Women lawyers book series in reading order

by Kate Wilhelm

by Linda Fairstein

by Lisa Scottoline

by Melinda Leigh

by Phillip Margolin

by Harlan Coben

Legal thrillers about women lawyers form the core of Lisa Scottoline's work. Rosato & Associates, later listed as Rosato & DiNunzio, names the recurring law firm series, and the catalogue runs to 51 titles from Everywhere That Mary Went (1993) to This Changes Everything (2026). Scottoline also writes standalone suspense, non-fiction, and the Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman books, which the subject tags mark as humour. Publication is ongoing.

Kate Wilhelm wrote science fiction, mystery and suspense across a catalogue of 75 books published between 1963 and 2022. The American author won a Hugo Award for Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang and founded the Clarion Workshop with her husband Damon Knight and the writer Robin Scott Wilson. Her two long series are the Barbara Holloway books, about an Oregon lawyer, and Constance and Charlie, about the private investigators Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn. The list runs from The Mile-Long Spaceship (1963) to The House Share (2022) and has been dormant since.

Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name of two sisters, Mary and Pamela O'Shaughnessy, writing together from Northern California. Pamela trained at Harvard Law School and practised as a trial lawyer for sixteen years; Mary worked as an editor and writer on multimedia projects. Their legal suspense series follows Nina Reilly, a woman lawyer, across 15 books from Motion to Suppress (1995) to Dreams of the Dead (2011). Courtroom language marks the run, Invasion of Privacy, Obstruction of Justice, Acts of Malice, Writ of Execution.

Margaret Coel's series include Wind River Reservation, Arapaho Ten Commandments and Catherine McLeod, alongside non-fiction and short stories. Subjects name Vicky Holden and John O'Malley as characters and cover Arapaho Indians, women lawyers, clergy and Wyoming. The 34 catalogued books run from Chief Left Hand (1981) to Man Found Dead in Park (2017). The Eagle Catcher (1995), The Ghost Walker (1996) and The Dream Stalker (1997) are among the titles. The catalogue is listed as likely complete.

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.

Barbara Parker (1947-2009) wrote American mystery and legal suspense. Her 12 novels open with Suspicion of Innocence (1994), a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first mystery novel by an American author, and close with The Dark of Day (2008). Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana are the recurring characters, across Suspicion of Guilt (1995), Suspicion of Deceit (1998), Suspicion of Betrayal (1999), Suspicion of Malice (2000), Suspicion of Vengeance (2001), Suspicion of Madness (2003) and Suspicion of Rage (2005). Miami and Florida, women lawyers and public prosecutors are the recurring subjects. Parker sat on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America and chaired its membership committee for two years.

Phillip Margolin

35 books• 6 series

Legal thrillers built on murder trials are the work of Phillip Margolin. Gone, But Not Forgotten (1993) sits early in a catalogue of 35 books that reaches 2026, and Margolin's series follow the lawyers Robin Lockwood, Amanda Jaffe, Madison Kincaid, and Brad Miller with Dana Cutler. Courtroom suspense and criminal investigation carry the novels, which run to a median of 362 pages.

James Scott Bell is a novelist and a writing instructor. Legal thrillers dominate a catalogue of 91 books published between 1988 and 2025, covering the Mike Romeo, Ty Buchanan, Trials of Kit Shannon and Mallory Caine, Zombie-at-Law series. Lawyers, Los Angeles and Christian suspense recur as subjects, alongside a line of books on authorship and craft technique. The run opens with The Night Carl Sagan Stepped on My Cat (1988).

Julie James writes contemporary romance with legal and law-enforcement settings. Nine books make up the catalogue, published between 2008 and 2017, opening with Just the Sexiest Man Alive (2008). The FBI/US Attorney series supplies most of the run, including Something About You (2010), A Lot Like Love (2011) and Love Irresistibly (2013). Women lawyers, law firms and federal investigators are the recurring subjects. Nothing later than 2017 is catalogued.

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.

Dogs run through most of Linda O Johnston's work. The Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries pair pet-sitting with murder investigation, and the Pet Rescue, Barkery & Biscuits, Shelter of Secrets and K-9 Ranch Rescue series continue on that ground, while the Alpha Force books sit in Harlequin's paranormal line. Women lawyers, dog owners and rescue work recur as subjects. Eighty-two titles are catalogued, from a 1988 short story to Canine Refuge (2025), at a median length of 288 pages.

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.

Across 194 catalogued books, Danielle Steel writes contemporary romance and family drama: love stories, marriages, widowhood and the turns that reshape a life. The run starts with Going Home (1973) and continues through Celebration, with 24 Hours scheduled for 2027. Steel's catalogue also holds children's picture books, short stories and non-fiction beside the standalone novels that make up most of it.

Melinda Leigh's catalogue lists 37 books of crime fiction and romantic suspense, starting with She Can Run (2011). Series include Bree Taggert, Morgan Dane, Scarlet Falls, Olivia Cruz and the She Can... books. Murder, women lawyers, private investigators, kidnapping, widows and single mothers are among the recorded subjects. Early titles include Midnight Exposure (2012), She Can Tell (2012) and Walking on Her Grave (2014). You Can Tell Me (2026) is the latest release, and I Know Your Secret is listed for 2027.

Terri Blackstock's catalogue holds 78 books published between 1984 and 2021, beginning with Blue Fire (1984), issued under the name Terri Herrington. Recorded subjects place the work in Christian fiction, mystery and detective writing, romantic suspense, and stories of sisters and of mothers and daughters. Series in the listing include Newpointe 911, Sun Coast Chronicles, Cape Refuge and If I Run. Three titles also carry a credit for Tracy Hughes. No new book has been catalogued since Aftermath (2021).

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.

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.

Sport is Tim Green's subject on both sides of his catalogue: football and baseball novels for young readers, and suspense novels for adults. Ruffians (1993) opens the list, followed by Titans, Outlaws and The Red Zone, with the non-fiction The Dark Side of the Game alongside. Football Genius, Baseball Great and Baseball Genius are the children's series, and Casey Jordan heads a legal one. Forty-five titles run to Rocket Arm in 2025.

Yrsa Sigurdardottir

18 books• 4 series

Yrsa Sigurdardottir writes crime novels, horror and children's fiction, and is often called the queen of Icelandic crime fiction. Eighteen books are catalogued from Last Rituals (2005) to The Wake (2025). Thora Gudmundsdottir, a lawyer who investigates, gives the first series its name; Children's House, Black Ice and a set of standalone novels follow. Sigurdardottir was born in 1963, has been translated into more than 30 languages, took the Petrona Award for Scandinavian crime novel of the year and the Icelandic award Blodropinn three times, co-founded the Reykjavik literary festival Iceland Noir, and has kept a full career as a civil engineer alongside the writing.

Carsen Taite writes lesbian romance and romantic suspense, with subject records naming women lawyers, women bounty hunters, murder trials and missing persons. The catalogue lists 35 books from Truelesbianlove.com (2008) to Trial Run (2024). Series include Luca Bennett Bounty Hunter, Lone Star Law, Courting Danger and Crime & Defense.

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.

Debbie Macomber

245 books• 35 series

Debbie Macomber, born October 22, 1948, is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six Macomber novels became made-for-TV movies, and the Cedar Cove novels became a television series of the same name, with Macomber serving as executive producer on the adaptations. Macomber won the first fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005 and holds a RITA Award and a lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America. The catalogue counts 245 books between Starlight (1983) and A Date with Santa (2026). Series include Heart of Texas, Midnight Sons, Navy, Those Manning Men, Orchard Valley and Angels Everywhere.

Mary Burton grew up in a Southern family that loved telling stories, and that interest led to an English degree from Hollins University in Virginia, completed in 1983. The catalogue lists 48 Burton books, from A Bride for McCain (2000) to Trust No One (2026). Burton's series include Criminal Profiler, Morgans of Nashville, Forgotten Files, Texas Rangers and Senseless Duo. Subjects on the books cover romantic suspense, historical romance, serial murder investigations and police work.

Tracie Peterson, born 1959, writes Christian fiction, mostly historical novels carrying romance and faith themes. Peterson used the pen name Janelle Jamison early on and has written joint novels with other Christian authors; Bethany House publishes many of the titles. Several Peterson series feature Harvey Girls, the waitstaff of the Fred Harvey Company. The catalogue lists 153 books from A Kingdom Divided (1991) to Devoted to Love (2026), across series such as Heirs of Montana, Westward Chronicles, Ribbons West, Yukon Quest, Shannon Saga and Desert Roses. Peterson lives in Montana and runs Peterson Ink with husband Jim.