William Kent Krueger Reading Order

121 books (2002–2025)

The Akashic Noir series is a sprawling collection of noir anthologies featuring mystery and literary fiction from various authors, with each volume focused on a specific city. Beginning with San Francisco Noir in 2002, the series has grown to 121 books published through 2025 and remains ongoing. The series should be read in publication order, starting with San Francisco Noir, and each city-specific collection can largely stand alone while contributing to the broader noir canon. Volumes span locations from Bronx Noir and Brooklyn Noir to international settings like Dublin Noir and London Noir, offering dark crime stories grounded in distinctive urban and cultural landscapes.

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 (2006–2023)

William Kent Krueger edited and contributed to ten anthologies spanning from 2006 to 2023, including Death Do Us Part, These Guns for Hire, Resort to Murder, and several others featuring mystery, thriller, and crime fiction. These collections should be read in publication order, beginning with Death Do Us Part. The series appears to be complete as of 2023. These anthologies showcase multiple authors working within mystery, thriller, and suspense genres, offering varied stories and perspectives across the collection.

Start with Death Do Us Part, the first of 10 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Death Do Us Part 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	These Guns for Hire 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Resort to Murder 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem and Suspense 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Crimes by Moonlight 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Writes of Spring 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Writing Murder: A Basic Guide to Writing Mystery Fiction 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Reader's Digest Select Editions, Volume 340 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Bullets and Other Hurting Things: A Tribute to Bill Crider 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Thriller 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

22 books (1998–2026)

William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor series comprises 22 books published between 1998 and 2026, with the series ongoing. This mystery and literary fiction sequence should be read in publication order, beginning with Iron Lake. The series follows a former sheriff navigating complex investigations across Minnesota's Northwoods region, with subsequent entries including Boundary Waters, Purgatory Ridge, Blood Hollow, and continuing through titles like Windigo Island and Manitou Canyon.

Start with Iron Lake, the first of 22 books in the Cork O'Connor series.

#	Title
1	Iron Lake 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Boundary Waters 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Purgatory Ridge 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Blood Hollow 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Mercy Falls 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Copper River 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Thunder Bay 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Red Knife 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Heaven's Keep 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Vermilion Drift 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Northwest Angle 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Trickster's Point 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Tamarack County 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Windigo Island 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Manitou Canyon 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Sulfur Springs 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Desolation Mountain 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Lightning Strike 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Fox Creek 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Spirit Crossing 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Apostle's Cove 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	God's Country 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2016–2016)

4 books (2022–2025)

William Kent Krueger's Music and Murder Mystery series comprises four books published between 2022 and 2025, with the sequence still ongoing. Each installment features a different ensemble of contributing authors alongside the primary narrative structure. Readers should begin with Hotel California and follow the publication order through the subsequent volumes: Thriller, Back in Black, and Bat Out of Hell. This mystery and thriller series blends literary fiction elements with the collaborative storytelling approach that unfolds across its expanding catalog.

Start with Hotel California(By: Heather Graham,John Gilstrap,Reed Farrel Coleman,Andrew Child,Amanda Flower,Don Bruns,Rick Bleiweiss,Jennifer Dornbush), the first of 4 books in the Music and Murder Mystery series.

2 books (2010–2023)

William Kent Krueger's duology of literary mysteries consists of two atmospheric novellas published across more than a decade. Hixton arrived in 2010, followed by The Levee in 2023, with both works best experienced in publication order. Though the series appears complete, each novella stands alone as an independent story within the author's broader body of work in crime fiction and literary thriller writing.

Start with Hixton and read in order.

#	Title
1	Hixton 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Levee 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2012–2012)

4 books (2003–2023)

William Kent Krueger has written four standalone mystery and literary fiction novels published across two decades, beginning with The Devil's Bed in 2003 and concluding with The River We Remember in 2023. Each book is independent and can be read in any order, though reading them in publication order allows you to appreciate Krueger's evolving style. The series appears complete as of 2023. Begin with The Devil's Bed and continue through Ordinary Grace, This Tender Land, and The River We Remember to experience Krueger's distinctive blend of mystery and literary storytelling.

Start with The Devil's Bed, the first of 4 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	The Devil's Bed 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Ordinary Grace 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	This Tender Land 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The River We Remember 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible