Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every Dead Thing | 1999 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 2 | Dark Hollow | 2000 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 3 | The Killing Kind | 2001 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 4 | The White Road | 2002 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 5 | The Reflecting Eye | 2004 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 6 | The Black Angel | 2005 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 7 | The Unquiet | 2007 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 8 | The Reapers | 2008 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 9 | The Lovers | 2009 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 10 | The Whisperers | 2010 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 11 | The Burning Soul | 2011 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 12 | The Wrath of Angels | 2012 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 13 | The Wolf in Winter | 2014 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 14 | A Song of Shadows | 2015 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 15 | A Time of Torment | 2016 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 16 | A Game of Ghosts | 2017 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 17 | The Woman in the Woods | 2018 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 18 | A Book of Bones | 2019 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 19 | The Dirty South | 2020 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 20 | The Nameless Ones | 2021 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 21 | The Furies | 2022 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 22 | The Instruments of Darkness | 2024 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 23 | The Children of Eve | 2025 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
| 24 | A River Red with Blood | 2026 | Charlie Parker | Buy |
The Charlie Parker series has 24 novels published between 1999 and 2026, making it one of the longer-running crime series in contemporary fiction. Charlie Parker is a former New York police officer turned private investigator who works out of Portland, Maine. The series opens with a personal tragedy – Parker’s wife and daughter are murdered – and his search for answers drives much of the early series. As the books progress, Parker becomes entangled in cases involving organized crime, religious cults, and ancient evils.
Two recurring supporting characters, Louis and Angel, are introduced early and appear throughout the series. Louis is a professional killer, Angel his partner, and their relationship with Parker gives the books an unusual dynamic – Parker’s detective work is frequently backed by characters who operate well outside the law. This moral ambiguity is a defining feature of the series.
The books are best read in publication order, as the ongoing narrative threads about Parker’s personal losses and his recurring antagonists carry through from book to book. Every Dead Thing (1999) is the starting point. The series has been published in the UK through Hodder and Stoughton and in the US through Atria Books, among others.