Dick Lochte

If you’re a die-hard crime fiction buff who was reading the genre around the mid-1980s, you will most likely immediately think of Sleeping Dog by Dick Lochte and the timelessly quirky characters Leo and Serendipity who burst onto the scene and won the hearts and laughs of millions of readers. But you might be surprised to know that Sleeping Dog was in fact a debut novel. Lochte started grown up life as a journalist for some of America’s major newspapers, but at the age of 41 in 1985 he bit the bullet and decided to publish a novel.

The best place to start is the Leo Bloodworth And Serendipity Dahlquist series, the earliest of Dick Lochte's multi-book series: it opens with Sleeping Dog (1985) and runs to 6 books across 1985–2017, ending with Mad Dog (2017). Dick Lochte's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Dick Lochte has 144 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1985 and 2025. 138 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Leo Bloodworth And Serendipity Dahlquist series with 6 books — and 6 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Dick Lochte's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Leo Bloodworth And Serendipity Dahlquist (1985–2017, 6 books), Terry Manion (1992–1995, 2 books) and Nikki Hill (1999–2004, 4 books), plus 2 more.

This guide splits Dick Lochte's 144 books into 6 named series and 6 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Leo Bloodworth And Serendipity Dahlquist (6 books, 1985–2017); Billy Blessing (4 books, 2009–2024); Nikki Hill (4 books, 1999–2004); Terry Manion (2 books, 1992–1995); The Sage Mendiluze (1 book, 2025), plus 1 further series.