wellesley, Massachusetts, broadcast weekdays on WRKO in Boston, and writes three columns a week for the Boston Herald.

Archer Mayor

36 books• 3 series

Joe Gunther is the Vermont policeman at the centre of Archer Mayor's procedurals. Open Season (1988) starts a run of 36 catalogued books reaching Fall Guy in 2022, with Brattleboro and the state's drug trade recurring in the subject records. Short stories and non-fiction sit beside the novels, and nothing later than 2022 is catalogued.

Blake Crouch

36 books• 9 series

Blake Crouch, born William Blake Crouch on October 15, 1978, is an American author of Dark Matter, Recursion, Upgrade and the Wayward Pines Trilogy. Wayward Pines became a television series in 2015, and Dark Matter followed on television in 2024. The catalogue holds 36 books from Desert Places (2004) to Upgrade (2022). The Andrew Z. Thomas/Luther Kite and Letty Dobesh series appear alongside standalones and short fiction. J.A. Konrath shares the credit on 1 title. Subjects include psychological thrillers, serial murderers and missing persons.

Susan Sleeman writes romantic suspense, some of it Christian, around law enforcement and private security. Cold Harbor, Nighthawk Security, Steele Guardians, Shadow Lake Survival, the Lost Lake Locators, the Justice Agency, McKade Law and Homeland Heroes are the series lines. Sixty-seven catalogued books run from High-Stakes Inheritance (2010) to Lost Girls, and Lost Light is scheduled for 2027. FBI work and private investigation recur as subjects.

Delores Fossen writes romantic suspense and Western romance, much of it set in Texas. The catalogue counts 183 books, from Unbridled (1998) and Saddled (2001) to Crossfire Creek Takedown (2026). Series include Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch, Appaloosa Pass Ranch, Sweetwater Ranch, Wrangler's Creek, Coldwater Texas, Lone Star Ridge, Last Ride, Texas, Marshals of Maverick County and several Hard Justice lines. Sheriffs, pregnant women and amnesia recur across the subjects.

Rita Herron writes romantic suspense, with subjects that include serial murders, police, twins, missing children and ranchers. Series include Detective Ellie Reeves, Nighthawk Island, Slaughter Creek, Cold Case, Badge Of Justice, Heroes Of Horseshoe Creek, Bucking Bronc Lodge, Demonborn and Manhunt. Fiction titles include Thief of Hearts (1997), Send Me a Hero (1998), Her Eyewitness (1999) and Forgotten Lullaby (2000). Midnight Ridge (2026) is the newest title.

Dana Mentink writes Christian romantic suspense, and the catalogue lists 76 books running to Raging Waters (2026). Early titles include Flashover (2008), Fog Over Finny's Nose (2008), Killer Cargo (2008) and Betrayal in the Badlands (2010). Series include Desert Justice, Security Hounds Investigations, Pacific Coast Private Eyes, Love Unleashed, Gold Country Cowboys, Roughwater Ranch Cowboys, South Dakota Badlands, Stormswept, Ice Cream Shop Mystery, Treasure Seekers and Winds of Danger. Subjects include missing persons, murder investigation and clean and wholesome romance.

Scott Sigler

36 books• 11 series

Scott Sigler is an American author of science fiction and horror, a podcaster and a No. 1 New York Times bestseller who lives in San Diego. Sigler co-founded Empty Set Entertainment, the publisher of the young adult Galactic Football League series. Earthcore (2001), Ancestor (2007), Infected (2008) and Contagious (2008) are among the listed novels, alongside The Rookie (2007), The Starter (2010) and Warpath (2026). Infected, Generations Trilogy and Crypt are further series, and parasites, survival, amnesia and football appear in the subjects.

Anne Frasier is the pen name of Theresa Weir, an American author born in 1954 who writes across many genres. The catalogue lists 22 books, from Hush (2002) to The Day I Died (2024), with Sleep Tight (2003), Play Dead (2004) and Pale Immortal (2006) among them. Criminal profilers, serial murders, police procedurals and Chicago appear in the subjects. Series include Detective Jude Fontaine Mysteries, Detective Olivia Welles, Inland Empire and Land of the Dead, and some titles appear under the Theresa Weir name.

Shirlee McCoy writes Christian romance and inspirational romantic suspense, with subjects that include police, widows and single mothers. The catalogue lists 64 books from Still Waters (2003) to Blizzard Showdown (2021) and marks the author as dormant. Series include Heroes For Hire, Mission: Rescue, Lakeview, FBI: Special Crimes Unit, Apple Valley and Bradshaws. Die Before Nightfall (2005), Little Girl Lost (2007) and Lakeview Protector (2008) are among the titles.

Lenora Worth writes Christian and inspirational romance and romantic suspense, with 102 books catalogued from Carly's Song (1996) to Undercover in Amish Country (2025). Series include Men of Millbrook Lake, Amish Seasons, Pinecraft Seasons, Sunset Island, Driftwood Bay, Shadow Lake, Castles of Dallas and Brides of Blossom, Texas. Home Again (1997), The Wedding Quilt (1997), One Golden Christmas (2000) and Lacey's Retreat (2002) are among the earlier books. Texas and widows appear in the subjects.

M. William Phelps, born in 1967, is an American crime writer and investigative journalist who also works as a podcaster and television presenter. True crime is the bulk of the work: murder case studies, homicide investigation and serial murderers, women among them. Forty-five books run from Perfect Poison (2003) to They Came For Blood (2026), including Murder In The Heartland (2006), I'll Be Watching You (2008) and Cruel Death (2009). Phelps also wrote Nathan Hale (2008) and the Tom Callahan series.

John Katzenbach

16 books• 2 series

Psychological thrillers are John Katzenbach's territory: serial murderers, stalkers, criminals and the journalists who write about them. Born in 1950, Katzenbach worked as a criminal court reporter for the Miami Herald and the Miami News before leaving newspapers for fiction. The first novel, In the Heat of the Summer (1982), was nominated for an Edgar Award and reached the screen in 1985 as The Mean Season. Sixteen books are catalogued through The Architect (2026), among them Just Cause (1992), Hart's War (1999) and The Analyst (2002).

Thomas H. Cook, born in 1947, is an American author of crime and psychological suspense whose 1996 novel The Chatham School Affair took an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America. Thirty-four titles are catalogued, from Blood Innocents (1980) to Even Darkness Sings (2018), with the Frank Clemons books forming his one series. Missing persons, murderers, private investigators and New York recur as subjects.

Ed Gorman, full name Edward Joseph Gorman Jr., was an American writer and anthologist of short fiction, born November 2, 1941, and died October 14, 2016. Gorman published across nearly every genre, with the best-known work in crime, mystery, western and horror. Non-fiction by Gorman appeared in The New York Times and Redbook, and fiction appeared in Xero, Black Lizard, Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance and the anthology Tales of Zorro. The catalogue lists 129 books from 1985 to 2017, some published as Daniel Ransom, and series including Sam McCain, Jack Dwyer, Dev Conrad, Leo Guild, Cavalry Man and Tobin.

David Moody is an English horror writer born 19 November 1970. Autumn, released free online in 2001, first brought Moody to public attention, and a film version starring David Carradine and Dexter Fletcher came out in 2009. Universal Pictures took film rights to the Hater trilogy in 2008, with Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson attached as producers. The catalogue holds 29 books from Straight to You (1996) to Kemberton (2026), with series including Autumn, Hater and Front, and subjects such as zombies, epidemics and survival.

Beth Revis

24 books• 7 series

Beth Revis is an American author of fantasy and science fiction, mostly for young adults, who lives in North Carolina. The Across the Universe trilogy comprises Across the Universe (2011), A Million Suns (2012) and Shades of Earth (2013). The catalogue lists 26 titles through Last Chance to Save the World (2025), with Dragon of the Deep due in 2027. Chaotic Orbits, Give the Dark My Love, Museum of Magic and Winterflame Dragon are further series. Interplanetary voyages, cryonics and plague appear among the subject headings.

Keith Ablow, born in 1961, is an American author and former psychiatrist who once taught as an assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and later worked in television. His catalogue of 16 titles begins in psychiatry proper, with How to Cope with Depression (1989), To Wrestle with Demons (1992) and Anatomy of a Psychiatric Illness (1993), then turns to true crime and to the Frank Clevenger novels, among them Denial (1996), Projection (1999), Compulsion (2002) and Psychopath (2003). Frank Clevenger is a forensic psychiatrist. Trump Your Life (2020) is the last catalogued title.

Scott Smith

2 books

Scott Smith is an American author and screenwriter, born in 1965, with two novels to his name: A Simple Plan (1993) and The Ruins (2006). Both were filmed from Smith's own screenplays, in 1998 and 2008, and the A Simple Plan screenplay earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Smith also wrote the screenplays for Siberia (2018) and The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019). Guilt, theft, murder and suspense run through both novels.