Policewomen book series in reading order

by J.A. Jance

by James Patterson

by Deborah Crombie

by Faith Martin

by M.J. Arlidge

by Laurie R. King

by Sara Blaedel

by Keith McCafferty

by Richard Castle

by J.T. Ellison

by Amy Stewart

by Harry Bingham

by Denise Mina

by Jeffery Deaver

by Faye Kellerman

Nora Roberts

279 books• 37 series

Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer of romance under that name. As J. D. Robb, Roberts writes police procedurals with science-fiction elements, and has also published as Jill March and, in the UK, as Sarah Hardesty. This listing carries 280 Roberts books, opening with Irish Thoroughbred (1981); The Missing is scheduled for 2027. Series on the page include the In Death Universe, the MacGregors, Night Tales, the Calhoun Women, the Chesapeake Bay Saga, Irish Hearts and the O'Hurleys.

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.

J.D. Robb

41 books• 3 series

J.D. Robb is the name under which Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, publishes police procedurals with science fiction elements. The catalogue holds 42 J.D. Robb books from 1995 to 2027, opening with Naked in Death (1995). Subjects include Eve Dallas, women detectives and New York City. Fury in Death (2026) is the newest release, and Perfect in Death is scheduled for 2027. Nora Roberts also publishes romance under the Nora Roberts name and has used the names Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

J.A. Jance writes mysteries and police procedurals, with J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds as recurring leads. The catalogue lists 82 books, starting with After the Fire (1984) and Until Proven Guilty (1985). The Taken Ones arrived in 2026, and Smoke and Mirrors is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include sheriffs, policewomen and women sleuths, and the Joanna Brady books form a named series alongside Jance's standalone novels.

Joan Hess's mysteries run in three series: Claire Malloy, a bookseller who investigates; Arly Hanks, a policewoman in the imaginary Arkansas town of Maggody; and Theo Bloomer. The catalogue holds 45 books, from Strangled Prose (1985) to Caveat Emptor and Other Stories in 2016, with Malice in Maggody (1987) and Dear Miss Demeanor (1987) among the early titles. The catalogue is listed as likely complete.

Carol O’Connell is a crime writer, born in New York on May 26, 1947, whose mysteries follow Kathy Mallory, a sociopathic but gifted detective with the NYPD. O’Connell earned a BFA in painting from Arizona State University and worked as an artist while writing fiction privately. American publishers rejected Mallory's Oracle, so the rights went to the British publisher Hutchinson and then to European publishers at auction. The catalogue lists 15 books from Mallory's Oracle (1994) to Mallory (2022), including Killing Critics (1995), Shell Game (1999) and Winter House (2004).

Tess Gerritsen

38 books• 6 series

Tess Gerritsen, born Terry Tom on June 12, 1953, is an American novelist who worked as a general physician before retiring from medicine. Gerritsen's 39 catalogued books start with Adventure's Mistress (1985) and continue through The Shadow Friends (2026), with The Italian Affair listed for 2028. Rizzoli & Isles is the recurring pairing named on the page, and Detective Jane Rizzoli appears in the subject tags. Other series are the Martini Club and the Tavistock Family. Subjects range across suspense, thrillers, medical fiction, women forensic scientists and romantic suspense.

Fly fishing and murder meet in Victoria Houston's Loon Lake mysteries, set in Wisconsin around the police officer Lew Ferris and Doc Osbourne. Dead Angler (2000) opens that series, followed by Dead Creek and Dead Water. Houston's catalogue holds 30 books, the earliest of them non-fiction from the 1980s, and reaches The Wolves Are Watching in 2026.

Deborah Crombie

20 books• 1 series

Deborah Crombie writes English police procedurals around two detectives, Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Share in Death (1993) opens the sequence, which runs to 21 books and one series, with A Killing of Innocents the most recent published title. Murder investigations in England carry every entry, and A Long Cold Sleep is scheduled for 2027.

Marie Force has 132 books catalogued from Line of Scrimmage (2008) to State of Mind (2026), across contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Force's series include Gansett Island, Fatal, First Family, Quantum, Green Mountain, Butler, Vermont, Treading Water, Wild Widows and Miami Heat/Miami Nights. Islands, Vermont, Washington, D.C., policewomen and murder investigations appear among the subjects. Fatal Affair dates from 2010. Force is still publishing.

Margaret Maron

43 books• 6 series

Two detective series carry Margaret Maron's mysteries: Judge Deborah Knott, a woman on the bench, and Sigrid Harald, a police officer. One Coffee With (1981) opens the catalogue, followed by Death of a Butterfly, Bloody Kin and The Right Jack. Forty-three books reach Take Out in 2017, and the catalogue is listed as complete.

Steven F. Havill writes police procedurals set in New Mexico. Sheriff Bill Gastner is the recurring investigator, alongside the policewoman Estelle Reyes-Guzman. Havill has 34 catalogued books published between 1981 and 2026, from The Killer (1981) to Reverse (2026), sorted into the Posadas County Mysteries, the Bill Gastner Mysteries, the Dr. Thomas Parks books and a set of standalone novels. Westerns sit in the catalogue beside the mysteries, and Havill remains actively publishing.

David Handler writes mysteries, and the catalogue holds 34 books from Kiddo (1986) to The Man Who Led a Dream Life (2026). Series include Stewart Hoag & Lulu, Berger and Mitry, Danny Levine and Benji Golden. Ghostwriters, film critics, policewomen and murder investigation are among the recorded subjects. Titles include The Man Who Died Laughing (1988), The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald (1990) and The Boy Who Never Grew Up (1992).

J.A. Konrath writes crime thrillers, and the subject tags point to Chicago, policewomen and women sleuths, along with horror and women spies. Whiskey Sour (2004) is the first catalogued title, followed by Bloody Mary (2005), Rusty Nail (2006) and Dirty Martini (2007). Dark and Stormy (2026) is the most recent title. Jacqueline Daniels, known as Jack, is the character named in the subject tags. Series on the author page include Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, Codename: Chandler, Timecaster, Phineas Troutt Mysteries, Harry McGlade Mystery and the Konrath/Kilborn Collective.

Julie Smith, born November 25, 1944, is an American mystery writer whose sixth book, New Orleans Mourning, won the 1991 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Skip Langdon, Talba Wallis, Rebecca Schwartz and Paul MacDonald are series, and subjects include policewomen, New Orleans, women lawyers and San Francisco. The catalogue lists 31 books, starting with Death Turns a Trick (1982) and ending with The Big Crazy (2019). The Axeman's Jazz (1991) and Jazz Funeral (1993) are listed titles.

Inspector Lloyd and Judy Hill are the detectives Jill McGown (1947-2007) is remembered for, a police procedural pairing that runs through most of her 18 catalogued books. The British writer was born in Campbeltown, Scotland and died in Kettering, Northamptonshire; a redundancy from the British Steel Corporation in 1980 preceded the first mystery novel. A Perfect Match opened the catalogue in 1983 and Unlucky for Some closed it in 2004. A Shred of Evidence reached television in 2001, with Philip Glenister and Michelle Collins in the leads, and McGown is sometimes credited as Elizabeth Chaplin.

Karin Slaughter

39 books• 10 series

American crime writer Karin Slaughter was born in 1971. Her debut, Blindsighted (2001), made the Crime Writers' Association shortlist for best thriller debut, and Cop Town won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2015. The catalogue carries 39 of her books through The Secrets We Hide (2026). Will Trent, Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver are recurring figures, and her series listings include Andrea Oliver, North Falls Thriller, Pretty Girls and Good Daughter alongside standalone novels. Subjects cover police work, medical examiners, murder and the state of Georgia. Slaughter's books are published in 120 countries.

Faith Martin is a pen name used by the English author Jacquie Walton, whose detective series stars DI Hillary Greene. Walton also publishes as Maxine Barry and Joyce Cato, and ranks among the decade's most-read Kindle Unlimited authors in the UK. Under the Faith Martin listing sit 48 books, beginning with Murder on the Oxford Canal / A Narrow Escape (2004). Series include DI Hillary Greene, Jenny Starling / Travelling Cook Mysteries, Ryder & Loveday Mystery, Val & Arbie Mysteries and Lyssa Moore Mysteries. A Dangerous Train of Thought appeared in 2026, and Death at Deepdene Hall is due in 2027.

Judith Cutler writes crime fiction almost entirely in series, most of it set in and around Birmingham in the present day. Sophie Rivers, a lecturer who investigates as an amateur, carries ten books; Detective Sergeant Kate Power six; the antique restorer Lina Townend six; and Detective Superintendent Fran Harman five. Further sequences follow Harriet & Matthew Rowsley, Tobias Campion and Josie Welford. Fifty-five titles are catalogued, from Dying Fall (1995) to The Mystery of the Seaside Treasure (2026).

Jo Bannister is a British crime novelist, born on 31 July 1951 in Rochdale, Lancashire. Series include Brodie Farrell, Castlemere, Hazel Best & Gabriel Ash, Clio Rees & Harry Marsh, Mickey Flynn and Rosie Holland. The catalogue records 43 books from The Matrix (1981) to China Roses (2021), with Winter Plain (1982), A Cactus Garden (1983), Striving with Gods (1984), Gilgamesh (1989) and Shards (1990) among the earlier titles. Subject headings name England, policewomen, women private investigators, police procedurals and missing persons.

Barry Maitland writes police procedurals around the detectives David Brock and Kathy Kolla. Maitland, born in Scotland in 1941, studied architecture at Cambridge, practised and taught in Britain, then became a professor of architecture at the University of Newcastle in Australia before turning to writing full-time in 2000. 18 catalogued books run from The Marx Sisters (1994) to The Russian Wife (2021), with the Belltree Trilogy and several standalone novels beside the Brock and Kolla books.

Laura Griffin writes romantic suspense around forensic investigators, police officers and FBI cases. One Last Breath (2007) opens a catalogue of 38 books, and the Tracers series and the Texas Murder Files are the central strands, with Alpha Crew, Wolfe Security, Borderline and the Glass Sisters alongside them. Serial murder investigations carry much of the work, which continues into 2026.

Diane Kelly's mysteries run on humour. Tara Holloway chases tax evasion through the Death, Taxes titles that open the catalogue in 2011; Paw Enforcement puts a policewoman with a police dog; and the House-Flipper, Mountain Lodge, Southern Homebrew and Trouble In Tumbleweed mysteries follow. Fifty-four books reach The Barn Identity in 2026, at 336 pages on median.

Jane Tennison, the detective of Prime Suspect, is Lynda La Plante's best known creation, and Anna Travis, Dolly Rawlins, Lorraine Page and DC Jack Warr head further series. London police work, serial murder and missing persons are the recurring subjects. Widows (1985) opens a catalogue of 56 titles that reaches Sacrifice in 2026, at 392 pages on median.