Jeffery Deaver Books in Order: All Series & Standalones

By T.L. BransonThriller

Reading Jeffery Deaver books in order gets complicated fast, because his bibliography stretches across Lincoln Rhyme, Kathryn Dance, Colter Shaw, John Pellam, Rune, newer co-written thrillers, and a huge amount of short fiction. This guide keeps the full Deaver bibliography in one place, so you can follow a single series, stick to the standalones, or work through the books from the beginning without bouncing around his catalog.

Where to Start with Jeffery Deaver

The Bone Collector is still the best place to start for most readers. It’s the book most closely tied to Deaver’s reputation, and it opens the Lincoln Rhyme series, which remains the center of his bibliography.

The Never Game is the better pick if you came here from CBS’s Tracker TV show. The Devil’s Teardrop, The Blue Nowhere, and Edge are also strong starting points if you want a standalone first instead of jumping straight into a long-running series.

Jeffery Deaver Books in Order by Series

If you like sticking with one lead character for a while, this is the easiest way to read Deaver. His older Rune and John Pellam books come first, then Lincoln Rhyme, Kathryn Dance, Colter Shaw, and the newer Sanchez & Heron thrillers.

Rune Books

These are Deaver’s earliest series books. Rune is younger, scrappier, and feels very different from the later Deaver leads.

  1. Manhattan Is My Beat (1988)
  2. Death of a Blue Movie Star (1990)
  3. Hard News (1991)

John Pellam Books

These are the John Pellam thrillers, built around a Hollywood location scout and former stuntman. They have a rougher, more grounded feel than the later forensic-heavy books.

  1. Shallow Graves (1992)
  2. Bloody River Blues (1993)
  3. Hell’s Kitchen (2001)

Lincoln Rhyme Books

This is Deaver’s signature series, and it’s where most readers eventually land. Lincoln Rhyme is the clearest place to start if you want the biggest and longest-running corner of his work.

  1. The Bone Collector (1997)
  2. The Coffin Dancer (1998)
  3. The Empty Chair (2000)
  4. The Stone Monkey (2002)
  5. The Vanished Man (2003)
  6. The Twelfth Card (2005)
  7. The Cold Moon (2006)
  8. The Broken Window (2008)
  9. The Burning Wire (2010)
  10. XO (2012) (Small Appearance)
  11. The Kill Room (2013)
  12. The Skin Collector (2014)
  13. The Steel Kiss (2016)
  14. The Burial Hour (2017)
  15. The Cutting Edge (2018)
  16. The Midnight Lock (2021)
  17. The Watchmaker’s Hand (2023)
  18. The Collateral Heart (2026)

Kathryn Dance Books

Kathryn Dance spins out of the Lincoln Rhyme world, so there is some crossover here. If you only want the dedicated Dance books, start with The Sleeping Doll, but The Cold Moon is where she first appears.

  1. The Cold Moon (2006) (First Appearance)
  2. The Sleeping Doll (2007)
  3. Roadside Crosses (2009)
  4. The Burning Wire (2010) (Appearance)
  5. XO (2012)
  6. Solitude Creek (2015)

Colter Shaw Books

This is the series getting the biggest extra push from Tracker. If that’s the reason you’re here, you’ll probably want my dedicated Colter Shaw Books in Order guide once you’re done here, because it stays focused on the novels, the short stories, and the CBS adaptation.

  1. The Never Game (2019)
  2. The Goodbye Man (2020)
  3. The Final Twist (2021)
  4. Hunting Time (2022)
  5. South of Nowhere (2025)

Sanchez & Heron Books (with Isabella Maldonado)

This is Deaver’s newest series, co-written with Isabella Maldonado. It sits in a different lane from Colter Shaw and Lincoln Rhyme, but it is easy to pick up if you want the newest part of his bibliography.

  1. Fatal Intrusion (2024)
  2. The Grave Artist (2025)
  3. Face Last Seen (2026)

Jeffery Deaver Standalone Books

These are the Jeffery Deaver novels that do not belong to one of his main ongoing series. A few of them are among his best starting points if you would rather test his style without committing to a long run of books.

  1. Mistress of Justice (1992)
  2. The Lesson of Her Death (1993)
  3. Praying for Sleep (1994)
  4. A Maiden’s Grave (1995)
  5. The Devil’s Teardrop (1999)
  6. Speaking in Tongues (2000)
  7. The Blue Nowhere (2001)
  8. Garden of Beasts (2004)
  9. The Bodies Left Behind (2008)
  10. Edge (2010)
  11. Carte Blanche (2011)
  12. The October List (2013)

Jeffery Deaver Short Fiction

Deaver’s short fiction matters here because it is not just bonus material. It includes Lincoln Rhyme stories, Colter Shaw stories, Amazon Originals, novellas, anthology pieces, and several short-story collections. The collections are the easiest place to start, and wherever a story has a verified Amazon sales page of its own, I’ve linked it directly below.

Short Story Collections

  1. Twisted (2003)
  2. More Twisted (2006)
  3. Triple Threat (2013)
  4. Trouble in Mind (2014)
  5. Dead Ends (2024)
  6. Deceptions (2026)

All Short Stories and Novellas

The list below follows Deaver’s short fiction from the earliest pieces to the newest. Where a story also appears in one of Deaver’s own collections, I’ve noted that in parentheses so it is easier to find.

  1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time (1998) (found in The Best American Mystery Stories 1999)
  2. For Services Rendered (2000) (found in Twisted)
  3. The Widow of Pine Creek (2000) (found in Twisted)
  4. Triangle (2000) (found in Twisted)
  5. Together (2001) (found in Twisted)
  6. The Weekender (2001) (found in Twisted)
  7. All the World’s a Stage (2002) (found in Twisted)
  8. Beautiful (2002) (found in Twisted)
  9. The First Day of School (2002)
  10. Without Jonathan (2003) (found in Twisted)
  11. The Fall Guy (2003) (found in Twisted)
  12. Eye to Eye (2003) (found in Twisted)
  13. Gone Fishing (2003) (found in Twisted)
  14. Nocturne (2003) (found in Twisted)
  15. Lesser Included Offense (2003) (found in Twisted)
  16. The Blank Card (2003) (found in Twisted)
  17. The Kneeling Soldier (2003) (found in Twisted)
  18. The Christmas Present (2003) (found in Twisted)
  19. Ninety-eight Point Six (2003) (found in More Twisted)
  20. The Poker Lesson (2003) (found in More Twisted)
  21. Surveillance (2003) (found in More Twisted)
  22. Chapter and Verse (2005) (found in More Twisted)
  23. CopyCat (2005) (found in More Twisted)
  24. Forever (2005) (found in Transgressions)
  25. The Westphalian Ring (2005) (found in More Twisted)
  26. A Dish Served Cold (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  27. Born Bad (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  28. Locard’s Principle (2006) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story) (found in More Twisted)
  29. The Commuter (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  30. Interrogation (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  31. Afraid (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  32. Double Jeopardy (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  33. Tunnel Girl (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  34. Voyeur (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  35. The Fan (2006) (found in A Merry Band of Murderers)
  36. A Nice Place to Visit (2006) (found in More Twisted)
  37. Nothing But Net (2006) (found in Murder at the Foul Line)
  38. Bump (2007) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  39. Making Amends (2008) (found in A Prisoner of Memory)
  40. Trick or Treat (2008)
  41. The Weapon (2009) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  42. The Plot (2010) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  43. The Therapist (2010) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  44. An Acceptable Sacrifice (2012) (found in Dead Ends and Deceptions)
  45. The Weapon (2013) (found in Thriller 2.1)
  46. A Textbook Case (2013) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story)
  47. Fast (2013) (Kathryn Dance Short Story) (found in Triple Threat and Trouble in Mind)
  48. Game (2013) (found in Triple Threat and Trouble in Mind)
  49. Paradice (2013) (found in Triple Threat and Trouble in Mind)
  50. The Sequel (2013)
  51. Joseph Goodbye (2014) (found in Explosions)
  52. Comrade 35 (2014) (found in Ice Cold)
  53. Rhymes With Prey with John Sandford (2014)
  54. The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman (2014) (found in Dead Ends and Deceptions)
  55. The Writers’ Conference (2014) (found in Dead Ends and Deceptions)
  56. The Competitors (2014) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  57. Reconciliation (2014) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  58. Forever (2014) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  59. The Obit (2014) (found in Trouble in Mind)
  60. Repressed (2015) (found in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded)
  61. The Baker of Bleecker Street (2015) (found in Manhattan Mayhem)
  62. The Incident of 10 November (2016) (found in In Sunlight or In Shadow)
  63. Track Day (2016)
  64. A Matter of Blood (2016) (found in Dead Ends)
  65. Where the Evidence Lies (2016) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story)
  66. The Deliveryman (2016)
  67. Hard to Get (2017) (found in Dead Ends and Deceptions)
  68. Surprise Ending (2017)
  69. A Significant Find (2017) (found in Dead Ends)
  70. Double Cross (2017)
  71. The Christmas Party (2018) (found in Christmas Crimes at The Mysterious Bookshop)
  72. Blind Date (2018) (found in Ten Year Stretch)
  73. The Victims’ Club (2018)
  74. Circumstantial (2018) (published in The Strand Magazine)
  75. Verona (2019)
  76. Connecting the Dots (2019) (found in Invisible Blood)
  77. Security (later republished as Unlikely Partners) (2019) (found in Dead Ends)
  78. The Bully (2019) (found in Exit Wounds)
  79. Captivated (2019) (Colter Shaw Short Story)
  80. Ninth & Nowhere (2019)
  81. A Creative Defense (2020) (found in Nothing Good Happens After Midnight)
  82. Buried (2020)
  83. The Anniversary Gift (2020) (found in Deadly Anniversaries)
  84. Second Hostage (2020) (Colter Shaw Short Story)
  85. The Debriefing (2020)
  86. A Perfect Plan (2021) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story)
  87. Cause of Death (2021)
  88. Stay Tuned (2021)
  89. Date Night (2021)
  90. The Intruder (2021)
  91. Forgotten (2021) (Colter Shaw Short Story)
  92. Turning Point (2021)
  93. The Pain Hunter (2022)
  94. Dodge (2022)
  95. Execution Day (2022)
  96. Sixty-One Seconds (2022)
  97. The Deadline Clock (2022) (Colter Shaw Short Story)
  98. Scheme (2022)
  99. Swiping Hearts (2023) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story)
  100. The Lady in My Life (2023)
  101. The Muse (2023)
  102. The Babysitter (2023) (found in Dead Ends)
  103. A Woman of Mystery (2024) (found in Dead Ends and Deceptions)
  104. Unlikely Partners (republished title of Security) (2024) (found in Dead Ends)
  105. The Rule of Threes (2024) (Constant Marlowe Novella)
  106. Downstate (2025) (Constant Marlowe Novella)
  107. Untouchable (2026) (Constant Marlowe Novella)
  108. The Bookkeeper (2026) (Colter Shaw Short Story)
  109. The Deadliest Sense (2026) (Lincoln Rhyme Short Story)

Do You Need to Read Jeffery Deaver Books in Order?

No, you do not need to read every Jeffery Deaver book in one overall author order. The easiest way to read him is to pick a series or a standalone that matches what you want and start there.

What does matter is reading each individual series in order. That matters most with Lincoln Rhyme, Colter Shaw, Kathryn Dance, and Sanchez & Heron, where recurring characters and larger threads carry forward from one book to the next.

For most readers, the simplest answer is still this: start with The Bone Collector if you want classic Jeffery Deaver, start with The Never Game if you came here because of Tracker, and start with a standalone like The Devil’s Teardrop or The Blue Nowhere if you are not ready to commit to a long series yet.

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.

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