King and Maxwell Books in Order

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are former Secret Service agents with careers that ended in public disasters. King lost a presidential candidate he was protecting, and Maxwell’s assignment ended with a kidnapping. They were blamed, sidelined, and left carrying guilt that doesn’t go away just because the badge is gone.

They know what it’s like to be blamed for someone else’s failure.

When the series opens with Split Second, King and Maxwell team up as private investigators and start digging into the cases that ruined them. They set up a small agency and take on clients, but the work keeps pulling them back toward bigger questions and bigger players. The setup gives the books a satisfying hook: the mysteries aren’t just “who did it,” but also “who wanted these people to take the fall?” From there, the duo moves into new investigations that pull them across Washington, Virginia, and into corners of the country where power still reaches.

The appeal is the partnership. King is thoughtful and stubborn, with the instincts of someone who’s spent years reading crowds for threats. Maxwell is direct, fearless, and quick to challenge anyone—including King—when something doesn’t add up. They bicker, they push each other, and they’re loyal in the way partners become loyal when they’ve both been knocked down by the same system.

Each book brings its own central case, but the series keeps returning to the fallout of Secret Service work: what gets covered up, what gets blamed on the nearest scapegoat, and how often “security” is used as an excuse to hide bad behavior. Hour Game shifts toward a darker, serial-killer-style investigation. Simple Genius and First Family lean into secret facilities and security nightmares, while later stories tie in their mentor figure Edgars Roy and the hidden layers of his past. The stakes stay personal even when the conspiracy gets big.

Washington is more than scenery here. It’s a place where a rumor can become a weapon, and where a private investigator can trip over a story that the most powerful people in the country want buried. King and Maxwell are not official anymore, which means they get ignored—until they don’t.

The series also inspired a television adaptation, King & Maxwell, which captured the duo’s mix of banter and danger in a modern D.C. setting.

If you want action, conspiracies, and a pair of leads who feel like real people—flawed, sarcastic, and determined—these books are an easy series to read in order and hard to put down.