Chris Offutt Reading Order

121 books (2002–2025)

The Akashic Noir series is an extensive anthology collection that began in 2002 and remains ongoing, currently comprising 121 published volumes edited by Chris Offutt. Each book focuses on noir fiction set in a specific city or region, from San Francisco and Brooklyn to Dublin, London, and Tokyo, with the series continuing to expand. The books should be read in publication order, starting with San Francisco Noir, as each volume stands alone as a self-contained collection while building the overall series legacy. This mystery and thriller collection showcases noir storytelling across diverse international and domestic urban settings.

Start with San Francisco Noir, the first of 121 books in the Akashic Noir series.

#	Title
1	San Francisco Noir 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Bronx Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Seattle Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Brooklyn Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Hasidic Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Brooklyn Noir 2 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Chicago Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Dublin Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Baltimore Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	D.C. Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	London Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Manhattan Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Miami Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Twin Cities Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Detroit Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Havana Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Los Angeles Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	New Orleans Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Wall Street Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	D.C. Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Istanbul Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Las Vegas Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Manhattan Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Paris Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Queens Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Toronto Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Trinidad Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Boston Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Delhi Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Phoenix Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Portland Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Rome Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	San Francisco Noir 2 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Copenhagen Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	Haiti Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	Indian Country Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Lone Star Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Los Angeles Noir 2 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Mexico City Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	Moscow Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	Orange County Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Philadelphia Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Richmond Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Barcelona Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Cape Cod Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	New Jersey Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Pittsburgh Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	San Diego Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Boston Noir 2 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	Kansas City Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Kingston Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	Long Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	Mumbai Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	St. Petersburg Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Staten Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Venice Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	Buffalo Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	Dallas Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	Haiti Noir 2 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Manila Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	USA Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	Belfast Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	Helsinki Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Prison Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
66	Rio Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
67	Singapore Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
68	Tehran Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
69	Tel Aviv Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
70	Beirut Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
71	Chicago Noir: The Classics 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
72	Marseille Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
73	Memphis Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
74	Providence Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
75	Zagreb Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
76	Brussels Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
77	Mississippi Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
78	New Orleans Noir: The Classics 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
79	Prague Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
80	San Juan Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
81	St. Louis Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
82	Stockholm Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
83	Atlanta Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
84	Buenos Aires Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
85	Montana Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
86	Montreal Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
87	New Haven Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
88	Oakland Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
89	Trinidad Noir: The Classics 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
90	Baghdad Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
91	Berlin Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
92	Hong Kong Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
93	Lagos Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
94	Marrakech Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
95	Santa Cruz Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
96	Sydney Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
97	São Paulo Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
98	Vancouver Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
99	Amsterdam Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
100	Houston Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
101	Milwaukee Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
102	Accra Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
103	Addis Ababa Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
104	Alabama Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
105	Belgrade Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
106	Berkeley Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
107	Columbus Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
108	Miami Noir: The Classics 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
109	Nairobi Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
110	Santa Fe Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
111	Tampa Bay Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
112	Palm Springs Noir 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
113	Denver Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
114	Paris Noir: The Suburbs 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
115	South Central Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
116	Cleveland Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
117	East Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
118	West Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
119	Honolulu Noir 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
120	Hamburg Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
121	Sacramento Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

9 books (1994–2017)

Chris Offutt's Anthologies series comprises nine books published between 1994 and 2017, collecting short stories and essays across literary and cultural themes. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Best American Short Stories 1994 and progressing through diverse collections including Body, The Secret Society of Demolition Writers, River Teeth, and Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South. These anthologies feature contributions from multiple writers and explore topics ranging from contemporary American life to regional cultural identity, reflecting the author's interests in both fiction and nonfiction storytelling.

Start with The Best American Short Stories 1994, the first of 9 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	The Best American Short Stories 1994 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Granta 54 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Body 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Secret Society of Demolition Writers 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	River Teeth 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Stray Dogs 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean:Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Tales of Two Americas 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1992–1999)

Chris Offutt's Collections series consists of two complete works published across the 1990s that should be read in publication order. Kentucky Straight came first in 1992, followed by Out of the Woods in 1999. This finished series blends mystery and thriller elements with nonfiction perspectives characteristic of Offutt's writing style.

Start with Kentucky Straight and read in order.

#	Title
1	Kentucky Straight 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Out of the Woods 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (2021–2025)

Chris Offutt's Mick Hardin series comprises four books published between 2021 and 2025, with the sequence still ongoing. The novels should be read in publication order, beginning with The Killing Hills, followed by Shifty's Boys, Code of the Hills, and The Reluctant Sheriff. This mystery and thriller series follows its protagonist through interconnected cases in a richly detailed setting drawn from Offutt's deep knowledge of Appalachian culture.

Start with The Killing Hills, the first of 4 books in the Mick Hardin series.

#	Title
1	The Killing Hills 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Shifty’s Boys 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Code of the Hills 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Reluctant Sheriff 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1993–2016)

Chris Offutt's three-book non-fiction series spans from 1993 to 2016 and should be read in publication order beginning with The Same River Twice. The complete series includes No Heroes and concludes with My Father, the Pornographer, offering readers a finished collection of the author's explorations into mystery and true crime narratives.

Start with The Same River Twice and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Same River Twice 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	No Heroes 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	My Father, the Pornographer 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1997–2018)

Chris Offutt's two standalone novels span over two decades of crime fiction writing, with The Good Brother appearing in 1997 and Country Dark following in 2018. Though independent stories set in different circumstances, these mysteries and thrillers are best experienced in their publication order to appreciate the author's evolving approach to the genre. The complete series offers readers atmospheric crime narratives rooted in rural American settings.

Start with The Good Brother and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Good Brother 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Country Dark 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible