Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Mystery Scene Movie Guide | 1984 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 2 | The Critics’ Choice | 1988 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 3 | Gil Elvgren: The Wartime Pin-Ups | 1996 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 4 | Earl MacPherson: The Sketchbook Pin-Ups | 1997 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 5 | Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan | 1998 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 6 | Pin-Up Poster Book: The Billy DeVorss Collection | 1998 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 7 | For the Boys: The Racy Pin-Ups of World War II | 2000 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 8 | Calendar Girl | 2003 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 9 | Mickey Spillane on Screen | 2012 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 10 | Scarface and the Untouchable | 2018 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 11 | Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher | 2020 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
| 12 | Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction | 2023 | Max Allan Collins | Buy |
Max Allan Collins’ non-fiction work covers an eclectic range of subjects that reflect his varied interests. His early non-fiction includes film guides like The Mystery Scene Movie Guide (1984) and The Critics’ Choice (1988). During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he wrote several books about vintage pin-up art, including collections focused on artists Gil Elvgren and Earl MacPherson.
His later non-fiction moved toward true crime and biography. Scarface and the Untouchable (2018) and Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher (2020) explore historical crime figures with detailed research. Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction (2023) is a biography of Mickey Spillane, with whom Collins collaborated on several novels after Spillane’s death. Mickey Spillane on Screen (2012) examines the film adaptations of Spillane’s work.