Cotton Malone Books in Order: Steve Berry Series Guide

If you’re looking for Cotton Malone books in order, publication order is the best place to start. Steve Berry wrote the series so each thriller can stand on its own, but Cotton’s history, friendships, enemies, and personal life make more sense when you read the books as they were released.

Cotton Malone is a former Justice Department operative who tries to settle into a quieter life as a rare-book dealer in Copenhagen. Of course, that never really works. Ancient documents, political secrets, religious history, and international trouble keep pulling him back in.

This guide focuses on Cotton’s world, including the main novels, short stories, crossovers, and Cassiopeia Vitt spin-off adventures. If you want Berry’s full bibliography beyond Cotton Malone, start with my complete guide to Steve Berry books in order.

Jump to:

• Cotton Malone Books in Publication Order
• Cotton Malone Books in Chronological Order
• Cassiopeia Vitt Books
• Cotton Malone Adaptations
• Who Is Cotton Malone?

Cotton Malone Books in Publication Order

This is the order I’d recommend for most first-time readers. It follows the main novels, short stories, and crossovers by release year, so you’ll meet Cotton and the supporting cast in the same order longtime readers did.

1. The Templar Legacy (2006)
2. The Devils’ Due (2006) (Short Story)
3. The Alexandria Link (2007)
4. The Venetian Betrayal (2007)
5. The Charlemagne Pursuit (2008)
6. The Paris Vendetta (2009)
7. The Balkan Escape (2010) (Short Story)
8. The Emperor’s Tomb (2010)
9. The Devil’s Gold (2011) (Short Story)
10. The Jefferson Key (2011)
11. Extenuating Circumstances (2011) (Short Story)
12. The Admiral’s Mark (2012) (Short Story)
13. The Tudor Plot (2013) (Novella)
14. The King’s Deception (2013)
15. The Lincoln Myth (2014)
16. The Devil’s Bones (2014) (Short Story)
17. The Patriot Threat (2015)
18. Shadow Tag (2016) (Short Story)
19. The 14th Colony (2016)
20. The Lost Order (2017)
21. Past Prologue (2017) (Short Story)
22. The Bishop’s Pawn (2018)
23. The Malta Exchange (2019)
24. The Warsaw Protocol (2020)
25. The Kaiser’s Web (2021)
26. The Last Kingdom (2023)
27. The Atlas Maneuver (2024)
28. The Medici Return (2025)
29. The Devil’s Bible (2026)

Cotton Malone Books in Chronological Order

The chronological order mostly follows publication order, but there are two major moves. The Admiral’s Mark takes place before The Templar Legacy, and The Bishop’s Pawn goes back to Cotton’s first case.

After that, the shorter pieces are placed where they fit best around the main novels. However, if you’re reading the series for the first time, I’d still choose publication order. The chronological list is more useful for rereads or for readers who like seeing the timeline laid out from Cotton’s earliest cases forward.

1. The Admiral’s Mark (Short Story)
2. The Bishop’s Pawn
3. The Templar Legacy
4. The Devils’ Due (Short Story)
5. The Alexandria Link
6. The Venetian Betrayal
7. The Charlemagne Pursuit
8. The Paris Vendetta
9. The Balkan Escape (Short Story)
10. The Emperor’s Tomb
11. The Devil’s Gold (Short Story)
12. The Jefferson Key
13. Extenuating Circumstances (Short Story)
14. The Tudor Plot (Novella)
15. The King’s Deception
16. The Lincoln Myth
17. The Devil’s Bones (Short Story)
18. The Patriot Threat
19. Shadow Tag (Short Story)
20. The 14th Colony
21. The Lost Order
22. Past Prologue (Short Story)
23. The Malta Exchange
24. The Warsaw Protocol
25. The Kaiser’s Web
26. The Last Kingdom
27. The Atlas Maneuver
28. The Medici Return
29. The Devil’s Bible

Cassiopeia Vitt Books

Cassiopeia Vitt is one of the most important supporting characters in the Cotton Malone series. She also has several shorter adventures of her own, including collaborations between Steve Berry and M.J. Rose.

You don’t need these before starting Cotton Malone. Still, they’re a nice add-on once you already know Cassiopeia and want more of her story.

1. The Balkan Escape (2010) (Short Story)
2. The Museum of Mysteries (2018) (Novella)
3. The Lake of Learning (2019) (Novella)
4. The House of Long Ago (2020) (Novella)
5. The End of Forever (2021) (Novella)

Cotton Malone Adaptations

A Cotton Malone screen adaptation has been in discussion more than once. In 2019, Waterman Entertainment and Riven Rock Projects were attached to a TV version. Later, Variety reported that Amazon MGM Studios was developing a Cotton Malone series.

For now, the books are still the place to start. If an adaptation moves forward, I’d expect The Templar Legacy to be the natural entry point because it introduces Cotton, his bookshop life, and the kind of historical mystery the series is built around.

Who Is Cotton Malone?

Cotton Malone is a former Magellan Billet operative who leaves government work behind and opens a rare-book shop in Copenhagen. That quiet life rarely lasts long, but it tells you a lot about him. He’s dangerous when he needs to be, but he’s also a historian at heart.

Berry has said the character came to him while he was sitting at a café in Højbro Plads in Copenhagen. That origin stuck, and Cotton’s Danish bookshop became part of the series identity.

Part of what makes Cotton work is that he isn’t only an action hero. He has a complicated personal life, a difficult relationship with his son, a failed marriage behind him, and an eidetic memory that comes in handy more than once. The mix of rare books, secret history, and old government connections is what gives the series its shape.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Thriller Books in Order index.

• Books in Order (Full Index)
• Dan Brown Books in Order
• James Rollins Books in Order
• Clive Cussler Books in Order