Dennis Lehane Reading Order

121 books (2002–2025)

The Akashic Noir series is an expansive collection of 121 noir anthologies edited by Dennis Lehane, spanning diverse cities across the United States and internationally from 2002 to 2025. Each volume features original short stories set in a specific location, with contributors ranging from established crime writers to emerging voices in the mystery and thriller genre. The series remains ongoing and should be read in publication order, beginning with San Francisco Noir. Readers can either follow the complete chronological progression or sample individual city collections based on their geographic interests.

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

10 books (2002–2021)

This ten-book anthology series spans from 2002 to 2021 and should be read in publication order. Edited by Dennis Lehane, these collections bring together mystery and thriller stories from various authors, offering a comprehensive look at short fiction in the crime genre across nearly two decades. The series appears to be complete.

Start with The Mighty Johns, the first of 10 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	The Mighty Johns 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	By Hook or By Crook and 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Best American Mystery Stories 2010 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	In Pursuit of Spenser 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Vengeance 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	FaceOff 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Trouble in the Heartland 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Exit Wounds 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Collectibles 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (2008–2015)

Dennis Lehane's Coughlin series consists of three complete crime novels published between 2008 and 2015, following the lives of the Coughlin family across different eras of Boston history. The books should be read in publication order: The Given Day, Live by Night, and World Gone By. Each installment builds on the family's legacy while exploring themes of crime, loyalty, and moral complexity across the early twentieth century. This is a finished series with no additional planned entries.

Start with The Given Day and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Given Day 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Live by Night 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	World Gone By 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2003–2003)

#	Title
1	Shutter Island 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1994–2010)

Dennis Lehane's Kenzie & Gennaro series spans six books published between 1994 and 2010, following the cases of Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with A Drink Before the War and concluding with Moonlight Mile. These mystery and thriller novels blend crime investigation with deep character development across the interconnected cases that define the partnership between the two detectives.

Start with A Drink Before the War, the first of 6 books in the Kenzie & Gennaro series.

#	Title
1	A Drink Before the War 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Darkness, Take My Hand 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Sacred 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Gone, Baby, Gone 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Prayers for Rain 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Moonlight Mile 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2012–2014)

This two-book series of mystery and thriller short works by Michael Connelly spans from 2012 to 2014 and is now complete. The Safe Man: A Ghost Story should be read first, followed by Red Eye, which was co-written with Dennis Lehane. These entries are best experienced in publication order.

Start with The Safe Man: A Ghost Story(By: Michael Connelly) and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Safe Man: A Ghost Story(By: Michael Connelly) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Red Eye(With: Michael Connelly) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (2009–2014)

Dennis Lehane's three-book collection of short fiction and novellas spans from 2009 to 2014 and is now complete. These mystery and thriller pieces should be read in publication order, beginning with Animal Rescue, followed by The Consumers, and concluding with the collaborative novella Red Eye, written with Michael Connelly.

Start with Animal Rescue and read in order.

#	Title
1	Animal Rescue 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Consumers 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Red Eye(With: Michael Connelly) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2006–2006)

5 books (2001–2023)

Dennis Lehane's five standalone novels span from 2001 to 2023 and should be read in publication order beginning with Mystic River. The series comprises Mystic River, Shutter Island, The Drop, Since We Fell, and Small Mercies, with the final book published in 2023. Each novel stands alone as an independent mystery and thriller, allowing readers to begin with any entry, though publication order provides insight into Lehane's evolving style across two decades of crime fiction.

Start with Mystic River, the first of 5 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	Mystic River 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Shutter Island 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Drop 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Since We Fell 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Small Mercies 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible