Faye Kellerman Books in Order (Decker and Lazarus)

Faye Kellerman studied to become a dentist but never practiced. Now, she is a successful American novelist known for her work in the mystery genre, notably with the popular “Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus” series. Faye Kellerman also wrote books with her husband, Alex Delaware’s author Jonathan Kellerman, but also with their daughter, Aliza Kellerman. For the anecdote, The Kellermans are the only married couple ever to appear on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously for two different books.

How to read Faye Kellerman’s Books in Order?

The Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series

A lieutenant in the LAPD, Peter Decker met Rina Lazarus, a young widow, during an investigation. They got married, but still solve crimes together, in their own way. For more information, go to the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus reading order.

1. The Ritual Bath (1986)
2. Sacred and Profane (1987)
3. Milk and Honey (1990)
4. Day of Atonement (1991)
5. False Prophet (1992)
6. Grievous Sin (1993)
7. Sanctuary (1994)
8. Justice (1995)
9. Prayers for the Dead (1996)
10. Serpent’s Tooth (1997)
11. Jupiter’s Bones (1999)
12. Stalker (2000)
13. The Forgotten (2001)
14. Stone Kiss (2002)
15. Street Dreams (2003)
16. The Burnt House (2007)
17. The Mercedes Coffin (also known as Cold Case, 2008)
18. Blindman’s Bluff (2009)
19. Hangman (2010)
20. Gun Games (also known as Blood Games, 2012)
21. The Beast (also known as Predator, 2013)
22. Murder 101 (2014)
23. The Theory of Death (2015)
24. Bone Box (2017)
25. Walking Shadows (2018)
26. Lost Boys (2021)
27. The Hunt (2022)

Other novels written by Faye Kellerman

• The Quality of Mercy (1989) – Rebecca Lopez enjoys a life of privilege in Elizabeth’s England — yet she guards secrets she dares not reveal. The beautiful, tempestuous daughter of the queen’s own physician, Rebecca is also a converso — a Jew who practices her prohibited religion clandestinely — helping others of her banned faith escape persecution and death. And her insatiable hunger for excitement often takes her to the bustling streets of London in male garb to experience the kind of adventure available only to men. But one such outing is leading her into a dangerous viper’s nest built of intrigue and foul murder in the company of a dashing young actor who inflames her romantic passions, even as he escorts her toward peril, a charming and fearless would-be playwright who calls himself Will Shakespeare.
• Moon Music (1998) – The horribly savaged body of a once-beautiful Vegas showgirl is discovered in the desert not far from the world-famous Strip, plunging Detective Sergeant Romulus Poe into the heart of a bizarre, full moon-soaked mystery that could cost him everything he holds dear in life, including his sanity.
• Double Homicide (written with Jonathan Kellerman, 2004) – Different detectives solving crimes in different cities. “In the Land of the Giants” has Boston homicide detectives Michael MacCain and Doris Sylvestor investigating the suspicious death of a college basketball star. And in “Still Life,” the co-worker of a Santa Fe art gallery is murdered, forcing detectives Darryl Two Moons and Steve Katz to put aside holiday celebrations and set things right.

• Straight Into Darkness (2005) – Lustmord – the joy of murder. The terrifying concept seems apt for the brutal slaying of a beautiful young society wife dumped in the vast English Garden. Homicide inspector Axel Berg is horrified by the crime…and disturbed by the artful arrangement of the victim’s clothes and hair – a madman’s portrait of death. Berg’s superiors demand quick answers and a quick arrest: a vagrant, the woman’s husband, anyone who can be demonized will do. When a second body is discovered, the city erupts into panic, the unrest fomented by the wild-eyed, hate-mongering Austrian Adolf Hitler and his Brownshirt party of young thugs.
• The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights (2006) – A collection of 14 crime and mystery short stories, including some Decker-Lazarus mysteries.
• Capital Crimes (written with Jonathan Kellerman, 2006) – Different detectives solving crimes in different cities. In “My Sister’s Keeper: Berkeley,” some of progressive state representative Davida Grayson’s views have made her unpopular. Although her foes are numerous no one suspects that any buttons Davida might push could evoke deadly force. But now Davida lies brutally murdered in her office, and Berkeley homicide detectives Will Barnes and Amanda Isis must unravel Davida’s complex, before the killer pulls off a repeat performance. In “Music City Breakdown: Nashville,” Baker Southerby was a child prodigy performer. But something leads him to become a Nashville cop. His partner, Lamar Van Gundy, is a would-be studio bassist who earned himself a detective’s badge. As part of Nashville PD’s elite Murder Squad, they catch a homicide that’s high-profile even for a city where musical celebrity is routine.

• Prism (written with Aliza Kellerman, 2009) – Set in New Mexico and California, the novel features three teens who fall through a cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico while on a field trip. They are plunged into a frightening parallel universe-seven weeks in the past, in which their “normal” worlds of family and high school remain the same…except for the fact that no medicine exists and when people die in the street they are picked up and disposed of.
• Killing Season (2017) – Four years ago, fifteen-year-old Ellen Vicksburg went missing in the quiet town of River Remez, New Mexico. Ellen was kind, studious, and universally liked. Her younger brother, Ben, could imagine nothing worse than never knowing what happened to her-until, on the first anniversary of her death, he found her body in a shallow grave by the river’s edge. Ben, now sixteen, is committed to finding the monster who abducted and strangled Ellen. Police believe she was the victim of a psychopath known as the Demon. But Ben-a math geek too smart for his high-school classes-continues to pore over the evidence at the local police precinct, gaining an unlikely ally in his school’s popular new girl, Ro Majors. In his sister’s files, Ben’s analytical mind sees patterns that don’t fit, tiny threads that he adds to the clues from other similar unsolved murders. As the body count rises, a picture emerges of an adversary who is as cunning and methodical as he is twisted.

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