Scott Marshall Books in Order

The Scott Marshall books take John Carson away from Scotland and over to the United States, but they keep the same mix of dark cases and stubborn investigators. Scott Marshall himself is a former FBI special agent who walked away from his badge carrying a lot of unfinished business.

In Old Habits, we learn that four years earlier Marshall and his team hunted a serial killer in a small town in upstate New York. Women were abducted, murdered, and posed in shallow graves as if on display. The case ended with Marshall shot and left for dead, his partner Jessie Kent missing, and the killer apparently taking his own life. Several of the victims were never recovered.

When the novel opens, Marshall is back in his hometown living with the weight of that failure. He is no longer with the FBI, which already sets this story slightly off to the side of a standard procedural. Then a local detective arrives asking for his help. Bodies have been discovered and arranged in ways that echo the original killings, and someone seems determined to drag the past into the present.

The investigation forces Marshall to return to the town he hoped never to see again. Working alongside Detective Dani Fox, he is forced to question what really happened during his last hunt for the killer and whether he missed vital clues in the chaos. The deeper they dig, the clearer it becomes that whoever is behind the new displays knows Marshall very well and is using the case to get under his skin.

Although the setting is American, the book still feels like a John Carson novel. There is careful attention to police process, a focus on small decisions that spiral into big consequences, and a steady, page turning build toward confrontation. The emotional core sits with Marshall’s guilt over Jessie and his determination to bring her home, one way or another.

With only one Scott Marshall title so far, this series reads almost like a self contained thriller that still leaves the door open for more. It is a good choice for readers who enjoy Carson’s Scottish work but are curious to see how his style translates to FBI territory, or for anyone who likes serial killer investigations grounded in character rather than gore.