Ken Bruen Reading Order

5 books (2005–2020)

The Akashic Drug Chronicles is a five-book mystery and thriller series by Ken Bruen, published between 2005 and 2020. Each installment focuses on a different drug and features contributions from various authors exploring stories related to that substance. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Cocaine Chronicles and continuing through The Speed Chronicles, The Heroin Chronicles, The Marijuana Chronicles, and concluding with The Nicotine Chronicles.

Start with The Cocaine Chronicles, the first of 5 books in the Akashic Drug Chronicles series.

#	Title
1	The Cocaine Chronicles 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Speed Chronicles(By: Megan Abbott,Scott Phillips,Sherman Alexie,James Franco,William T. Vollmann,Jess Walter,Beth Lisick,Tao Lin,JamesGreer,Jerry Stahl,Natalie Díaz,Joseph Mattson,Kenji Jasper,Rose Bunch) 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Heroin Chronicles(By: Jervey Tervalon,Lydia Lunch,Erin Moon,Nathan Larson,Antonia Crane,Jerry Stahl,Eric Bogosian,Ava Stander,John Albert,Michael Albo,Sophia Langdon,Tony O'Neill,L.Z. Hansen) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Marijuana Chronicles(By: Jonathan Santlofer) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Nicotine Chronicles(By: Lee Child,Joyce Carol Oates,Hannah Tinti,Christopher Sorrentino,Cara Black,Lauren Sanders,Bernice L. McFadden,Jonathan Ames) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

121 books (2002–2025)

The Akashic Noir series is an expansive mystery and thriller anthology collection that began in 2002 and continues to grow, currently comprising 121 books across various international cities and neighborhoods. Each volume features noir-style crime fiction stories set in a specific locale, from San Francisco to London to Dublin and beyond, with new entries regularly added to the series. These books are best read in publication order, starting with San Francisco Noir, though individual volumes can also function as standalone collections. The series remains ongoing, offering readers an ever-expanding exploration of gritty urban crime narratives from different geographical perspectives.

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

17 books (2004–2023)

Ken Bruen edited seventeen noir and crime fiction anthologies between 2004 and 2023, beginning with Brooklyn Noir and concluding with two final entries around 2023. These collections feature original short stories from various mystery and thriller writers, making them ideal for readers seeking standalone tales within a curated series. The anthologies should be read in publication order to follow Bruen's editorial selections chronologically. The series appears to be complete as of 2023.

Start with Brooklyn Noir, the first of 17 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Brooklyn Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Cocaine Chronicles 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Damn Near Dead 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Killer Year: Stories to Die For... 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem and Suspense 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	First Thrills 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Requiems for the Departed 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	D*CKED 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	First Thrills: Volume 2 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Uncommon Assassins 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Inherit the Dead 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Kwik Krimes 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Borderland Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Silent Night, Deadly Night 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Invisible Blood 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Ink and Daggers 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

40 books (2012–2022)

Bibliomysteries is an anthology series featuring 40 mystery and thriller stories, each written by a different acclaimed author, published between 2012 and 2022. The series appears to be complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with An Acceptable Sacrifice by Jeffery Deaver. Each standalone story explores themes connected to books, libraries, and literary pursuits, with contributors including William Link, C.J. Box, Nelson DeMille, Laura Lippman, Reed Farrel Coleman, and many other established mystery writers.

Start with An Acceptable Sacrifice(By: Jeffery Deaver), the first of 40 books in the Bibliomysteries series.

#	Title
1	An Acceptable Sacrifice(By: Jeffery Deaver) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Death Leaves a Bookmark(By: William Link) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Pronghorns of the Third Reich(By: C.J. Box) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Book Case(By: Nelson DeMille) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Book Thing(By: Laura Lippman) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Book of Virtue 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Rides a Stranger(By: David Bell) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Book of Ghosts(By: Reed Farrel Coleman) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Final Testament(By: Peter Blauner) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Long Sonata of the Dead(By: Andrew Taylor) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Book Club(By: Loren D. Estleman) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	It's in the Book(By: Max Allan Collins,Mickey Spillane) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Remaindered(By: Peter Lovesey) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Compendium of Srem(By: F. Paul Wilson) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Gospel of Sheba(By: Lyndsay Faye) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Nature of My Inheritance(By: Bradford Morrow) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Scroll(By: Anne Perry) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Sequel(By: R.L. Stine) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	What's in a Name?(By: Thomas H. Cook) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Condor in the Stacks(By: James Grady) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Every Seven Years(By: Denise Mina) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	From the Queen(By: Carolyn Hart) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Mystery, Inc.(By: Joyce Carol Oates) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Book of the Lion(By: Thomas Perry) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Little Men(By: Megan Abbott) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Citadel(By: Stephen Hunter) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Dead Dames Don't Sing(By: John Harvey) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Reconciliation Day(By: Christopher Fowler) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	The Haze(By: James W. Hall) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	The Travelling Companion(By: Ian Rankin) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Hoodoo Harry(By: Joe R. Lansdale) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Seven Years(By: Peter Robinson) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository(By: John Connolly) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	The Hemingway Valise(By: Robert Olen Butler) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	The Last Honest Horse Thief(By: Michael Koryta) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	The Pretty Little Box(By: Charles Todd) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	The Girl Who Did Say No(By: David Handler) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	The Dark Door(By: Lisa Unger) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	The Honeymoon Trap(By: Peter Swanson) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	The Traitor(By: Martin Edwards) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

7 books (1998–2007)

Ken Bruen's Inspector Brant series comprises seven mystery thrillers following the investigations of a hardened Irish detective. Published between 1998 and 2007, the complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with A White Arrest and concluding with Ammunition. The books offer a dark and gritty exploration of crime and corruption set in Dublin's underworld.

Start with A White Arrest, the first of 7 books in the Inspector Brant series.

#	Title
1	A White Arrest 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Taming The Alien 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The McDead 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Blitz 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Vixen 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Calibre 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Ammunition 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (2001–2025)

Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor series comprises 19 books following a gritty Irish detective across two and a half decades of publication from 2001 to 2025. This ongoing mystery thriller series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Guards and progressing through the complete list to fully appreciate the character's evolution and recurring storylines. The books are set primarily in Galway, Ireland, and blend noir elements with dark humor as the protagonist navigates crime and redemption. Readers new to the series should start at the beginning to get the most from this richly developed long-running sequence.

Start with The Guards, the first of 19 books in the Jack Taylor series.

#	Title
1	The Guards 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Killing of the Tinkers 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Magdalen Martyrs 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Dramatist 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Dead Room 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Priest 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Cross 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Sanctuary 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Devil 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Headstone 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Purgatory 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Green Hell 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Emerald Lie 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Ghosts of Galway 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	In the Galway Silence 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Galway Girl 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	A Galway Epiphany 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Galway Confidential 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Galway's Edge 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (2006–2025)

Ken Bruen's Max and Angela series comprises five mystery and thriller novels published between 2006 and 2025, with the most recent entry arriving in 2025, indicating the series remains active. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with Bust and continuing through Slide, The Max, Pimp, and Supermax. This ongoing series follows its characters through interconnected cases that build across the installments.

Start with Bust, the first of 5 books in the Max and Angela series.

#	Title
1	Bust 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Slide 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Max 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Pimp 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Supermax 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

34 books (2022–2025)

Mysterious Profiles is an ongoing anthology series launched in 2022 that brings together 33 books spanning multiple bestselling detective and mystery franchises. The series features iconic characters including Jack Reacher, Charlie Parker, Hieronymus Bosch, and Inspector Morse, each represented by stories from their original authors. These books should be read in publication order from 2022 through 2025, making this an ideal collection for readers who want to explore or revisit classic and contemporary mystery series in one curated sequence.

Start with Alex Delaware(By: Jonathan Kellerman), the first of 33 books in the Mysterious Profiles series.

3 books (2005–2010)

Ken Bruen's trilogy of mystery and thriller novellas spans from 2005 to 2010 and should be read in publication order beginning with Murder by the Book, followed by Time of the Green, and concluding with Wednesday's Child. This complete three-book series offers concentrated doses of suspense and intrigue across its interconnected entries.

Start with Murder by the Book and read in order.

#	Title
1	Murder by the Book 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Time of the Green 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Wednesday’s Child 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1992–2006)

Ken Bruen's Short Story Collections series comprises four volumes of mystery and thriller short fiction published between 1992 and 2006. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with Funeral: Tales of Irish Morbidities and concluding with A Fifth of Bruen: Early Fiction of Ken Bruen. These collections showcase Bruen's distinctive voice across diverse tales spanning his early career.

Start with Funeral: Tales of Irish Morbidities, the first of 4 books in the Short Story Collections series.

#	Title
1	Funeral: Tales of Irish Morbidities 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Sherry and Other Stories 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Time of Serena-May and Upon the Third Cross 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	A Fifth of Bruen: Early Fiction of Ken Bruen 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

10 books (1993–2021)

Ken Bruen's collection of ten standalone mystery and thriller novels spans from 1993 to 2021 and should be read in publication order beginning with Shades of Grace. Each book operates independently with its own story and characters, making them accessible as individual entries while the series as a whole showcases Bruen's evolving style across three decades. The series appears to be complete, offering readers a comprehensive view of this prolific author's work in the crime and mystery genres.

Start with Shades of Grace, the first of 10 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	Shades of Grace 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Rilke on Black 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Hackman Blues 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	London Boulevard 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Dispatching Baudelaire 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	American Skin 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Once Were Cops 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Tower(With: Reed Farrel Coleman) 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Callous 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible