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Forensic Fiction

The last few years have seen a surge in interest in the science of crime scene investigation and analysis, a trend reflected in popular fiction. Lincoln City Libraries staff has put together a list of titles from our collection that deal with forensic crime solving. These novels appeal to mystery lovers but are not for the faint-hearted. Gore and violence levels vary. These works are meant to be realistic.

Books we classify as "forensic" involve crime scene investigation utilizing a number of scientific specialties. We've subdivided our list by these specialties, listing the books in order by author and then chronologically by title. Many of these books are series featuring a main character or team of characters. We've focused on on the characters who are part of a team who actually are forensic scientists and indicated the character/series name in bold underlined type. Some series, such as the popular "Cracker" stories (based on the British television series Cracker), are written by various authors. We've tried to tie these together for clarity's sake. This list is primarily composed of forensic fiction owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. One popular series which the library has only recently begun to carry are the CSI novels by Max Allen Collins, based on the television series CSI and CSI: Miami. There are a few instances where the library does not own all the titles in a series. For the missing volumes, we would encourage readers to request these through our Interlibrary Loan service.

Jump to the following specialties: Forensic Artists or Photographers | Forensic Archeaologists and Anthropologists | Forensic Entomologists | Medical Examiners, Doctors/Pathologists & Dentists | General Forensics | Historical Forensic Detectives | Geologists and Historians | Psychologists and Psychiatrists

Forensic Artists or Photographers

William Bayer   David Weiss
Switch (1984)
Pattern Crimes (1987)
Dream of Broken Horses (2002)
Leslie Forbes   Claire Fleetwood
Fish, Blood & Bone (2001)
James W. Hall   Alexander Ripley
Body Language (1998)
Iris Johansen   Eve Duncan
The Face of Deception (1998)
The Killing Game (1999)
Body of Lies (2002)
Blind Alley (2004)
Countdown (2005)
Stalemate (2006)
Quicksand (2008)
Blood Game (2009)
Chasing the Night (2010)
Eight Days to Live (2010)
Doris Mortman   Amanda Maxwell
The Lucky Ones (1997)
Out of Nowhere (1998)

Forensic Archeaologists/Anthropologists

Jefferson Bass   Bill Brockton
Carved in Bone (2006)
Flesh and Bone (2007)
The Devil's Bones (2008)
Bones of Betrayal (2009)
The Bone Thief (2010)
The Bone Yard (2011)
Beverly Connor   Lindsay Chamberlain
A Rumor of Bones (1996)
Questionable Remains (1997)
Dressed to Die (1998)
Skeleton Crew (1999)
Airtight Case (2000)
Diane Fallon
One Grave Too Many (2003)
Dead Guilty (2004)
Dead Secret (2005)
Dead Past (2007)
Dead Hunt (2008)
Scattered Graves (2009)
Dust to Dust (2009)
The Night Killer (2010)
One Grave Less (2010)
Aaron Elkins   Gideon Oliver
Fellowship of Fear (1982)
The Dark Place (1983)
Murder in the Queen's Armes (1985)
Old Bones (1987)
Curses! (1989)
Icy Clutches (1990)
Make No Bones (1991)
Dead Men's Hearts (1994)
Twenty Blue Devils (1997)
Skeleton Dance (2000)
Good Blood (2003)
Where There's a Will (2005)
Unnatural Selection (2006)
Little Tiny Teeth (2007)
Uneasy Relations (2008)
Skullduggery (2009)
Chris Norgren
A Deceptive Clarity (1987)
A Glancing Light (1991)
Old Scores (1993)
Jim Lehrer   Don Spaniel
No Certain Rest (2002)
Sharon McCrumb   Elizabeth MacPherson
Sick of Shadows (1984)
Lovely in Her Bones (1985)
Highland Laddie Gone (1986)
Paying the Piper (1988)
The Windsor Knot (1990)
Missing Susan (1991)
MacPherson's Lament (1992)
If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him (1995)
The PMS Outlaws (2000)
Darian North   Iris Lanier
Bone Deep (1995)
Kathy Reichs   Temperance Brennan [who is also a medical examiner]
Deja Dead (1997)
Death Du Jour (1999)
Deadly Decisions (2000)
Fatal Voyage (2001)
Grave Secrets (2002)
Bare Bones (2003)
Monday Mourning (2004)
Cross Bones (2005)
Break No Bones (2006)
Bones to Ashes (2007)
Devil Bones (2008)
206 Bones (2009)
Spider Bones (2010)

Forensic Entomologists

Tim Downs   Nick Polchak -- The Bugman series
Shoofly Pie (2003)
Chop Shop (2004)
First the Dead (2007)
Less the Dead (2008)
Ends of the Earth (2009)

Medical Examiners, Doctors/Pathologists, and Dentists

Lori Andrews   Alexandra Blake [geneticist]
Sequence (2006)
Silent Assassin (2007)
Immunity (2008)
Dennis Asen   Peter Roberts [dentist]
Root of Deception (1998)
Michael Baden and Linda Kenney   Dr. Jake Rosen and Philomena Manfreda
Remains Silent (2005)
Skeleton Justice (2009)
Simon Beckett   David Hunter [general practitioner/former forensic anthropologist]
Chemistry of Death (2006)
Written in Bone (2007)
Whispers of the Dead (2009)
The Calling of the Grave (2010)
Rick Boyer   Doc Adams [dentist]
Billingsgate Shoal (1982)
The Penny Ferry (1984)
The Daisy Ducks (1986)
Moscow Metal (1987)
The Whale's Footprints (1988)
Gone to Earth (1990)
Yellow Bird (1991)
Pirate Trade (1994)
The Man Who Whispered (1998)
Robin Cook   Contagion (1995)
Vector (1999)
Patricia Cornwell   Kay Scarpetta
Postmortem (1990)
Body of Evidence (1991)
All That Remains (1992)
Cruel and Unusual (1993)
The Body Farm (1994)
From Potter's Field (1995)
Cause of Death (1996)
Unnatural Exposure (1997)
Point of Origin (1998)
Black Notice (1999)
The Last Precinct (2000)
Blow Fly (2003)
Trace (2004)
Predator (2005)
Book of the Dead (2007)
Scarpetta (2008)
Scarpetta Factor (2009)
Port Mortuary (2010)
Winston Garano
At Risk (2006)
The Front (2008)
Desmond Cory   Dr. Kate Coyle and John Dobie
Even If You Run (1972)
A Bit of a Shunt Up the River (1974)
The Catalyst (1991)
The Mask of Zeus (1992)
The Dobie Paradox (1993)
D.J. Donaldson   Andy Brossard
Cajun Nights (1988)
Blood on the Bayou (1991)
No Mardi Gras for the Dead (1992)
New Orleans Requiem (1994)
Louisiana Fever (1996)
Sleeping With the Crawfish (1997)
Susan Dunlap   Kiernan O'Shaughnessy
Pious Deception (1989)
Rogue Wave (1991)
High Fall (1994)
No Immunity (1998)
Leonard Goldberg   Joanna Blalock
Deadly Medicine (1992)
A Deadly Practice (1993)
Deadly Care (1996)
Deadly Harvest (1997)
Deadly Exposure (1998)
Lethal Measures (2000)
Fatal care (2001)
Brain Waves (2002)
Fever Cell (2003)
Mary Kittredge   Edwina Crusoe
Fatal Diagnosis (1990)
Rigor Mortis (1991)
Cadaver (1992)
Walking Dead Man (1992)
Desperate Remedy (1993)
Kill or Cure (1995)
Marsha Landreth   Samantha Turner
The Holiday Murders (1992)
Richard La Plante   Joseph Tanaka
Mantis (1992)
Leopard (1994)
Steroid Blues (1995)
Herbert Lieberman   Crawlspace (1971)
The Eighth Square (1973)
City of the Dead (1976)
The Climate of Hell (1978)
Nightbloom (1984)
The Green Train (1986)
Shadow Dancers (1989)
Thomas Noguchi   Unnatural Causes (1988)
Physical Evidence (1990)
Ridley Pearson   Joe Dartelli
Chain of Evidence (1995)
Bill Pomidor   Calista Marley
Mind Over Murder (1998)
Kathy Reichs   Temperance Brennan
[ See titles under Forensic Archaeologists/Anthropologists ]
Karin Slaughter   Sara Linton/Jeffrey Tolliver
Blindsighted (2001)
Kisscut (2002)
A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
Indelible (2003)
Faithless (2005)
Beyond Reach (2007)
Undone (2009)
Broken (2010)
Robert W. Walker   Jessica Coran
Killer Instinct (1992)
Fatal Instinct (1993)
Primal Instinct (1994)
Pure Instinct (1995)
Darkest Instinct (1996)
Extreme Instinct (1998)
Blind Instinct (2000)
Bitter Instinct (2001)
Unnatural Instinct (2002)
Grave Instinct (2003)
Absolute Instinct (2004)

General Forensics

Noreen Ayres   Smoky Brandon
A World the Color of Salt (1992)
Carcass Trade (1994)
The Juan Doe Murders (2000)
Elizabeth Becka   Evelyn Jones
Trace Evidence (2005)
Unknown Means (2007)
"CSI/CSI:Miami/CSI: New York" [tv tie-ins] [varied casts]
[these books were written by a variety of different authors]
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI #1: Double Dealer (2001)
CSI #2: Sin City (2002)
CSI #3: Cold Burn (2003)
CSI #4: Body of Evidence (2003)
CSI #5: Grave Matters (2004)
CSI #6: Binding Ties (2005)
CSI #7: Killing Game (2005)
CSI #8: Snake Eyes (2006)
CSI #9: In Extremis (2007)
CSI #10: Nevada Rose (2008)
CSI #11: Headhunter (2008)
CSI #12: Brass in Pocket (2009)
CSI #13: The Killing Jar (2009)
CSI #14: Blood Quantum (2010)
CSI #15: Dark Sundays (2010)
CSI #16: Skin Deep (2010)
CSI #17: Shock Treatment (2010)
CSI Miami
CSI Miami #1: Florida Getaway (2003)
CSI Miami #2: Heat Wave (2004)
CSI Miami #3: Cult Following (2005)
CSI Miami #4: Riptide (2006)
CSI Miami #5: Harm for the Holidays: Misgivings (2006)
CSI Miami #6: Harm for the Holidays: Heart Attack (2007)
CSI Miami #7: Cut and Run (2008)
CSI Miami #8: Right to Die (2008)
CSI New York
CSI New York #1: Dead of Winter (2005)
CSI New York #2: Blood on the Sun (2006)
CSI New York #3: Deluge (2007)
CSI New York #4: Four Walls (2008)
Catherine Coulter   Dillon Savich & Lacey Sherlock
Eleventh Hour (2002)
Blindside (2003)
Jeffrey Deaver   Lincoln Rhyme
The Bone Collector (1996)
The Coffin Dancer (1998)
The Empty Chair (2000)
The Stone Monkey (2002)
The Vanished Man (2003)
The Twelfth Card (2005)
The Cold Room (2006)
The Broken Window (2008)
The Burning Wire (2010)
Lisa Gardner   The Other Daughter (1999)
The Survivor's Club (2002)
Kimberly Quincy
The Perfect Husband (1998)
The Third Victim (2001)
The Next Accident (2001)
The Killing Hour (2003)
Gone (2006)
Say Goodbye (2008)
Elizabeth George   A Place of Hiding (2003)
Simon St. James [in Inspector Lynley series]
A Great Deliverance (1988)
Payment in Blood (1989)
Well-Schooled in Murder (1990)
A Suitable Vengeance (1991)
For the Sake of Elena (1992)
Missing Joseph (1993)
Playing For the Ashes (1994)
In the Presence of the Enemy (1996)
Deception On His Mind (1997)
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (1999)
A Traitor to Memory (2001)
With No One as Witness (2005)
What Came Before He Shot Her (2006)
Careless in Red (2008)
This Body of Death (2010)
Ken Goddard   Colin Cellars, forensic technician
First Evidence (1999)
Outer Perimeter (2001)
P.D. James   Death of an Expert Witness (1977)
Harry Levy   Chain of Custody (1998)
John Lutz   Final Seconds (1998)
Ridley Pearson   Chain of Evidence (1995)
Beyond Recognition (1997)
The First Victim (1999)
Body of David Hayes (2004)

Historical Forensic "detectives": (forensic detection and detectives in the past)

Rennie Airth   John Madden
River of Darkness (1991) [WWI setting]
The Blood Dimmed Tide (2003)
The Dead of Winter (2009)
Caleb Carr   Laszlo Kreizler [Late 1890s early 1900s setting]
The Alienist (1994)
Angel of Darkness (1997)
George Harmon Coxe   The Ring of Truth (1966)
Margaret Frazer   Sister Frevisse [medieval setting]
The Novice's Tale (1992)
The Servant's Tale (1993)
The Outlaw's Tale (1994)
The Bishop's Tale (1994)
The Boy's Tale (1995)
The Murderer's Tale (1996)
The Prioress's Tale (1997)
The Maiden's Tale (1998)
The Reeve's Tale (1998)
The Squire's Tale (2000)
The Clerk's Tale (2002)
The Bastard's Tale (2003)
The Hunter's Tale (2004)
The Widow's Tale (2005)
The Sempster's Tale (2006)
The Traitor's Tale (2007)
The Apostate's Tale (2008)
Richard Austin Freeman   The Singing Bone (1965)
The Red Thumb Mark (1967)
Helen McCoy   [Red Badge Mysteries]
Mr. Splitfoot (1968)
Ellis Peters   Brother Cadfael [medieval setting]
A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)
One Corpse Too Many (1980)
Monk's Hood (1980)
Saint Peter's Fair (1981)
The Leper of St. Giles (1981)
The Virgin in the Ice (1987)
The Sanctuary Sparrow (1981)
The Devil's Notice (1983)
Dead Man's Ransom (1984)
The Pilgrim of Hate (1984)
An Excellent Mystery (1985)
The Rose Rent (1986)
The Raven in the Foregate (1986)
The Hermit of Eyton Forrest (1988)
The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988)
A Rare Benedictine (1988)
The Heretic's Apprentice (1990)
The Potter's Field (1990)
The Summer of the Danes (1991)
The Benediction of Brother Cadfael (1992)
The Holy Thief (1992)
Brother Cadfael's Pennance (1994)

Geologists and Historians

Sarah Andrews   Em Hansen [geologist]
Tensleep (1994)
A Fall in Denver (1995)
Mother Nature (1997)
Only Flesh and Bones (1998)
Bone Hunter (1999)
An Eye for Gold (2000)
Fault Line (2002)
Killer Dust (2003)
Earth Colors (2004)
Dead Dry (2005)
In Cold Pursuit (2007)
Jo Dereske   Ruby Crane [forensic documents analyst]
Savage Cut (1996)
Cut and Dry (1997)
Short Cut (1998)
Sarah Shaber   Simon Shaw [historian]
Simon Says (1994)
Snipe Hunt (2000)
The Fugitive King (2002)
The Bug Funeral (2004)
Shell Game (2007)
Tony Strong   Terry Williams [historian]
The Poison Tree (1997)
The Death Pit (1996)

Psychologists and Psychiatrists

Keith Ablow   Frank Clevenger
Denial (1997)
Projection (1999)
Compulsion (2002)
Psychopath (2003)
Murder Suicide (2004)
The Architect (2005)
Roderick Anscombe   Paul Lucas
The Interview Room (2005)
Virgin Lies (2007)
Arthur W. Bahr   Simon Rose
Certifiably Insane (1999)
Molly Brown   Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "Cracker")
To Say I Love You (1994)
Philip Caputo   Leander Heartwood
Equation for Evil (1999)
Vivan Chern   Tamsyn Bayn
Homicidal Intent (2002)
"Cracker" [tv tie-ins] Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald
[also listed under individual author's names in this list]
The Madwoman in the Attic (1994)
To Say I Love You (1994)
One Day a Lemming Will Fly (1994)
To Be a Somebody (1995)
The Big Crunch (1995)
Men Should Weep (1995)
White Ghost (1996)
Brotherly Love (1996)
Best Boys (1996)
True Romance (1996)
D.J. Donaldson   [ See titles under Medical Examiners etc. ]
G.H. Ephron   Peter Zak
Amnesia (2001)
Addiction (2001)
Delusion (2002)
Obsessed (2003)
Guilt (2005)
Brian Freemantle   Claudine Carter
Mind/Reader (1998)
Joseph Glass   Dr. Susan Shader
Eyes (1997)
Blood (2000)
Thomas Harris   Dr. Hannibal Lector
Red Dragon (1981)
Silence of the Lambs (1988)
Hannibal (1999)
Hannibal Rising (2005)
Liz Holliday   Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "Cracker")
One Day a Lemming Will Fly (1994)
The Big Crunch (1995)
True Romance (1996)
Jonathan Kellerman   Dr. Alex Delaware
When the Bough Breaks (1985)
Blood Test (1986)
Over the Edge (1987)
Silent Partner (1989)
Time Bomb (1990)
Private Eyes (1992)
Devil's Waltz (1993)
Bad Love (1994)
Self Defense (1995)
The Web (1996)
The Clinic (1997)
Survival of the Fittest (1997)
Billy Straight (1998)
Monster (1999)
Dr. Death (2000)
Flesh and Blood (2001)
The Murder Book (2002)
A Cold Heart (2003)
Therapy (2004)
Twisted (2004)
Rage (2005)
Gone (2006)
Obsession (2007)
Compulsion (2008)
Bones (2008)
Evidence (2009)
Deception (2010)
Mystery (2011)
Shirley Kennett   Burning Rose (2002)
P.J. Gray & Leo Schultz
Gray Matter (1996)
Fire Cracker (1997)
Chameleon (1998)
Act of Betrayal (2000) (writing as Morgan Avery)
Sarah Lovett   Sylvia Strange
Dangerous Attachments (1995)
Acquired Motives (1996)
A Desperate Silence (1998)
Dante's Inferno (2001)
Dark Alchemy (2003)
Philip Luber   Harry Kline
Deadly Convictions (1986)
Deliver Us From Evil (1997)
Pray For Us Sinners (1997)
Jim Mortimer   Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "Cracker")
The Madwoman in the Attic (1994)
Men Should Weep (1995)
Brotherly Love (1996)
Ridley Pearson   Daphne Matthews
Undercurrents (1988)
The Angel Maker (1993)
No Witnesses (1994)
Beyond Recognition (1997)
The Pied Piper (1998)
The First Victim (1999)
Middle of Nowhere (2000)
Art of Deception (2003)
The Body of David Hayes (2004)
John Philpin   Lucas Frank
The Prettiest Feathers (1997)
Tunnel of Night (1998)
Dreams in the Key of Blue (2000)
The Murder Channel (2001)
Gareth Roberts   Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "Cracker")
To Be a Somebody (1995)
Best Boys (1996)
Anna Salter   Dr. Michael Stone
Shiny Water (1997)
Fault Lines (1998)
White Lies (1999)
Prison Blues (2002)
Faye Sultan   Portia McTeague
Over the Line (1998)
Help Line (1999)
Stephen Walsh White   Alan Gregory
Privileged Information (1991)
Private Practice (1993)
Higher Authority (1994)
Harm's Way (1996)
Remote Control (1997)
Critical Conditions (1998)
Manner of Death (1999)
Cold Case (2000)
The Program (2001)
Warning Signs (2002)
The Best Revenge (2003)
Blinded (2004)
Missing Persons (2005)
Kill Me (2006)
Dry Ice (2007)
Dead Time (2008)
The Siege (2009)
The Last Lie (2010)
Marilyn Wooley   Cassie Ringwald
Jackpot Justice (2000)
R.D. Zimmerman   Todd Mills
Closet (1995)
Tribe (1996)
Hostage (1999)
Outburst (1998)
Innuendo (1999)

Adapted for the web May 2004 sdc/rs / last updated February 2011 sdc

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