Robert Dugoni Books in Order
Browse Robert Dugoni books in order, from Tracy Crosswhite to Keera Duggan, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy advice on where to start.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Publication Order
33 books
The Cyanide Canary
by Robert Dugoni
2004
Based on a true case, this book follows the investigation of a young Idaho worker's cyanide poisoning and the long legal fight to hold a powerful polluter accountable. It reads with the tension of a thriller because the stakes were real.
The Jury Master
by Robert Dugoni
2006
Attorney David Sloane begins to suspect his courtroom success is more than skill when a supposed suicide leads him into a murder investigation and a far-reaching conspiracy. A legal thriller that quickly grows well beyond the courthouse.
Damage Control
by Robert Dugoni
2007
Seattle attorney Dana Hill is hit by a medical crisis, her husband's betrayal, and her twin brother's murder in rapid succession. Teaming with detective Michael Logan, she follows the clues toward a secret powerful people want buried.
Wrongful Death
by Robert Dugoni
2009
David Sloane takes on the widow of a National Guardsman killed in Iraq and soon uncovers a case that points far beyond negligence. The deeper he digs, the more the truth threatens his family as well.
Bodily Harm
by Robert Dugoni
2010
A malpractice suit over a little boy's death should be a straightforward win for David Sloane, until a toy designer makes a shocking confession and vanishes. The case turns into a hunt for truth, revenge, and one more child in danger.
Murder One
by Robert Dugoni
2011
When attorney Barclay Reid is charged with killing the drug trafficker she blamed for her daughter's death, David Sloane agrees to defend her. His first criminal case grows darker as he realizes his client may be hiding plenty.
The Conviction
by Robert Dugoni
2012
David Sloane's troubled son is sent to a brutal wilderness detention camp after a petty crime goes wrong. To save the boys trapped inside, Sloane has to take on a corrupt judge and a system built to hide abuse.
My Sister's Grave
by Robert Dugoni
2014
When Sarah Crosswhite's remains are finally found, Seattle detective Tracy Crosswhite returns to the case that shaped her life. The search for the real killer forces her back into old secrets and immediate danger.
The Academy
by Robert Dugoni
2014
Before she was a homicide detective, Tracy Crosswhite was a teacher entering the Seattle Police Academy with one goal, finding justice for her sister. This prequel shows the grit, bias, and pressure that shape her early path.
Her Final Breath
by Robert Dugoni
2015
A serial killer called the Cowboy is hunting young women in North Seattle, and Tracy Crosswhite may have been marked as part of the game. To stop him, she has to reopen an old investigation others want left alone.
Third Watch
by Robert Dugoni
2015
Young patrol officer Tracy Crosswhite answers what seems like a routine domestic disturbance while a reporter shadows her for the night. The call turns into a hostage crisis and a sharp test of the nerve that will define her career.
In the Clearing
by Robert Dugoni
2016
Tracy helps an old academy friend revisit the decades-old death of a Native teenage girl once ruled a suicide. The cold case leads into a small town with long memories and carefully buried lies.
The 7th Canon
by Robert Dugoni
2016
Young attorney Peter Donley defends a priest accused of murdering a teenage boy at a San Francisco shelter. What looks damning at first opens into a brutal fight over hidden crimes, damaged loyalties, and who gets believed.
Close to Home
by Robert Dugoni
2017
The hit-and-run death of a young boy should have an answer, until the suspected driver is shielded by the military and key evidence disappears. Tracy's search for justice exposes a wider criminal operation tied to the base.
The Trapped Girl
by Robert Dugoni
2017
A woman's body hauled up in a crab pot gives Tracy Crosswhite a victim with no clear identity and too many missing pieces. As the case unfolds, betrayal and greed drive it toward a dangerous finish.
A Steep Price
by Robert Dugoni
2018
A missing young woman who resisted her family's plans is found dead in an abandoned well, and Tracy takes the case. At the same time, trouble inside her unit puts careers, and lives, on shaky ground.
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
by Robert Dugoni
2018
Born with red pupils and branded Devil Boy by cruel classmates, Sam Hill grows up feeling set apart from everyone around him. As an adult, he looks back on faith, friendship, heartbreak, and the life he nearly misunderstood.
The Eighth Sister
by Robert Dugoni
2019
Former CIA officer Charles Jenkins agrees to one last Moscow mission and finds himself hunting the killer of American sleeper agents. Nothing is as it first seems, and soon he is running not just from Russia but from his own side.
A Cold Trail
by Robert Dugoni
2020
Back in Cedar Grove with her husband and baby, Tracy hopes for a quiet stretch of time and gets anything but. A reporter's murder and an old local case pull her toward a conspiracy with roots in her hometown.
The Last Agent
by Robert Dugoni
2020
Charles Jenkins returns to Russia to find out whether the woman who once saved him is still alive in Lefortovo Prison. To get her out, he must trust an old enemy and survive a hunt stretching far beyond Moscow.
In Her Tracks
by Robert Dugoni
2021
Reassigned to cold cases, Tracy investigates the long-ago abduction of a five-year-old girl while another woman vanishes in the present. Both cases hinge on family secrets, fractured marriages, and what people hide behind quiet doors.
The Last Line
by Robert Dugoni
2021
In this short prequel, rookie Seattle homicide detective Del Castigliano investigates two bodies pulled from Lake Union. What starts as a first big break becomes a hard lesson in corruption and the price of looking too closely.
The World Played Chess
by Robert Dugoni
2021
In 1979, Vincent Bianco expects an easy last summer before college and instead finds himself working beside two Vietnam veterans carrying hard memories. Decades later, he begins to understand how that summer shaped the man he became.
The Silent Sisters
by Robert Dugoni
2022
Charles Jenkins is dragged back into Russia when the last two American sleeper agents in a secret network go silent. Between the mob, the security services, and his own kill order, every move could be the wrong one.
What She Found
by Robert Dugoni
2022
Tracy reopens the disappearance of reporter Lisa Childress, a case that has haunted the missing woman's family for decades. The answers lead into political corruption, police scandal, and a killer who may not be finished.
Her Deadly Game
by Robert Dugoni
2023
Former chess prodigy Keera Duggan returns to her family's defense firm and lands a headline murder case on her first homicide defense. The deeper she reads the board, the more dangerous the game becomes.
One Last Kill
by Robert Dugoni
2023
Tracy reopens the Route 99 serial killer case, a failure that has shadowed Seattle for decades. Working with her old adversary Johnny Nolasco, she finds corruption and cover-ups almost as dangerous as the killer.
A Killing on the Hill
by Robert Dugoni
2024
In 1933 Seattle, young reporter William Shoe Shumacher sees a high-profile murder as his shot at a real career. His digging into vice, corruption, and clashing stories puts him in the middle of a citywide powder keg.
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
by Robert Dugoni
2024
Keera Duggan agrees to defend Jenna Bernstein, a biotech CEO charged with killing her former partner and lover. The problem is that Keera has known Jenna since childhood, and knows exactly how dangerous she can be.
A Dead Draw
by Robert Dugoni
2025
After a suspect with ties to her sister's killer gets free on a technicality, Tracy Crosswhite heads to Cedar Grove to regain her footing. What follows is a tense cat-and-mouse fight with revenge driving every move.
Hold Strong
by Robert Dugoni
2025
Set against World War II, this novel follows Sam Carlson, a POW in the Pacific, and Sarah Haber, a gifted codebreaker in Washington. Their lives move toward a devastating collision shaped by war, love, and one tragic mission.
Her Cold Justice
by Robert Dugoni
2026
Keera Duggan defends the nephew of her trusted investigator after a double homicide in South Seattle points straight at him. The evidence looks grim, but the deeper she digs, the more the case looks like a conspiracy.
One Split Second
by Robert Dugoni
2026
When Sheriff Jenny Almond is charged with murdering an unarmed veteran, Tracy Crosswhite digs into the shooting and an old disappearance tied to the same man. The case links split-second choices in the present to secrets buried for decades.
Where should I start?
If you want police procedurals: The Academy -> My Sister's Grave -> Her Final Breath
If you want classic legal thrillers: The Jury Master -> Wrongful Death -> Bodily Harm
If you want courtroom suspense with a new lead: Her Deadly Game -> Beyond Reasonable Doubt -> Her Cold Justice
If you want spy fiction: The Eighth Sister -> The Last Agent -> The Silent Sisters
If you want standalones first: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell -> The World Played Chess -> A Killing on the Hill
Author bio
Robert Dugoni was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and grew up in Burlingame, California. He was one of ten kids, which may help explain why he learned early to find his own lane. By the time he was in seventh grade, he already knew he wanted to write. That idea stayed with him.
Writing came first.
In high school he worked on the school paper and found a mentor in journalist Sam Goldman, who pushed him to chase stories and write with care. Dugoni carried that love of reporting to Stanford, where he wrote for The Stanford Daily and sharpened the habits that still show up in his fiction: clean scenes, strong momentum, and an eye for telling detail. Early newspaper work led to time with the Los Angeles Times, but life took a practical turn after that.
He went to law school at UCLA and spent years as a civil litigator in California and Washington. It was solid work, and it gave him a close look at how people behave when money, fear, pride, and grief all collide. Those years turned out to be useful. You can feel them in his courtroom scenes, in the way his lawyers question witnesses, and in the pressure his characters carry long after a case is supposed to be over.
Still, the law was never the whole plan. Dugoni has said that one day he woke up knowing he needed to chase the writing life for real. With his wife's support, he moved to Seattle and started writing full-time. It was a risky choice, especially with a young family, but it changed everything.
His first published book was the nonfiction account The Cyanide Canary, written with EPA special agent Joseph Hilldorfer. It tells the story of an environmental crime case in Idaho, and it reads with the drive of a thriller because the facts were already that stark. From there Dugoni moved into fiction with the David Sloane books, including The Jury Master, Wrongful Death, and Murder One. Those novels helped establish him as a legal thriller writer who understood both the law and the human mess around it.
Then came Tracy Crosswhite.
With My Sister's Grave, Dugoni introduced the Seattle homicide detective who became his best-known character. Tracy is smart, stubborn, wounded, and deeply invested in getting the truth right. Readers who like police procedurals tend to stay for the combination of solid casework and real feeling. Dugoni keeps the mysteries moving, but he also gives space to grief, loyalty, and the small costs of doing hard work for a living.
He has never stayed in just one lane, though. The spy novel The Eighth Sister and its sequels show his taste for cat-and-mouse suspense. The Keera Duggan books, starting with Her Deadly Game, bring him back to the courtroom with a former chess prodigy as the lead. And his standalones, especially The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and The World Played Chess, show a softer, more reflective side. Across all of them, certain things keep showing up: people under pressure, families that shape us for better or worse, and the long shadow of old choices.
Today Dugoni lives in the Seattle area and writes full-time. His books have sold in the millions, been translated widely, and picked up major award attention, but the more interesting fact is probably the simplest one: he kept going. He wanted to write as a kid, took a long detour through courtrooms and deadlines, and still found his way back to the desk.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
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