Ann Rule Reading Order

1 book (1997–1997)

#	Title
1	The Plot Thickens 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

17 books (1993–2014)

Ann Rule's Crime Files series consists of 17 nonfiction true crime collections published between 1993 and 2014, examining real criminal cases through investigative journalism. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases and concluding with the final entries in 2014. Each volume compiles multiple distinct cases, making the books accessible as individual reads while building a comprehensive picture of Rule's crime reporting across the two-decade span. The complete series is now closed.

Start with A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases, the first of 17 books in the Crime Files series.

#	Title
1	A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	In the Name of Love and Other True Cases 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The End of the Dream 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Empty Promises and Other True Cases 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Last Dance, Last Chance 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Worth More Dead and Other True Cases 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	No Regrets and Other True Cases 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder and Other True Cases 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Mortal Danger and Other True Cases 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	But I Trusted You and Other True Cases 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Don't Look Behind You 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors and Other True Cases 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Lying in Wait and Other True Cases 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (1980–2013)

Ann Rule's true crime series spans 19 books published between 1980 and 2013, chronicling some of America's most notorious criminal cases through meticulous investigation and narrative journalism. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Stranger Beside Me, which established Rule's signature approach to the genre. Each standalone volume examines a different high-profile murder case, drawing on court records, interviews, and Rule's own investigative work to reconstruct the crimes and their impact on victims and communities.

Start with The Stranger Beside Me, the first of 19 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	The Stranger Beside Me 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Lust Killer 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Want-Ad Killer 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Mind Games 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The I-5 Killer 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Small Sacrifices 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	If You Really Loved Me 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Everything She Ever Wanted 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Dead By Sunset 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Bitter Harvest 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	And Never Let Her Go 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Jerry Harris Case 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Every Breath You Take 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Heart Full of Lies 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Without Pity 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Green River, Running Red 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Too Late to Say Goodbye 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	In the Still of the Night 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Practice to Deceive 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1981–1981)

#	Title
1	Possession 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible