Andy Carpenter Books in Order

Andy’s hopes of retirement evaporate when Lou, an old friend who runs a rehab center, begs him to help a homeless veteran accused of murdering a wealthy dog lover. The deeper Andy looks, the more he suspects the truth is tangled up in money, addiction, and people willing to exploit both.

Set before the main series, this prequel finds Andy Carpenter quitting his job as a prosecutor and opening a tiny defense practice. A visit to a shelter introduces him to golden retriever Tara and beagle Sunny—and to Sunny’s owner, Ryan Tierney, who’s been charged with blowing up his former boss’s car.

Two years after a deadly office‑building gas explosion, the owner blamed by survivor Jeff Wheeler is found murdered, and Jeff is arrested. Remembering Jeff’s courage in saving a dog named Rufus, Andy takes the case, trying to reunite man and dog while unraveling who really profited from the earlier tragedy.

Returning from a rare family vacation, Andy finds an extra dog waiting at home—Murphy, a former foster now owned by college student BJ Bremer. When BJ is arrested for murdering a professor and Murphy has gone missing, Andy trusts the young man’s devotion to his dog and digs into campus rivalries and secrets.

Andy discovers that his taciturn investigator Marcus quietly mentors at‑risk young men, and brings two of them to the Tara Foundation to adopt dogs. When a mass shooting at one boy’s workplace leaves him accused of the crime, Marcus asks Andy to take the case, leading to buried histories and gang violence.

Andy’s high‑school girlfriend Jenny Nichols is now a famous actress whose tiny poodle, a Tara Foundation alum, is practically a celebrity. When a fellow actor is murdered on set and Jenny is arrested, Andy shuttles between Hollywood and Paterson to defend her while show‑business secrets and jealousies come to light.

During the Tara Foundation’s big holiday party, foster volunteer Derek Moore is arrested for murder. Andy learns Derek—really Bobby—is in witness protection after testifying against his old gang, and the case forces Andy to juggle mob grudges, new dogs in the house, and a client who may still be a target.

The Tara Foundation is overrun with an unexpected litter of puppies, happily fostered by new staffer Chris Myers—a man who once went to prison for a crime he swears he didn’t commit. When a key witness against him is murdered and Chris is arrested, Andy fights to clear his name before Christmas.

A year after placing an older chow, Lion, with recently widowed Rachel Morehouse, Andy is asked to take the dog if anything happens to her. When Rachel is murdered and her stepson is charged, Andy must untangle family business rivalries and a fortune that gives plenty of people motive.

On a routine dog‑walk with Tara and Sebastian, Andy and Laurie witness a man savagely beating his dog and a stranger stepping in with equal force. When that stranger, Matthew Jantzen, is arrested and revealed to be wanted for murder, Andy agrees to defend the dog‑lover and uncovers a far bigger crime.

After a heavy snowstorm in Paterson, Tara uncovers the body of the city’s controversial mayor. A young reporter who once wrote a damaging exposé on him becomes the main suspect, and Andy steps in to defend the journalist as political grudges and fresh bodies pile up.

Fresh off an unwanted Caribbean cruise, Andy is pulled into defending Glenn Anson, an old cellmate of his partner Willie, who’s been arrested for murder. As he digs, Andy finds links to organized crime, past loyalties, and a holiday season that’s anything but peaceful.

Andy agrees to help when a friend finds a stray tied to a fatal yacht explosion that supposedly killed a tech entrepreneur and his colleagues. After the “dead” man contacts her asking for his dog back, Andy realizes someone staged a disappearance—and that whoever is behind it is still hunting loose ends.

A Christmas wish tree leads Andy to Danny, a boy who asks Santa for a coat for his mom, a sweater for his dachshund, and his missing father’s return. When the father is arrested for a fourteen‑year‑old murder, Andy takes the case, trying to give Danny the reunion he longs for.

Andy’s vet reveals that a healthy French bulldog, Truman, was dropped off with instructions to be euthanized by a man who wasn’t his owner. When Truman’s real owner is found murdered, Andy takes in the dog and follows a trail through mob enforcers and hit lists to find out who wanted Truman silenced.

A truck hauling more than seventy rescue dogs north arrives with its driver murdered and Laurie’s ex‑fiancé, an ex‑Marine, accused of the crime. As Andy juggles marital unease and a courtroom fight, he must protect both the animals and a man who insists he was only trying to help them.

During the holidays, Andy befriends a homeless man and his dog outside a restaurant, only to see the man later accused of killing a wealthy neighbor. Investigating out of sheer stubbornness, Andy uncovers a scheme built on stolen identities, staged charity, and people willing to kill to protect a secret.

An abandoned border collie dropped at the Tara Foundation turns out to be the long‑missing “DNA dog” from a notorious kidnapping in which a baby and family pet vanished. With the dog back and the old conviction in doubt, Andy reopens the case to hunt for the child and the real abductor.

Andy happily agrees to defend his friend Pups Boyer, who fosters litters of puppies and is cited for having too many dogs just before Christmas. When the complaining neighbor turns up murdered and Pups becomes the prime suspect, Andy must clear her name while twelve puppies run interference.

Through a prison dog‑training program, Andy befriends inmate Brian Atkins and his fox terrier, Boomer. When Brian stages a clever escape with Boomer’s help and soon after is seen fleeing a double homicide, Andy takes his case, convinced the soft‑spoken fraudster is being framed for something much uglier.

A shepherd mix named Cheyenne is stolen from the Tara Foundation and later found guarding the corpse of her dognapper. What looks like a simple revenge killing pulls Andy into a tangle involving stolen diamonds, a missing chemist, and a plot that stretches far beyond Paterson.

Called to a crime scene by cop friend Pete Stanton, Andy finds a murdered ex‑con, the man’s young son, and a loyal basset hound upstairs. When Pete is charged with the killing, Andy defends him while protecting the boy and dog, only to discover the victim’s past reaches further than anyone guessed.

Andy’s accountant, Sam Willis, is summoned by an old friend who hints at something too dangerous to discuss on the phone. After Sam stops to help an injured dog and misses a private flight that later crashes, Andy realizes Sam was meant to die and follows the trail into corporate intrigue and murder.

Andy has always believed Joey Desimone, a client with mob family ties, was wrongly convicted of murder. A visit to Joey’s aging uncle shakes loose a cryptic comment that hints at hidden evidence, sending Andy into a world of omertà, old grudges, and dangerous truths that could finally clear Joey—or get Andy killed.

Six years after a deadly arson, recovering addict Noah Galloway is arrested and all but resigned to punishment—until he reveals he once owned Andy’s dog, Tara. Feeling indebted, Andy digs into the old fire and uncovers a far‑reaching plot that makes Noah look more pawn than monster.

A one‑legged ex‑soldier and his German shepherd, Milo, are caught at the scene of a killing tied to a murky incident in Iraq. Andy takes their case and soon finds himself mired in military secrets, terrorist rumors, and a dog who literally holds the key evidence to the conspiracy.

Andy is appointed temporary guardian of Waggy, a Bernese mountain dog at the center of a bitter inheritance fight between a murdered businessman’s son and his glamorous widow. When the widow’s home explodes and the son is accused of murder, Andy must protect both client and dog from someone desperate to silence them.

After Andy saves a golden retriever from being euthanized, he learns the dog is actually Reggie, believed dead years earlier in a notorious murder case. Convinced the wrong man went to prison, Andy reopens the file and follows a trail of government secrets and impersonations that puts him in the crosshairs.

Andy leaves Paterson for small‑town Wisconsin when his ex‑girlfriend Laurie Collins, now acting police chief, begs him to defend a young man accused of killing two college students. The trail leads to an insular religious community called Center City, where loyalty and silence may be hiding a killer.

New York Giants star running back Kenny Schilling is charged with killing a rival Jets receiver, and the media frenzy makes Andy Carpenter’s defense the case of the season. Digging into the violent world behind professional football, Andy uncovers a pattern of murders tied to a long‑hidden secret.

Andy agrees to protect Daniel Cummings, a young reporter being used as the mouthpiece for a serial killer who phones in taunting clues. When Daniel is caught near the latest victim’s body and evidence piles up, Andy must prove his client isn’t the murderer while dodging threats himself.

When a corrupt cop is found decapitated, Andy Carpenter turns down the man who confesses and instead agrees to defend his investigator—and new love—Laurie Collins, who’s suddenly charged with the crime. To clear her, he has to outmaneuver the police and spring a risky trap in court.

Defense attorney Andy Carpenter is asked by his father, a legendary ex‑D.A., to handle the death‑row appeal of Willie Miller, then watches his father die suddenly and inherit an unexpected fortune. A decades‑old photograph and anonymous threats push Andy to uncover buried political secrets before his client is executed.