Most Recommended Books

Track reading, wishlists & new-book alerts

Get
Skip to content
Share:

Gregor Demarkian Books in Order

Part ofJane Haddam Books in Order

See every Gregor Demarkian novel by Jane Haddam in order, with brief summaries, series background, and help choosing the right starting point.

Last updated: July 15, 2026

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

Gregor Demarkian books in publication order

Sort:

30 books

1

Not a Creature was Stirring

by Jane Haddam

1990

Retired FBI investigator Gregor Demarkian accepts a strange invitation to Christmas dinner at a millionaire's estate. When the host is murdered, Gregor must sort through a bitter family whose members all have reasons to hate him.

2

Act of Darkness

by Jane Haddam

1991

Gregor joins Bennis Hannaford at a Long Island political fundraiser where powerful guests have competing agendas. When murder interrupts the gathering, he must untangle a case shaped by ambition, grief, and carefully managed public images.

3

Precious Blood

by Jane Haddam

1991

A terminally ill woman returns to the town where she once felt accepted, only to be poisoned. Gregor Demarkian follows the trail into an old secret involving former classmates, faith, and a troubled Catholic community.

4

Quoth the Raven

by Jane Haddam

1991

Father Tibor's temporary teaching job brings Gregor to a college campus at Halloween. A missing professor, a poisoned colleague, and a talkative raven pull him into a tense academic mystery.

5

A Great Day for the Deadly

by Jane Haddam

1992

On the eve of St. Patrick's Day, a young nun is murdered in a small upstate New York town. Gregor must make sense of deadly hemlock, strange sightings, and a case that seems to demand a miracle.

6

A Stillness in Bethlehem

by Jane Haddam

1992

A Vermont town's elaborate Christmas celebration is disrupted by a series of shootings. Gregor Demarkian discovers that a victim's research into long-ago crimes may have stirred up a killer's carefully buried past.

7

Feast of Murder

by Jane Haddam

1992

Gregor and Bennis find themselves among a closed group of travelers when one passenger is murdered. As the investigation links the killing to an earlier death, the journey becomes a trap full of secrets and suspicion.

8

Murder Superior

by Jane Haddam

1993

At a Philadelphia convention for the Sisters of Divine Grace, a nun dies after eating poisoned food. Gregor must determine whether she was the target, or whether the killer meant to strike someone far less beloved.

9

Bleeding Hearts

by Jane Haddam

1994

A Valentine's Day romance turns deadly when Hannah Krekorian is found beside her new lover's body. The police think she killed him, but Gregor knows his neighbor is innocent and reopens the man's violent past.

10

Dear Old Dead

by Jane Haddam

1994

A media magnate is poisoned at a Harlem health clinic run by a devoted doctor. Gregor tries to clear the doctor's name while navigating gang violence, family money, and a growing list of people with motives.

11

Festival of Deaths

by Jane Haddam

1994

A sensational television host brings her crew to Philadelphia for an interview with Gregor and a convicted serial killer. Then a staff member is murdered, and a second brutal death turns the production into a crime scene.

12

Fountain of Death

by Jane Haddam

1995

Gregor travels to New Haven, where old ties and a return home bring a new murder case into view. Behind a polished public story lies a web of personal history, rivalry, and dangerous deception.

13

And One to Die On

by Jane Haddam

1996

A birthday gathering at a gloomy Victorian house on an island turns into a murder investigation. Cut off from easy escape, Gregor faces a limited circle of guests, old tensions, and a killer hiding in plain sight.

14

Baptism in Blood

by Jane Haddam

1996

The murder of an infant at a controversial religious community draws Gregor into a case charged with belief, fear, and public outrage. Finding the truth means looking past the assumptions everyone is eager to make.

15

Deadly Beloved

by Jane Haddam

1997

As a neighbor's wedding approaches, Gregor is pulled into a rash of deadly pipe bombings in an affluent suburb. Marriages, old friendships, and a high-profile photo exhibit all become part of the dangerous puzzle.

16

Skeleton Key

by Jane Haddam

2000

Bennis discovers the body of a young heiress during a Halloween visit to Connecticut. Gregor arrives as more deaths expose the resentments, money troubles, and social climbing beneath a wealthy town's quiet surface.

17

True Believers

by Jane Haddam

2001

Religious and personal tensions simmer on one Philadelphia block shared by several very different communities. When suspicious deaths begin, Gregor must uncover the connections before old scandals and new hatred produce more violence.

18

Somebody Else's Music

by Jane Haddam

2002

Thirty years after a cruel teenage prank left one girl devastated and a boy dead, Liz Toliver returns home. Her visit sets off a new chain of danger, and Gregor searches for the truth behind the old tragedy.

19

Conspiracy Theory

by Jane Haddam

2003

A bombing at an Armenian church and the assassination of a businessman shake Philadelphia on the same winter night. Gregor investigates whether the crimes connect to a hate group, corporate wrongdoing, or something even closer to home.

20

The Headmaster's Wife

by Jane Haddam

2005

At an elite New England boarding school, a student finds his roommate hanging and no one believes his fears. Gregor answers the boy's call for help and uncovers manipulation, drugs, secrets, and possible murder.

21

Hardscrabble Road

by Jane Haddam

2006

A combative radio host blames a homeless man after his drug arrest, creating a media storm in Philadelphia. When the expected victim is not the one who dies, Gregor confronts politics, property deals, and private agendas.

22

Glass Houses

by Jane Haddam

2007

Philadelphia is frightened by the Plate Glass Killer, who targets middle-aged women and mutilates their faces. Gregor joins an investigation already strained by infighting, then has to separate real clues from police mistakes.

23

Cheating at Solitaire

by Jane Haddam

2008

A snowstorm traps a film crew, celebrities, and paparazzi on a wealthy island retreat. When a young man's murder is followed by more violence, Gregor must work through fame, image-making, and a ruined crime scene.

24

Living Witness

by Jane Haddam

2009

A school-board battle over evolution and intelligent design turns violent when a prominent local woman is attacked. Gregor finds that the town's loud public argument may be hiding a much more personal motive for murder.

25

Wanting Sheila Dead

by Jane Haddam

2010

A reality television competition takes over the old Hannaford estate, bringing rivalry and resentment with it. When someone targets vicious judge Sheila Dunham and a contestant is killed, Gregor has to find the real game being played.

26

Flowering Judas

by Jane Haddam

2011

The body of a college student missing for years is found hanging from a billboard that once begged for clues. Nearby, an infant's skeleton deepens the mystery, and Gregor looks beneath a small town's polite surface.

27

Blood in the Water

by Jane Haddam

2012

A teenager is found dead in a gated community pool as the pool house burns nearby. With a missing wife, unidentified remains, and too many secrets among the neighbors, Gregor faces a baffling double mystery.

28

Hearts of Sand

by Jane Haddam

2013

Thirty years after a wealthy Connecticut debutante vanished following a bank-robbing spree, she returns only to be murdered. Gregor is called in to separate the town's obsession with her past from the truth about her death.

29

Fighting Chance

by Jane Haddam

2014

Father Tibor is found beside a corrupt juvenile judge's body and the evidence appears damning. Gregor fights to prove his friend's innocence while uncovering a prison kickback scheme and a troubling foreclosure plot.

30

One of Our Own

by Jane Haddam

2020

A black van unsettles Cavanaugh Street before an elderly woman is thrown from it in a garbage bag. Gregor's final case links her attack, a murder in her apartment, immigration fears, and a ruthless developer.

Gregor Demarkian books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Not a Creature was Stirring"

    Not a Creature was Stirring

    by Jane Haddam

    1990Gregor Demarkian, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Precious Blood"

    Precious Blood

    by Jane Haddam

    1991Gregor Demarkian, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Act of Darkness"

    Act of Darkness

    by Jane Haddam

    1991Gregor Demarkian, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Quoth the Raven"

    Quoth the Raven

    by Jane Haddam

    1991Gregor Demarkian, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "A Great Day for the Deadly"

    A Great Day for the Deadly

    by Jane Haddam

    1992Gregor Demarkian, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Feast of Murder"

    Feast of Murder

    by Jane Haddam

    1992Gregor Demarkian, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "A Stillness in Bethlehem"

    A Stillness in Bethlehem

    by Jane Haddam

    1992Gregor Demarkian, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Murder Superior"

    Murder Superior

    by Jane Haddam

    1993Gregor Demarkian, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Dear Old Dead"

    Dear Old Dead

    by Jane Haddam

    1994Gregor Demarkian, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Festival of Deaths"

    Festival of Deaths

    by Jane Haddam

    1994Gregor Demarkian, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Bleeding Hearts"

    Bleeding Hearts

    by Jane Haddam

    1994Gregor Demarkian, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Fountain of Death"

    Fountain of Death

    by Jane Haddam

    1995Gregor Demarkian, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "And One to Die On"

    And One to Die On

    by Jane Haddam

    1996Gregor Demarkian, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Baptism in Blood"

    Baptism in Blood

    by Jane Haddam

    1996Gregor Demarkian, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "Deadly Beloved"

    Deadly Beloved

    by Jane Haddam

    1997Gregor Demarkian, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "Skeleton Key"

    Skeleton Key

    by Jane Haddam

    2000Gregor Demarkian, Book 16
  17. Book cover for "True Believers"

    True Believers

    by Jane Haddam

    2001Gregor Demarkian, Book 17
  18. Book cover for "Somebody Else's Music"

    Somebody Else's Music

    by Jane Haddam

    2002Gregor Demarkian, Book 18
  19. Book cover for "Conspiracy Theory"

    Conspiracy Theory

    by Jane Haddam

    2003Gregor Demarkian, Book 19
  20. Book cover for "The Headmaster's Wife"

    The Headmaster's Wife

    by Jane Haddam

    2005Gregor Demarkian, Book 20
  21. Book cover for "Hardscrabble Road"

    Hardscrabble Road

    by Jane Haddam

    2006Gregor Demarkian, Book 21
  22. Book cover for "Glass Houses"

    Glass Houses

    by Jane Haddam

    2007Gregor Demarkian, Book 22
  23. Book cover for "Cheating at Solitaire"

    Cheating at Solitaire

    by Jane Haddam

    2008Gregor Demarkian, Book 23
  24. Book cover for "Living Witness"

    Living Witness

    by Jane Haddam

    2009Gregor Demarkian, Book 24
  25. Book cover for "Wanting Sheila Dead"

    Wanting Sheila Dead

    by Jane Haddam

    2010Gregor Demarkian, Book 25
  26. Book cover for "Flowering Judas"

    Flowering Judas

    by Jane Haddam

    2011Gregor Demarkian, Book 26
  27. Book cover for "Blood in the Water"

    Blood in the Water

    by Jane Haddam

    2012Gregor Demarkian, Book 27
  28. Book cover for "Hearts of Sand"

    Hearts of Sand

    by Jane Haddam

    2013Gregor Demarkian, Book 28
  29. Book cover for "Fighting Chance"

    Fighting Chance

    by Jane Haddam

    2014Gregor Demarkian, Book 29
  30. Book cover for "One of Our Own"

    One of Our Own

    by Jane Haddam

    2020Gregor Demarkian, Book 30

Series background & context

Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian books follow a retired FBI investigator who would rather have a quiet life, but keeps finding that murder has other plans. Gregor once led the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit. After his wife dies, he leaves that career behind and returns to Cavanaugh Street, the Armenian-American Philadelphia neighborhood where he grew up.

He is observant, methodical, and hard to fool. He is also not a lone wolf in the usual detective-fiction sense. His life is tied to the people around him, especially Father Tibor Kasparian, a priest and close friend, and Bennis Hannaford, a successful writer who becomes Gregor's partner and later his wife.

The series begins with Not a Creature was Stirring, when a strange Christmas invitation brings Gregor to the estate of a wealthy and deeply unhappy family. The early books often take place around holidays. Precious Blood is set around Easter, Quoth the Raven uses Halloween, and A Stillness in Bethlehem returns to Christmas. The holiday frame is useful because it gathers families, old friends, parish groups, coworkers, and rivals in one place. That is usually when long-held grudges start to matter.

Philadelphia matters just as much as the cases do. Cavanaugh Street is full of regulars who know one another's business, offer unwanted advice, worry over their neighbors, and keep Gregor connected to a world outside police work. Other novels move him to Connecticut towns, New York City, schools, estates, religious communities, and gated developments. Wherever he goes, Haddam is interested in the local pecking order and in the gap between what people say and what they do.

These are traditional mysteries, but they are not weightless puzzles. The stories often take on questions of faith, money, education, media culture, family loyalty, housing, political influence, and public scandal. Gregor listens closely while people explain themselves. Then he notices the detail that does not fit.

The cases grow more contemporary as the series goes on.

New readers can start with Not a Creature was Stirring to meet the full Cavanaugh Street cast and see Gregor's new life take shape. Many later books also work well on their own, especially Skeleton Key, The Headmaster's Wife, Flowering Judas, and Blood in the Water. Reading in order gives the best sense of Gregor and Bennis's relationship, the changes in their neighborhood, and the friendships that make the long series feel lived in.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

Comments

Did we miss something? Have feedback?

Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts

We only use your email to notify you about replies.

All comments are moderated.

Discover and track your reading on the go

Track your reading, manage wishlists, and get notified when new books are added.