John Francis Cuddy Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Blunt Darts | 1984 | Buy |
| The Staked Goat / The Tethered Goat | 1986 | Buy |
| So Like Sleep | 1987 | Buy |
| Swan Dive | 1988 | Buy |
| Yesterday’s News | 1989 | Buy |
| Right to Die | 1991 | Buy |
| Shallow Graves | 1992 | Buy |
| Foursome | 1993 | Buy |
| Act of God | 1994 | Buy |
| Rescue | 1995 | Buy |
| Invasion of Privacy | 1996 | Buy |
| The Only Good Lawyer | 1998 | Buy |
| Spiral | 1999 | Buy |
John Francis Cuddy Collections Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Concise Cuddy | 1998 | Buy |
| Cuddy – Plus One | 2003 | Buy |
The John Francis Cuddy series follows a Boston private investigator created by Jeremiah Healy. Running from 1984 to 1999 across 13 novels, the books established Cuddy as one of the more memorable PI characters in late twentieth-century crime fiction. A Vietnam veteran, Cuddy operates in a Boston that Healy portrays with insider knowledge and affection.
Cuddy’s cases take him through various levels of Boston society, from the wealthy neighborhoods of Back Bay to the rougher streets of Southie. The books belong to the traditional hard-boiled PI tradition but add emotional depth through Cuddy’s ongoing conversations at his late wife’s grave, where he processes his cases and his life. Two short story collections, The Concise Cuddy and Cuddy Plus One, round out the series with shorter cases.