Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Candlemoth | 2003 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 2 | Ghostheart | 2004 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 3 | A Quiet Vendetta | 2005 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 4 | City of Lies | 2006 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 5 | A Quiet Belief in Angels | 2007 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 6 | A Simple Act of Violence | 2008 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 7 | The Anniversary Man | 2009 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 8 | Saints of New York | 2010 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 9 | Bad Signs | 2011 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 10 | A Dark and Broken Heart | 2012 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 11 | Carnival of Shadows | 2014 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 12 | The Devil and the River | 2014 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 13 | Mockingbird Songs | 2015 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 14 | Three Bullets | 2019 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 15 | Kings of America | 2020 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 16 | Proof of Life | 2021 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 17 | The Darkest Season | 2022 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 18 | The Last Highway | 2023 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 19 | The Bell Tower | 2025 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
| 20 | A Darker Side of Paradise | 2025 | R.J. Ellory | Buy |
R.J. Ellory’s standalone novels form the core of his work. Published from 2003 to the present, the twenty novels are set in various American locations, from small Southern towns to New York City to the American West. Each book tells a self-contained story, though they share Ellory’s interest in damaged characters and the long shadows cast by violence.
The books range from intimate character studies like Saints of New York to sweeping multigenerational stories like A Quiet Vendetta. Ellory’s writing is slower and more atmospheric than most crime fiction, giving his books a literary weight that has earned him a strong following in Europe as well as the U.S. and U.K.