Daniel Davis and Sam Michaels Books in Order

This series sits closest to the psychological thriller end of Michael Lister's work. At its center are two men who bring very different skills to the same problem. Sam Michaels is a wounded, scarred FDLE agent. Daniel Davis is a retired expert in ritual crimes who has pulled back from the world. In Burnt Offerings, they are forced together by a killer who uses fire in a deliberate, terrifying way.

That pairing gives the series its tension. Sam is still in the fight, still working cases, still carrying damage. Daniel knows how to read symbols, obsessions, and patterns that other investigators might miss, but he is not eager to be drawn back in. When they work together, the books blend forensics and fieldwork with questions about belief, ritual, and the dark stories killers tell themselves.

The setting is classic Lister, North Florida woods, small towns, coastal stretches, and isolated spaces where violence can stay hidden until it erupts. Fire is not just a weapon here. It becomes part of the mood, part of the rhythm, and part of what makes the series feel so dangerous.

Readers who like serial killer fiction but want more than body-count suspense will probably respond to this one. The thrill comes from the hunt, but also from the uneasy conversation between psychology and spirituality running underneath it.

It is a compact corner of Lister's catalog, but a potent one. If you want something darker, more investigative, and more openly interested in ritual and motive, Daniel Davis and Sam Michaels are the team to follow.