Women private investigators book series in reading order

by Marcia Muller

by Sue Grafton

by Alexander McCall Smith

by Carolyn Haines

by Dana Stabenow

by Rhys Bowen

by Patricia Wentworth

by Laurien Berenson

by Jeanne M. Dams

by Frances Brody

by Laurie R. King

by Kathryn R. Wall

by Janet Dawson

by Kat Richardson

by Stella Whitelaw

by Caro Peacock

by Seanan McGuire

by Laurell K. Hamilton

by Carol Lea Benjamin

by Janet Evanovich

by Ashley Weaver

by Linda Barnes

by J.M. Redmann

by Joanne Fluke

by Mick Herron

by Catriona McPherson

by Elizabeth J. Duncan

by Val McDermid

by Susan Rogers Cooper

by Liz Evans / Patricia Grey

by Leslie Meier

by Rob Thomas

by P.D. James

by Casey Daniels

by Alanna Knight

Alexander McCall Smith

165 books• 25 series

Sir Alexander McCall Smith, born 24 August 1948, is a Scottish legal scholar and novelist who created The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), McCall Smith was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and worked on medical law and bioethics committees. English-language sales passed 40 million by 2010, with translations into 46 languages. The catalogue lists 165 books from White Hippo (1980) to 2026, including 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dalhousie, Detective Varg and children's titles.

Sue Grafton

33 books• 4 series

Sue Grafton is known for the alphabet mysteries, a California series starring the private investigator Kinsey Millhone that runs from A is for Alibi (1982) to Y is for Yesterday (2017). Grafton's catalogue holds 33 books in total, beginning with the novel Keziah Dane in 1967 and taking in standalones and non-fiction. The catalogue is listed as complete.

Marcia Muller, born September 28, 1944 in Detroit, is an American mystery and thriller author who created the female private detective Sharon McCone. Vanishing Point won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel after four earlier nominations, and Mystery Writers of America named Muller a Grand Master in 2005. Muller studied English at the University of Michigan and worked at Sunset magazine. Muller is married to Bill Pronzini, a collaborator on several novels. The catalogue lists 74 books, including Edwin of the Iron Shoes (1977) and Circle in the Water (2024).

Patricia Wentworth was the pen name of Dora Amy Turnbull (formerly Dillon, born Elles), a British crime writer who lived from 15 October 1877 to 28 January 1961. Miss Maud Silver, a woman private investigator in England, is the recurring character of the Miss Silver series. The Wentworth list begins with A Marriage Under the Terror (1910), and the 1930s are the busiest decade. Benbow Smith, Ernest Lamb and Frank Garrett are the other series characters.

Sara Paretsky

34 books• 6 series

Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, born June 8, 1947, and most noted for the novels built around the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. The catalogue holds 34 Paretsky books, from Indemnity Only (1982) to Bad Company (2026), including Deadlock (1984), Killing Orders (1985), Bitter Medicine (1987) and Burn Marks (1990). Subjects on the books include women private investigators, women detectives and Chicago, and the list also carries short story collections and standalone novels.

Marion Chesney

184 books• 22 series

Marion Chesney, later Marion Gibbons (1936-2019), was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery whose published career began in 1979. Historical romances appeared under the Chesney name, the Travelling Matchmaker and Daughters of Mannerling books among them, while the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mysteries appeared as M. C. Beaton; both of those mystery runs were adapted for television. Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Charlotte Ward, Jennie Tremaine and Sarah Chester are further pen names on the record. This listing gathers 185 books dated from 1979 onward, including later titles on which R.W. Green is credited.

Carol Higgins Clark (July 28, 1956 - June 12, 2023) was an American mystery author, and Regan Reilly is the one series in this catalogue. Recorded subjects name Regan Reilly as a fictitious character and cover women private investigators, detective and mystery stories, and Los Angeles. Nineteen titles are listed, from Decked (1991) to Gypped (2012). One of them carries a joint credit with her mother, the suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark, with whom she wrote Christmas novels.

Carolyn Haines

99 books• 12 series

A former journalist, Carolyn Haines writes mysteries set in the Mississippi Delta. Born May 12, 1953 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Haines also publishes as Caroline Burnes, R.B. Chesterton and Lizzie Hart. Subjects across the 99 catalogued titles include women private investigators, murder, romantic suspense and the fictitious character Sarah Booth Delaney. Series listed under the name include Sarah Booth Delaney, Pluto's Snitch and the Legend of Blackthorn books written as Caroline Burnes. The run starts in 1989 and reaches Joy to the Bones in 2026, and a handful of entries carry another writer's name on a single title each.

Alaska is where most of Dana Stabenow's crime fiction takes place. Kate Shugak, a private investigator, heads the series that carries her name, and Liam Campbell, the Coast Guard books and the Harvey Girl Mysteries follow. Stabenow also wrote the Star Svensdotter, Eye of Isis and Silk and Song sequences. Second Star (1991) opens a 47-book catalogue that reaches The Iron Trail in 2027.

Rhys Bowen is the name Janet Quin-Harkin publishes adult mystery novels under; Quin-Harkin was born in Bath, Somerset, in September 1941. The catalogue gathers 171 books, opening with Peter Penny's Dance (1976) and reaching Vanished in the Crowd (2026), with A Whiff of Scandal dated 2027. Molly Murphy, Her Royal Spyness and Constable Evans are the mystery series listed, alongside teen series carrying the Janet Quin-Harkin byline such as Heartbreak Cafe, Sugar and Spice and The Boyfriend Club. Catalogue subjects run to detective and mystery stories, women private investigators, historical mystery, aristocracy and children's fiction.

Jacqueline Winspear

23 books• 5 series

Jacqueline Winspear, a mystery writer born on 30 April 1955, is the author of Maisie Dobbs, a series examining the aftermath of World War I. Books in the series have won Winspear several mystery writing awards. The catalogue lists 24 Winspear books, starting with Maisie Dobbs (2003) and including Birds of a Feather (2004) and Pardonable Lies (2005). The Comfort of Ghosts (2024) is the newest published title, and Charlie Bright is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include women private investigators, both world wars and missing in action.

Melanie Travis, a dog owner and private investigator in Connecticut, leads Laurien Berenson's mystery series. Berenson's catalogue holds 51 books, opening in 1984 with titles published as Laurien Blair and reaching Peg and Rose Deck the Halls (2026). The Senior Sleuths Mysteries are a second line. Dogs, murder and women sleuths recur as subjects.

Jeanne M. Dams is an American crime fiction writer with three mystery series to her name. Dorothy Martin, an American retired teacher living in England, appears first in The Body in the Transept (1995). Hilda Johansson, a Swedish American, leads the second sequence, and the Oak Park Village Mysteries make the third. Thirty-eight books are catalogued, running through A Thief's Folly (2026).

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.

Savannah Reid, a private investigator in California, leads G.A. McKevett's mystery series, and a Granny Reid line runs beside it. McKevett's catalogue holds 41 books, from Legacy of the Wolf (1986) to Murder Most Grave (2022), with standalone novels and non-fiction among them. Women sleuths, murder and crime recur as subjects. No new McKevett title has appeared since 2022.

Laura Lippman

56 books• 8 series

Laura Lippman, born January 31, 1959, is an American journalist and the author of more than 20 detective novels. Subjects on the books include Tess Monaghan, women private investigators, murder and Baltimore. The catalogue lists 56 Lippman books, beginning with Baltimore Blues and Charm City (both 1997) and reaching Murder Takes a Vacation (2025). Lippman's awards include an Edgar Award, an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards and two Shamus Awards.

Darynda Jones writes paranormal mystery and romance, 34 catalogued books published between 2011 and 2024. Charley Davidson, a private investigator who also works as a medium, carries the longest series, opening with First Grave on the Right (2011) and continuing through Second Grave on the Left (2011), Third Grave Dead Ahead (2012) and Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet (2012). Betwixt & Between, Sunshine Vicram and NeverNeath form further groupings. Graveyard Dog is the newest title.

Gilbert Morris produced Christian historical fiction at length: 248 catalogued books between 1977 and 2014. The House of Winslow follows one family across American history; the Appomattox Saga and Bonnets & Bugles take up the Civil War; Cheney Duvall, M.D. follows a woman physician; the Seven Sleepers, Dixie Morris and Too Smart Jones series sit alongside, with children's fiction among the subjects. The catalogue opens with Race Against Time (1977), reaches Raina's Choice, and is listed as likely complete.

Amanda Cross is the pen name Carolyn Heilbrun (1926-2003) used for mystery novels. Heilbrun was an American academic at Columbia University and the first woman granted tenure in its English department. Fourteen Amanda Cross books are catalogued, from In the Last Analysis (1964) to The Edge of Doom (2002), and Kate Fansler, a college teacher, is the recurring figure across them. Women sleuths, detective and mystery stories and New York City carry the subject tags.

Libby Sarjeant carries most of Lesley Cookman's catalogue, in a cozy mystery series opening with Murder in Steeple Martin (2006); the Alexandrians books sit beside it. Cookman also writes about pantomime, Writing a Pantomime (1998) is the earliest of 40 catalogued titles, How to Write a Pantomime (2007) followed, and scripts such as Cinderella and Queen of Hearts appear in between. Actresses, women private investigators, England and murder investigation fill the subject tags.

Cara Black

25 books• 4 series

Paris is the setting for Cara Black's crime fiction. Murder in the Marais (1999) opens the Aimee Leduc Investigations, a series of private-investigator mysteries named for the districts they take place in, from Belleville and the Sentier to the Bastille, Clichy and Montmartre. Black's 25 catalogued books also include the Kate Rees novels and non-fiction, running to Huguette in 2025.

Kate Shackleton, a private investigator in England, leads Frances Brody's historical mystery series, which opens with Dying in the Wool (2009) and continues in A Medal for Murder (2010) and Murder in the Afternoon (2011). Brody's catalogue holds 20 books, from Somewhere Behind the Morning (2005) to Six Motives for Murder (2024), and takes in the Brackerley Prison Mysteries. The First World War recurs as a subject.

Robert B. Parker

87 books• 9 series

Robert B. Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer working mainly in mystery and detective fiction. The Spenser novels, about a private detective, are Parker's most famous works and inspired the ABC series Spenser: For Hire and a run of TV movies. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), God Save the Child (1974) and Mortal Stakes (1975) are among the early titles. Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall are further characters, and Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch form another series. Parker's books draw on detailed knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area, and Robert Crais, Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane are among those who credit the Spenser novels with renewing the detective genre.

Detective fiction across several series is Laurie R. King's output. The Mary Russell books pair Mary Russell with Sherlock Holmes, beginning with The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994), while Kate Martinelli, a policewoman, has her own run from A Grave Talent (1993). Harris Stuyvesant, Raquel Laing and Folly Island add more, alongside standalone novels and non-fiction. King's catalogue holds 50 titles through Those Who Are Gone in 2026.