Michael Connelly has been building the same fictional universe since 1992. Most of his books connect. Same city, overlapping characters, shared backstory. Harry Bosch is the anchor, but Mickey Haller, Renée Ballard, and Jack McEvoy all move through the same world.
The easiest way to read them is publication order within whichever series you’re following. If you want the full experience, read all the series together in one integrated chronological sequence.
Here’s the complete list, broken down by series.
TL;DR: Michael Connelly has 38+ novels across four connected series starting with The Black Echo (1992). Most readers start with Bosch, but all the series eventually intersect. Publication order works best.
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Harry Bosch
The Black Echo (1992)
The Black Ice (1993)
The Concrete Blonde (1994)
The Last Coyote (1995)
Trunk Music (1997)
Angels Flight (1999)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001, also features Terry McCaleb)
City of Bones (2002)
Lost Light (2003)
The Narrows (2004, also features Jack McEvoy)
The Closers (2005)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
Nine Dragons (2009)
The Reversal (2010, also features Mickey Haller)
The Drop (2011)
The Black Box (2012)
The Burning Room (2014)
The Crossing (2015, also features Mickey Haller)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2016)
Two Kinds of Truth (2017)
Dark Sacred Night (2018, also features Renée Ballard)
The Night Fire (2019, also features Renée Ballard)
The Dark Hours (2021, also features Renée Ballard)
Desert Star (2022, also features Renée Ballard)
Resurrection Walk (2023, also features Mickey Haller)
The Waiting (2024, also features Renée Ballard)
Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer)
The Lincoln Lawyer (2005)
The Brass Verdict (2008, also features Harry Bosch)
The Reversal (2010, also features Harry Bosch)
The Fifth Witness (2011)
The Gods of Guilt (2013)
The Law of Innocence (2020, also features Harry Bosch)
Resurrection Walk (2023, also features Harry Bosch)
The Proving Ground (2025)
Renée Ballard
The Late Show (2017)
Dark Sacred Night (2018, also features Harry Bosch)
The Night Fire (2019, also features Harry Bosch)
The Dark Hours (2021, also features Harry Bosch)
Desert Star (2022, also features Harry Bosch)
The Waiting (2024, also features Harry Bosch)
Jack McEvoy
The Poet (1996)
The Scarecrow (2009)
Fair Warning (2020)
Terry McCaleb
Blood Work (1997)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001, also features Harry Bosch)
Standalones
Void Moon (2000)
Chasing the Dime (2002)
Where to Start
Start with The Black Echo. It introduces Bosch and sets up everything that follows. If you’d rather start with the legal side of the universe, The Lincoln Lawyer works as its own entry point. The Poet is a good standalone if you want something separate from Bosch before committing to the full series.
|A Few Worth Calling Out
If you’re working through the Bosch list, The Concrete Blonde, The Brass Verdict, and The Crossing are the ones where the bigger shifts and crossovers happen.
The Most Recent Books
The Proving Ground (2026) is the latest Mickey Haller novel. On the Bosch and Ballard side, The Waiting (2024) is the most recent. Two more books are scheduled for 2026.
FAQ
Do you need to read Michael Connelly books in order?
For the Bosch series, yes. The character development spans decades and the crossovers land better in sequence. The Lincoln Lawyer books are more self-contained.
How many Michael Connelly books are there?
38 novels plus one non-fiction book (Crime Beat, 2004).
What’s the best reading order for the full universe?
Publication order within each series works well. Connelly’s website also has a printable integrated reading order if you want to follow all the series together.
Is the series still ongoing?
Yes. The Proving Ground came out in 2025 and two more are scheduled for 2026.
If you got this far, you’re probably already thinking about what to read next. You can find more reading lists and series guides on my books, TV and media page.
