The K Team Books in Order

The K Team novels spin off from the Andy Carpenter universe and ask a simple question: what happens when the investigator characters step out from the lawyer’s shadow and run their own shop? The answer is a leaner, more investigative series that still keeps the humor and the dogs.

Former Paterson cop Corey Douglas narrates these books. He and his German shepherd partner, Simon Garfunkel, have just retired from the police force but aren’t quite ready for quiet lives. Corey teams up with Laurie Collins and Marcus Clark—both familiar faces for Andy Carpenter readers—to form a private‑investigation outfit. They name themselves the K Team in Simon’s honor and spend their days working cases the police can’t or won’t fully handle.

In The K Team, their first outing, a respected local judge turns to them for help when he’s blackmailed and can’t go to the police without destroying his reputation. The case quickly sprawls from a simple extortion attempt into a much more dangerous web of secrets. Later books keep the focus on tough investigations with personal stakes: Animal Instinct reopens the murder of a woman Corey once failed to protect, Citizen K‑9 follows the team into a long‑cold double disappearance from a college reunion, and Good Dog, Bad Cop forces Corey to confront the suspicious death of his former mentor, which many wrote off as a murder‑suicide.

Compared with the Andy Carpenter novels, these stories spend less time in court and more time knocking on doors, digging through old files, and running surveillance. Corey’s voice is more hard‑boiled than Andy’s, but he shares the same skepticism about authority and the same soft spot for dogs and underdogs alike. Simon isn’t just a mascot; his K‑9 training often gives the team an edge.

You don’t need to have read the full Andy Carpenter series to enjoy the K Team books, but existing fans will appreciate the cameos and shared history. Starting with The K Team lets you meet the crew as they come together; from there, Animal Instinct, Citizen K‑9, and Good Dog, Bad Cop deepen the sense of a small investigative family taking on big, messy problems.