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Peter Bragg Books in Order

Part ofJack Lynch Books in Order

See the Peter Bragg books in order by Jack Lynch, with quick summaries, reissue notes, series background, and help choosing the best place to start.

Last updated: July 13, 2026

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Peter Bragg books in publication order

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14 books

1

Braggs Hunch

by Jack Lynch

1982

In Bragg's first case, a retired mobster hires him to investigate threats against his family. The job sends Bragg into a desert town where old violence is ready to start again.

2

Pieces of Death

by Jack Lynch

1982

Bragg goes to the airport to guard a man carrying something valuable and walks into a gun battle instead. Soon he is chasing smugglers, assassins, and a fortune in gem-encrusted chess pieces.

3

The Dead Never Forget

by Jack Lynch

1982

Peter Bragg is hired to protect a retired mobster and his young stepdaughter after death threats turn gruesomely real. The trail leads to a bleak California desert town and a violent past that refuses to stay buried.

4

San Quentin

by Jack Lynch

1984

A deadly stand-off inside San Quentin leaves hostages trapped and Peter Bragg under pressure to solve a murder. The prison crisis gives him almost no time and no room for mistakes.

5

Sausalito

by Jack Lynch

1984

A blackmail job drags Peter Bragg into Sausalito real estate warfare, where money and bay views are worth killing for. What starts as a local case quickly turns brutal and personal.

6

Speak for the Dead

by Jack Lynch

1984

After a failed escape at San Quentin erupts into a hostage crisis, the convicts want Bragg to clear one man's teenage brother of murder. To stop a massacre, he has to solve a case far beyond the prison walls.

7

Wake Up and Die

by Jack Lynch

1984

A blackmail case pulls Bragg across the Golden Gate to Sausalito, where developers are fighting dirty over waterfront land. Arson, torture, and murder turn a local feud into a deadly war.

8

Monterey

by Jack Lynch

1985

At a Central California gathering, Peter Bragg reconnects with an old lover and soon finds her accused of murder. His search for the truth uncovers blackmail, extortion, and a secret worth killing to keep buried.

9

Seattle

by Jack Lynch

1985

When a Seattle writer starts getting threats that turn violent, Peter Bragg heads home to protect him. The case forces Bragg to deal with old wounds as the attacks keep escalating.

10

Truth or Die

by Jack Lynch

1985

When Bragg runs into an old lover and she is soon accused of killing her husband, he steps in to help. The case leads to blackmail, extortion, and a buried secret someone still wants to protect with murder.

11

Yesterday is Dead

by Jack Lynch

1985

Threats and gunfire drive Seattle freelancer Benny Bartlett to call Peter Bragg for help. Back in his hometown, Bragg faces both hired killers and the painful return of his own past.

12

Wolf House

by Jack Lynch

2002

Peter Bragg is drawn into a case by a psychic's visions of bodies in the woods near Jack London's ruined Wolf House. As fresh corpses appear, Bragg races to find the killer before the visions catch up with him.

13

The Missing and The Dead

by Jack Lynch

2014

Peter Bragg's search for a missing insurance investigator opens into stolen art, vanished money, and a killer obsessed with death itself. The deeper he digs, the more personal the danger becomes.

14

Die for Me

by Jack Lynch

2015

A psychic Peter Bragg once saved from suicide now foresees her own murder. Bragg has to sort intuition from evidence before a serial killer turns a warning into a body count.

Peter Bragg books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The Dead Never Forget"

    The Dead Never Forget

    by Jack Lynch

    1982Peter Bragg, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Braggs Hunch"

    Braggs Hunch

    by Jack Lynch

    1982Peter Bragg, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Pieces of Death"

    Pieces of Death

    by Jack Lynch

    1982Peter Bragg, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Wake Up and Die"

    Wake Up and Die

    by Jack Lynch

    1984Peter Bragg, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Sausalito"

    Sausalito

    by Jack Lynch

    1984Peter Bragg, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Speak for the Dead"

    Speak for the Dead

    by Jack Lynch

    1984Peter Bragg, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "San Quentin"

    San Quentin

    by Jack Lynch

    1984Peter Bragg, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Truth or Die"

    Truth or Die

    by Jack Lynch

    1985Peter Bragg, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Monterey"

    Monterey

    by Jack Lynch

    1985Peter Bragg, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Yesterday is Dead"

    Yesterday is Dead

    by Jack Lynch

    1985Peter Bragg, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Seattle"

    Seattle

    by Jack Lynch

    1985Peter Bragg, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Wolf House"

    Wolf House

    by Jack Lynch

    2002Peter Bragg, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "The Missing and The Dead"

    The Missing and The Dead

    by Jack Lynch

    2014Peter Bragg, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Die for Me"

    Die for Me

    by Jack Lynch

    2015Peter Bragg, Book 14

Series background & context

Peter Bragg is a San Francisco private eye with a reporter's instincts and a veteran's nerves. Before he was taking cases for himself, he worked in newspapers, and that old life never really leaves him. He still notices details, still chases what does not add up, and still has a habit of stepping into other people's messes because he cannot quite let them go.

The Bay Area is a huge part of the appeal. These books move through San Francisco, Sausalito, Monterey, San Quentin, and eventually Seattle, and the settings matter. They are not just postcards in the background. Lynch uses each place to shape the pressure of the story, whether that means waterfront money, prison violence, newsroom memory, or the uneasy mix of glamour and rot that hangs over so much California crime fiction.

Bragg is hard-boiled, but he is not hard to spend time with.

The tone sits in a sweet spot between tough and humane. There are shootings, blackmail schemes, mob ties, prison stand-offs, and more than a few bodies, but there is also dry humor and a steady moral pulse. Bragg is not a genius sleuth dropped in from above. He feels like a working investigator, stubborn, observant, a little worn down, and always aware that every case costs somebody something.

Most of the novels work well on their own. The Missing and the Dead starts with a missing insurance investigator and widens into stolen art, vanished money, and a killer with a chilling fixation. Speak for the Dead traps Bragg in the aftermath of a prison escape gone wrong. Truth or Die turns an old romantic connection into a murder case. Wolf House adds a slightly uncanny edge when visions point Bragg toward bodies buried near the ruins of Jack London's burned mansion. Even when the plots are self-contained, there is a subtle personal arc underneath, especially in Bragg's relationships and in the way his past keeps catching up with him.

Readers should also know that several books were later reissued under new titles. Bragg's Hunch became The Dead Never Forget, Sausalito became Wake Up and Die, San Quentin became Speak for the Dead, Monterey became Truth or Die, and Seattle became Yesterday is Dead. The retitling can make the run look more complicated than it is, but it is really one connected eight-book series built around the same investigator.

What holds it all together is Bragg himself. He moves through violent situations with enough empathy to get in trouble and enough grit to keep going when common sense says stop. If you like private-eye fiction with strong place, fast cases, and a lead who feels lived in rather than polished, this series makes a very easy next read.

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.

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