Thrillers, crime book series in reading order

by Faye Kellerman

by Rachel Lee

by David Putnam

by Harlan Coben

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.

Andrew Taylor

56 books• 10 series

Andrew Taylor, born on 14 October 1951, is a British crime and historical novelist whose awards include the Diamond Dagger, Britain's highest crime-writing honour. The Lydmouth series, the Roth Trilogy, The American Boy, a number-one bestseller, and The Ashes of London are among the best-known Taylor books. The catalogue lists 56 books, from Caroline Minuscule (1982) to A Schooling in Murder (2025). Series include William Dougal, Lydmouth, Roth, Marwood and Lovett, Blaines and a Bergerac series written as Andrew Saville. Subjects include historical mystery, England and the imaginary town of Lydmouth.

Romantic suspense and police procedural subjects define the catalogue record for Juno Rushdan, which also lists crime thrillers, law-enforcement romance and multicultural and interracial romance. The 29 books run from Every Last Breath (2019) to Big Sky Manhunt (2026). Series include Cowboy State Lawmen, Cowboy State Lawmen: Duty and Honor, Hard Core Justice, Fugitive Heroes: Topaz Unit, Ironside Protection Services and Final Hour. Juno Rushdan is still publishing.

Anthony Horowitz

106 books• 23 series

Anthony Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter, born 5 April 1955, who specialises in mystery and suspense. For children and young adults Horowitz created Alex Rider, a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6, along with The Power of Five (titled The Gatekeepers in the US) and The Diamond Brothers. The catalogue holds 106 Horowitz books from Enter Frederick K. Bower (1978) to A Deadly Episode (2026). Other listed series include Detective Daniel Hawthorne, Susan Ryeland, Groosham Grange and the Pentagram Chronicles. Horowitz is still publishing.

Rick Mofina

44 books• 8 series

Journalists and police investigators share the work in Rick Mofina's thrillers. If Angels Fall (2000) opens the Tom Reed and Walt Sydowski series, and Jack Gannon, Kate Page and Ray Wyatt head later runs. Missing persons, kidnapping, murder and terrorism supply the cases. Forty-four titles are catalogued, reaching One Second Away in 2026.

Angela Marsons, born 1968, is a British crime novelist from the Black Country in the West Midlands. Marsons has sold more than 3.5 million copies, with translations in 28 languages. Marsons writes the D.I. Kim Stone series alongside standalone novels, and serial murder and police procedure recur in the subject headings. The catalogue lists 31 books from My Name Is (2013) to Last Whisper (2026), including Silent Scream, Evil Games and Lost Girls from 2015.

Julie Anne Lindsey has 51 books in the catalogue, from Death by Chocolate (2012) to Deck the Halls with Boughs of Murder (2026). Subjects include romantic suspense, police procedurals, crime thrillers, murder and bakers. Series include Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries, Geek Girl Mysteries, Cider Shop Mysteries, Killer Confections, Thelma & Louisa Mysteries, Patience Price, Counselor at Large, Heartland Heroes, Fortress Defense, Beaumont Brothers Justice, Protectors of Cade County and Garrett Valor. Other titles include Murder by the Seaside (2013), Murder Comes Ashore (2014) and A Geek Girl's Guide to Murder (2015).

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.

Patricia Cornwell

45 books• 6 series

Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is the character that made Patricia Cornwell's name. Cornwell, born Patricia Carroll Daniels on June 9, 1956, is an American crime writer. The first Scarpetta novel drew on a string of murders in Richmond, Virginia, the city where most of the books take place, and the plots lean heavily on forensic science. The catalogue lists 46 Cornwell titles, from Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham (1983) and Postmortem (1990) through True Crime (2026), with Rapid and Fatal due in 2027. Other series include Andy Brazil/Judy Hammer, Winston Garano and Captain Chase. Cornwell has also named Walter Sickert as Jack the Ripper.

Janet Evanovich

79 books• 13 series

Stephanie Plum, a bail bond agent turned bounty hunter, is the recurring lead of Janet Evanovich's longest series. Evanovich writes humorous mystery and romance, and the catalogue holds 79 books from Full House (1981) to Split Second in 2026. Other recurring lines include Kate O'Hare & Nicolas Fox, Lizzy & Diesel, Knight and Moon, Alexandra Barnaby and the Culhane Family.

Faye Kellerman (Faye Marder Kellerman, born July 31, 1952) is an American author of mystery novels. The Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series is the centre of the work, and the catalogue opens with The Ritual Bath in 1986. Kellerman also wrote non-series novels, among them The Quality of Mercy (1989). The catalogue contains 37 books through The Hunt (2022). Police procedure, murder investigation and Jewish life appear in the subjects.

Thrillers about vigilantes and assassins form the spine of Gregg Hurwitz's catalogue, which also takes in superhero graphic novels, among them Batman: The Dark Knight and Penguin: Pain and Prejudice. Evan Smoak, the figure behind the Orphan X books, heads Hurwitz's best known series, with Tim Rackley and Rains beside it. Sixty-one catalogued titles run from The Tower (1999) to The Damage Man, and Last Man Standing is scheduled for 2027.

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.

Jennifer Hillier is a Canadian thriller writer of Filipino descent, born and raised in Toronto, who lived in Seattle for eight years and now lives in Oakville, Ontario. The catalogue holds 8 Hillier books: Creep (2011), Freak (2012), The Butcher (2014), Wonderland (2015), Jar of Hearts (2018), Little Secrets (2020), Things We Do in the Dark (2022) and Heart of Glass (2026). Jar of Hearts won the 2019 International Thriller Writers Award for Hardcover Novel, and Things We Do in the Dark took the ITW Award for Best Audiobook in 2023. Serial Killer Files is the series listed.

Reginald Hill wrote English police procedurals, and Dalziel and Pascoe is the partnership he is known for, introduced in A Clubbable Woman (1970). Joe Sixsmith, a private investigator, heads a second series, and Hill also published as Patrick Ruell and Dick Morland, with titles including The Castle of the Demon and Matlock's System. Sixty titles make up the catalogue, which ends with the collection A Candle for Christmas & Other Stories.

Samantha Downing has 6 books in the catalogue, published between 2019 and 2025. The first catalogued title is My Lovely Wife (2019). He Started It (2020), For Your Own Good (2021), Sleeping Dogs Lie (2022) and A Twisted Love Story (2023) came next, and the most recent title is Too Old for This (2025). No series is listed for Downing, so each of the six stands alone in the catalogue.

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.

Nicole Helm writes romantic suspense and western romance, with subjects covering law enforcement, cowboys, ranchers, Montana and Colorado. The catalogue holds 75 books from Flight Risk (2013) to Eyewitness in Danger (2026). Series include Hudson Sibling Solutions, Badlands Cops, North Star Novel, Covert Cowboy Soldiers, Bent County Protectors, Big Sky Cowboys and Navy SEAL Cowboys. Early titles include Too Close to Resist (2014), Bride by Mistake (2015) and Keep Me, Cowboy (2015).

Louise Jensen writes psychological thrillers with short, flat titles: The Sister (2016), The Gift (2016), The Surrogate (2017), The Date (2018), The Family (2019), The Fall (2023), The Intruders (2024) and The Liar (2025). Sisters, female friendship and domestic crime supply the material, and police procedure and women sleuths sit in the subject list beside them. Eleven Jensen titles are catalogued between 2016 and I Did a Bad Thing (2026).

Edgar Wallace, born Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace on 1 April 1875, was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction who died on 10 February 1932. Wallace grew up poor in London, left school at 12, joined the army at 21 and reported on the Second Boer War for Reuters and the Daily Mail. Debt drove Wallace back to London to write thrillers for income, The Four Just Men (1905) among them. The catalogue holds 134 titles from Writ In Barracks (1900) to The Vampire of Wembley (2020), including Sanders of the River (1911). Series include Commissioner Sanders, J.G. Reeder, Four Just Men, Educated Evans and Ringer.

Cindi Myers writes romantic suspense and romance, with 125 books in the catalogue from Patchwork Hearts (1999) to K-9 in Pursuit (2026). Early titles published as Cynthia Sterling include A Willing Spirit (1999), Great Caesar's Ghost (2000) and A Husband by Law (2001). Myers series include Ranger Brigade, Eagle Mountain Murder Mystery, Eagle Mountain: Search and Rescue, Eagle Mountain: Critical Response, Men of Search Team Seven, Crested Butte, Titled Texans and Eureka, Colorado. Subjects include Colorado, police procedurals, law enforcement romance and missing persons.

Freeman Wills Crofts was an Irish railway engineer who became a detective novelist, and the training shows: railway settings and intricately planned crimes are the Crofts trademark. Inspector French is the recurring detective, introduced in Inspector French's Greatest Case (1924) and carried through the police procedurals that follow. Crofts began with The Cask (1920), and the 32 catalogued books run to Anything to Declare? (1957). Golden-age contemporaries including Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler held the work in high regard.

Motorcycle clubs and motorcycle gangs appear in the subject records for Chantal Fernando, alongside romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance and crime thrillers. The catalogue lists 62 books from Chase (2013) to Angel (2026). Wind Dragons MC, Knights of Fury, Cursed Ravens MC, Serpents of Chaos MC, Angels & Devils MC and Royal Bastards MC: Western Australia are among the series. Chantal Fernando is still publishing.

Romantic suspense and police procedural are the twin registers in Nichole Severn's work. Fifty-four books are catalogued from Let Me Out (2012) to Vanished at Kolob Canyon (2026), grouped into Hunting Grounds, Defenders of Battle Mountain, New Mexico Guard Dogs, Red Rock Murders, Marshal Law, Cold Hollow Investigations, Cold Grounds and the Leigh Brody FBI mysteries. Small-town and rural settings recur, as do private investigators and law enforcement. His Prime Suspect is scheduled for 2027.