Public prosecutors book series in reading order

by Linda Fairstein

by Sallie Bissell

Linda Fairstein

32 books• 5 series

Alexandra Cooper, a public prosecutor in New York, leads Linda Fairstein's crime novels. The catalogue opens with the non-fiction Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape (1993), turns to fiction with Final Jeopardy (1996) and reaches Blood Oath (2019). Thirty-two books are catalogued in total, the Devlin Quick series and further non-fiction among them. No new Fairstein title has appeared since 2019.

Robert K. Tanenbaum was an American trial attorney who also served as mayor of Beverly Hills. The Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi legal thrillers are his main sequence, catalogued under public prosecutors, women lawyers, murder trials and New York City. Tanenbaum's 34 books run from Badge of the Assassin (1979) and No Lesser Plea (1987) through Depraved Indifference (1989) and Justice Denied (1994) to That Day in Dallas (2025), and the catalogue also holds non-fiction.

Allison Leotta is a former federal prosecutor who writes legal crime thrillers. Her six books follow Anna Curtis and run from Law of Attraction (2010) through Discretion (2012), Speak of the Devil (2013) and A Good Killing (2015) to The Last Good Girl (2016). Subject headings cover public prosecutors, family violence, missing persons and Washington, D.C., the city where Leotta prosecuted sex crimes and crimes against children.

Legal thrillers were Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's field, populated by women prosecutors, judges and probation officers working in California. Born in Dallas in 1946 and died in Las Vegas in 2017, Rosenberg published her first novel, Mitigating Circumstances, in 1993; Jonathan Demme took the film rights, most of her novels reached the New York Times bestseller list, and her work was translated widely. Rosenberg founded Voice of Tomorrow, a writing programme for inner-city young people, and Orange County's Board of Supervisors named her A Woman of Excellence, Learning for Life in 1994. Fourteen books span 1993 to 2010, including the Lily Forrester and Carolyn Sullivan series.

Alafair Burke

17 books• 4 series

Lawyers, prosecutors and detectives populate Alafair Burke's crime novels. Burke writes the Samantha Kincaid and Ellie Hatcher series alongside standalone thrillers and novellas, with New York recurring as a setting and missing persons and murder as recurring subjects. The catalogue opens with Judgment Calls (2003), reaches 17 books, and the most recent title is The Note.

Marcia Clark writes legal thrillers set in Los Angeles. Clark was the lead prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case and has also worked as a television correspondent and producer. Her two series are Rachel Knight and Samantha Brinkman, and her 13 catalogued books run from Without a Doubt (1997) to Trial by Ambush (2024), taking in Guilt by Association (2011), Killer Ambition (2013), The Competition (2014), Blood Defense (2016) and Moral Defense (2016). Public prosecutors, criminal defence lawyers and murder investigation are the standing subjects. Clark is actively publishing.

Mary Crow recurs through Sallie Bissell's catalogue and names the series attached to it. Eight books carry Bissell's credit, from In the Forest of Harm (2001) to White Trees Crimson Snow (2021). Subjects record women lawyers, public prosecutors, Cherokee women, wilderness survival, hiking, stalking victims and female friendship, filed as suspense and thrillers. A Darker Justice (2002), Legacy of Masks (2005), Music of Ghosts (2013) and A Judgment of Whispers (2015) belong to the run. All 8 books carry page counts, with a median of 364.

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.

Allison Brennan, an American writer born in 1969, writes romantic thrillers; her first book was published in 2005. The catalogue lists 74 of her books through Make It Out Alive, with One Last Warning announced and the list reaching 2027. Lucy Kincaid and Max Revere are recurring figures. Series listings include the Predator Trilogy, Quinn & Costa Thriller, Angelhart Investigations, River City Mysteries, Regan Merritt and Moreno & Hart Mysteries. Subjects include the FBI, serial murders, women journalists and romantic suspense.

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.

Karen Robards has written historical romance, contemporary romance and romantic suspense across 56 catalogued books. Island Flame (1981) opens the list, followed by Sea Fire (1982), Forbidden Love (1983), Amanda Rose (1984), Dark Torment (1985) and To Love a Man (1985). Dr. Charlotte Stone, the Banning Sisters and Jessica Ford head series inside a catalogue otherwise made of standalone novels. The Moonlight Runner is the newest title, and Robards remains actively publishing.

Scott Pratt writes legal thrillers, and the 27 catalogued books run from Russo's Gold (2007) to Vindicate (2025). Joe Dillard and Darren Street are Pratt's recurring characters, and further series follow Billy Beckett, Presley Carter and Miller & Stevens. Murder investigations, criminal defense lawyers and public prosecutors are the main subjects. An Innocent Client (2008) and Conflict of Interest (2012) are among the titles.

Legal and political thrillers make up Richard North Patterson's catalogue - lawyers, murder trials, presidential candidates and terrorism. The Lasko Tangent (1979) opens the list, and Degree of Guilt (1992) and Eyes of a Child (1995) belong to the Christopher Paget run. Kerry Kilcannon and Tony Lord head the other series. Twenty-four titles are catalogued, the last of them Trial in 2023.

Erle Stanley Gardner

152 books• 8 series

Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 to March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author of the Perry Mason legal detective stories. The catalogue opens in 1933 with The Case of the Velvet Claws and The Case of the Sulky Girl, followed by The Case of the Curious Bride and The Case of the Howling Dog in 1934, and lists 152 books in all. Other Gardner series include Donald Lam & Bertha Cool, Doug Selby, Gramp Wiggens and Terry Clane. Gardner also wrote non-fiction, mostly accounts of travels through Baja California and elsewhere in Mexico. Pseudonyms included A. A. Fair and Carleton Kendrake, and at the time of death Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century.

Julia Keller writes crime fiction, and her 18 catalogued books span 2008 to 2020. Bell Elkins is her recurring character, and the subject tags across the run name West Virginia, murder investigation, public prosecutors and women sleuths. Keller also wrote the Dark Intercept novels, standalone fiction and non-fiction, beginning with Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel (2008). Back Home (2020) is the most recent entry, and nothing has followed it.

Jilliane Hoffman writes legal thrillers. Born on Long Island and trained in law at St. John's University in Queens, Hoffman puts prosecutors, murder trials and serial killers at the centre of her books, with Miami as the recurring setting. C.J. Townsend leads the first series, in Retribution (2003) and Last Witness (2005); FBI agent Bobby Dees the second, in Pretty Little Things (2010). Six books reach The Cutting Room (2015), at a median of 426 pages.

Linda Warren, born Linda Pearl Siegert on 2 July 1945, is an American author of contemporary romance novels. Subject records cite Texas, western romance, romantic suspense, single mothers and police. The catalogue lists 56 books from Branded (1992) to A Texan's Christmas Baby (2021), with Swept Away (1993) and Deep in the Heart of Texas (2000) among them. Texas Rebels, Hardin Boys, Willow Creek, Texas, McCain Brothers and Belles of Texas are the listed series.

The catalogue lists this author under two names, Frances Fyfield and Frances Hegarty, with 24 crime novels published from 1989 to 2020. The books are mysteries and psychological suspense set largely in London, with women lawyers and police among the subjects. Series characters include Helen West, Sarah Fortune and Geoffrey Bailey, and a third series follows Diana Porteous. A Question Of Guilt (1989) is the first title and Cold To The Touch (2020) the last.