Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Life We Bury | 2014 | Allen Eskens | Buy |
| 2 | The Guise of Another | 2015 | Allen Eskens | Buy |
| 3 | The Heavens May Fall | 2016 | Allen Eskens | Buy |
| 4 | The Deep Dark Descending | 2017 | Allen Eskens | Buy |
| 5 | The Shadows We Hide | 2018 | Allen Eskens | Buy |
The Detective Max Rupert series begins with The Life We Bury, where college student Joe Talbert interviews a convicted murderer for a class assignment and stumbles into a case that ties back to Max Rupert’s open investigations. From there, the series follows Rupert through a string of cases across Minneapolis, each one pulling him deeper into moral gray areas.
Allen Eskens builds each book around a central crime while layering in character development that carries across the full series. Rupert is a stubborn, principled detective whose personal life takes hits as his cases grow more dangerous. The books work as standalone mysteries but reward readers who follow the series from start to finish.