Nelson DeMille Reading Order

7 books (1986–2017)

Nelson DeMille edited seven mystery and thriller anthologies published between 1986 and 2017, now complete. These collections should be read in publication order, beginning with Tales of Terror. The series includes A Poison That Leaves No Trace, In the Shadow of the Master, The Best American Mystery Stories 2004, The Rich and the Dead, and MatchUp, offering curated selections from various mystery and thriller writers across three decades.

Start with Tales of Terror, the first of 7 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Tales of Terror 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Plot Thickens 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	A Poison That Leaves No Trace: With Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	In the Shadow of the Master 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Best American Mystery Stories 2004 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Rich and the Dead 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	MatchUp 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

40 books (2012–2022)

Bibliomysteries is an anthology series comprising 40 mystery and thriller stories published between 2012 and 2022. Each installment features a different author contributing an original tale, with contributors including Jeffery Deaver, Laura Lippman, Reed Farrel Coleman, and other acclaimed crime writers. The series is likely complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with An Acceptable Sacrifice. All stories are standalone entries centered around books, libraries, or literary themes.

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 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Book Thing(By: Laura Lippman) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Book of Virtue(By: Ken Bruen) 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

11 books (1974–1976)

The Joe Ryker series is a complete mystery and thriller collection comprising eleven books published between 1974 and 1976. Written primarily by Nelson DeMille with several entries authored by Edson T. Hamill, the series should be read in publication order beginning with The Hammer of God. The final installment, The Slasher, concludes this action-packed crime series from the mid-1970s.

Start with The Hammer of God, the first of 11 books in the Joe Ryker series.

#	Title
1	The Hammer of God 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Sniper 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Terrorists 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Cannibal 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Child Killer(By: Edson T. Hamill) 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Motive For Murder(By: Edson T. Hamill) 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Ryker the Sadist(By: Edson T. Hamill) 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Agent of Death / The Death Squad 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Night of the Phoenix 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Smack Man 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Slasher(By: Edson T. Hamill) 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

9 books (1997–2022)

The John Corey series consists of nine mystery-thriller novels published between 1997 and 2022, featuring protagonist John Corey across cases that should be read in publication order beginning with Plum Island. The series appears to be complete, with the final installments released in 2022. Nelson DeMille's entries in this franchise span from the original 1997 novel through the concluding book The Maze, offering readers a quarter-century of crime and espionage narratives centered on the same character.

Start with Plum Island, the first of 9 books in the John Corey series.

#	Title
1	Plum Island 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Lion's Game 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Night Fall 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Wild Fire 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Lion 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Book Case 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Panther 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Radiant Angel / A Quiet End 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Maze 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1990–2008)

Nelson DeMille's John Sutter series comprises two mystery and thriller novels released across two decades, with The Gold Coast appearing in 1990 and The Gate House in 2008. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Gold Coast. Both books follow the same protagonist and feature interconnected narratives that develop across the pair.

Start with The Gold Coast and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Gold Coast 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Gate House 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1992–2012)

Nelson DeMille's Paul Brenner mystery series comprises three complete novels following the detective protagonist through cases spanning from 1992 to 2012. The books should be read in publication order beginning with The General's Daughter, followed by Up Country and concluding with The Panther. Each entry builds on the character's development and can be enjoyed as a standalone mystery, though reading sequentially offers the richest experience of Brenner's evolution as an investigator.

Start with The General's Daughter and read in order.

#	Title
1	The General's Daughter 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Up Country 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Panther 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (2019–2025)

Nelson DeMille's Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor series follows the adventures of these two protagonists across three books published between 2019 and 2025. The series is ongoing and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Deserter, followed by Blood Lines and The Tin Men. This mystery and thriller series continues to expand with new installments.

Start with The Deserter and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Deserter 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Blood Lines 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Tin Men 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2012–2012)

Nelson DeMille's two-book collection of mystery and thriller novellas was published in 2012 and is now complete. Death Benefits and Rendezvous should be read in publication order, starting with Death Benefits.

Start with Death Benefits and read in order.

9 books (1975–2017)

Nelson DeMille's collection of nine standalone mysteries and thrillers spans from 1975 to 2017, with each novel crafted to be read independently of the others. The series includes The Quest, By the Rivers of Babylon, Mayday (cowritten with Thomas Block), Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, Spencerville, and The Cuban Affair. While these books can be enjoyed in any order, reading them in publication sequence allows you to follow DeMille's evolution as a thriller writer across four decades. This complete series offers mystery and thriller enthusiasts a diverse range of standalone adventures unconnected by recurring characters or storylines.

Start with The Quest, the first of 9 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	The Quest 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	By the Rivers of Babylon 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Mayday(With: Thomas Block) 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Cathedral 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Talbot Odyssey 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Word of Honor 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Charm School 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Spencerville 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Cuban Affair 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

11 books (2017–2019)

The MatchUp Collection is a complete mystery and thriller series comprising eleven books published between 2017 and 2019, with each installment featuring a collaboration between two authors. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Deserves to Be Dead by John Sandford and Lisa Jackson and concluding with Taking the Veil by J.A. Jance and Eric Van Lustbader. Each book in the collection pairs a different pair of mystery and thriller writers, creating unique pairings that showcase their combined storytelling talents.

Start with Deserves to Be Dead(By: John Sandford,Lisa Jackson), the first of 11 books in the The MatchUp Collection series.