Lew Griffin Books in Order: How to read James Sallis’s series?

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Written by the American crime writer, poet, critic, essayist-and more… -James Sallis, author of the book Drive, The Lew Griffin series is a noir mystery series from New Orleans.

More precisely, the series follows the investigations of Lew Griffin who is an African-American private detective, teacher, writer, poet, and functioning alcoholic. Lew has a specialty, he mostly works on missing person cases, the kind that takes him into very dark places.

How to read the Lew Griffin Series in Order?

Every entry in the Lew Griffin book series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

  1. The Long-Legged Fly (1992) In steamy New Orleans, black private detective Lew Griffin has taken on a seemingly hopeless missing-person case. The trail takes him through the underbelly of the French Quarter with its bar girls, pimps, and tourist attractions. As his search leads to one violent dead end and then another, Griffin is confronted by the realization that his own life has come to resemble those of the people he is attempting to find.
  2. Moth (1993) One of the very few lights from Lew Griffin’s dark and violent past has flickered out. His one-time lover, LaVerne Adams, is dead-and her daughter, Alouette, has vanished into a seamy, dead-end world of users and abusers, leaving behind a critically fragile premature infant daughter. Griffin is determined to keep his distance from the dangers of the New Orleans night. But his inescapable obligation to an old friend keeps bringing him back like a moth to a flame.
  3. Black Hornet (1994) A sniper has fatally shot five people. When the sixth victim is killed, Lew Griffin is standing beside her. Though they are virtual strangers, it is left to Griffin to avenge her death, or at least to try and make some sense of it. His unlikely allies include a crusading journalist, a longtime supplier of mercenary arms and troops, and a bail bondsman.
  1. Eye of the Cricket (1997) Lew Griffin is a survivor, a black man in New Orleans-a teacher, a writer, and an ex-detective. Having spent years finding others, he has lost his son-and himself in the process. Now a derelict has appeared in a New Orleans hospital claiming to be Lewis Griffin and toting a copy of one of Lew’s novels. Learning the truth is a quest that will take Griffin into his own past as he tries to deal with the present: a search for three missing young men.
  2. Blue Bottle (1998) As Lew Griffin leaves a New Orleans music club with an older white woman he has just met, someone fires a shot and Lew goes down. When he comes to, he discovers that most of a year has gone by since that night. Who was the woman? Which of them was the target? Who was the shooter? Somewhere in the Crescent City, there’s an answer. But to get to it, he is going to have to work with the only people offering help, people he knows he should avoid.
  3. Ghost of a Flea (2001) In his old house in uptown New Orleans, Lew Griffin stands alone in a dark room, looking out. Behind him on the bed is a body. Instead of speaking, he reflects on his life-his failing relationship, his missing son, the fact that he hasn’t written in years-and how the two of them ended up there.

What should you read if you like the Lew Griffin novels?

If you like our James Sallis’ Lew Griffin reading order, you may be interested in George Pelecanos’ novels, the Easy Rawlins books

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