The police procedural is the most prolific crime subgenre. These are the series with the greatest number of books.
Series in Reading Order
- Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly — 24 books · 1992–2014
LAPD detective, later with the Open-Unsolved Unit. - Alex Cross by James Patterson — 15 books · 1992–2017
Washington DC detective and forensic psychologist. - Lucas Davenport by John Sandford
Prey series, begun 1989 in Minneapolis. - Inspector Rebus by Ian Rankin — 16 books · 1987–2019
Edinburgh series, begun 1987. - Lincoln Rhyme by Jeffery Deaver — 15 books · 1997–2026
Forensic criminalist series, begun 1997. - Dave Robicheaux by James Lee Burke — 10 books · 1987–1996
Louisiana detective series, begun 1987. - Womens Murder Club by James Patterson — 3 books · 2016–2023
San Francisco series, begun 2001. - Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen — 10 books · 2011–2024
Copenhagen cold-case unit, begun 2007.
How to read these series
Numbered entries follow the order the books were published, which is the order the story was written and the safest order for a first read. Where a series has side novels or novellas, reading them in publication order avoids spoilers from later books.
Where the numbers come from
Book counts and publication years on this page are taken from the series entries in the GoBookSeries index. Each title links to the full book list for that series.
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