🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston is an American journalist and author best known for writing crime/investigative thrillers. Preston is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived for much of his childhood in the quiet suburb of Wellesley. He would attend several public schools where the threat of expulsion for the headstrong child was always looming but he finally graduated from the Cambridge School of Weston. Due to his stubborn and curious nature, he had fought several times with his brother Richard and lost his two front teeth before losing a fingertip to a bike. His brother would go on to write “The Cobra Event” and “The Hot Zone, which better explain what it was like growing up with Douglas Preston.
All Book Series by Douglas Preston
The Forgotten Killer: Rudy Guede and the Murder of Meredith Kercher
Book 5 of 7 · published 2014 Co-authored · John Douglas Marshall
Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus
Book 11 of 33 · published 2022 Anthology · Faye Kellerman
Aloysius X. L. Pendergast
Book 15 of 33 · published 2022 Co-authored · Lincoln Child
Charlotte and Thomas Pitt
Book 18 of 33 · published 2022 Anthology · Anne Perry
Precious Ramotswe
Book 24 of 33 · published 2022 Anthology · Alexander McCall Smith
Orphan X
Latest in the series · book 33 of 33 · published 2025 Anthology · Gregg Hurwitz
Gaslighted: Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast
Book 3 of 4 · published 2014
Fourteen Days: An Unauthorized Gathering
Latest in the series · book 4 of 4 · published 2024
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Douglas Preston?
Douglas Preston is an American journalist and author best known for writing crime/investigative thrillers. Preston is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived for much of his childhood in the quiet suburb of Wellesley. He would attend several public schools where the threat of expulsion for the headstrong child was always looming but he finally graduated from the Cambridge School of Weston.
Which Douglas Preston series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Pendergast series, the earliest of Douglas Preston's multi-book series: it opens with Relic (1995) and runs to 26 books across 1995–2026, ending with Pendergast (2026). Douglas Preston's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Douglas Preston written?
Douglas Preston has 94 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1986 and 2027. 78 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Pendergast series with 26 books — and 16 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Douglas Preston's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Douglas Preston's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Pendergast (1995–2026, 26 books), Nora Kelly (1999–2027, 7 books) and Wyman Ford (2005–2014, 4 books), plus 2 more.
How are Douglas Preston's books organised into series?
This guide splits Douglas Preston's 94 books into 6 named series and 16 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Pendergast (26 books, 1995–2026); Nora Kelly (7 books, 1999–2027); Gideon Crew (5 books, 2011–2018); Wyman Ford (4 books, 2005–2014); Cash & Colcord (3 books, 2024–2027), plus 1 further series.