Characters

Abby Hart is the young woman at the center of Amy Cross's supernatural-horror Abby Hart Chronicles.

Abby Sinclair is a Los Angeles security consultant in Michael Prescott's Abby Sinclair & Tess McCallum thrillers.

Abeni is the young heroine of P. Djeli Clark's middle-grade fantasy series Abeni's Song.

Adam Freeman is the newcomer at the center of Christopher Pike's middle-grade Spooksville horror series.

Adam Lapid is the Holocaust-survivor private investigator in Jonathan Dunsky's historical mysteries set in early Israel.

Adrian Mole is Sue Townsend's self-important, chronically candid fictional diarist.

Aector McAvoy is the Hull-based detective sergeant at the center of David Mark's police procedural series.

Ainsley McGregor is the amateur sleuth in Candace Havens's small-town cozy mystery series.

Alafair Tucker is the Oklahoma farm wife and amateur investigator in Donis Casey's historical mystery series.

Alex Delaware is the psychologist who consults on Los Angeles homicide cases in Jonathan Kellerman's mystery series.

Alex Rider is Anthony Horowitz's teenage spy, recruited by MI6 for missions that exploit his age and skills.

Alex Rogers is the displaced technology worker at the center of Charles W. Lamb's Ranger portal-fantasy series.

Alexander 'Colt' Colton is the police lieutenant and male lead of For You, Kristen Ashley's first 'Burg novel.

Alexander Sheridan is the British military officer at the center of V.A. Stuart's historical military novels about the 1857 Indian Mutiny.

Aleytys is the telepathic protagonist of Jo Clayton's Diadem series, pursued after she becomes bonded to an alien artifact.

Alice is the curious child who enters Wonderland and the looking-glass world in Lewis Carroll's two classic fantasy novels.

Alina Starkov is the Ravkan mapmaker whose power to summon light drives Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy.

Alison Bergeron is the English professor and accidental investigator in Maggie Barbieri's Murder 101 Mystery series.

Alison Brownstone is the half-Drow bounty hunter at the center of Judith Berens's urban-fantasy series in the Oriceran Universe.

Aloysius X.L. Pendergast is the FBI agent at the center of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's long-running thriller series.

Amanda Pepper is a Philadelphia English teacher who investigates crimes in Gillian Roberts's fourteen-book mystery series.

Amelia Doss is the title character of Andre Gonzalez's three-book horror series, which begins with Resurrection.

Amos Decker is a former football player and investigator with hyperthymesia in David Baldacci's thriller series.

Amy Maxwell is the suburban-mother protagonist of Heather Balog's comic mystery series, whose titles count down from eight to two.

Andrew Yancy is a former Florida detective and restaurant inspector in Carl Hiaasen's Bad Monkey and Razor Girl.

Angela McCluskey is the Irish immigrant at the centre of Anne Bennett's Birmingham-set McCluskey Saga.

Angie Russo is the animal-talking amateur sleuth in Molly Fitz's Pet Whisperer P.I. cozy mystery series.

Anita Blake is a necromancer, vampire executioner, and investigator in Laurell K. Hamilton's urban fantasy series.

Anita Sundstrom is the Malmö police inspector in Torquil MacLeod's Swedish crime series.

Anna Pigeon is a National Park Service law-enforcement ranger in Nevada Barr's mystery series.

Annika Bengtzon is Liza Marklund's Stockholm crime reporter, whose investigations and private life run through an eleven-book Swedish crime series.

Annja Creed is the archaeologist at the centre of Alex Archer's Rogue Angel adventures, where a connection to Joan of Arc's sword brings her into supernatural cases.

Arielle Lucila is the assassin at the centre of Andre Gonzalez's five-book action thriller series, which begins with Angel Assassin.

Armand Gamache is Louise Penny's Chief Inspector of Homicide, investigating murders in Quebec and the fictional village of Three Pines.

Arnau of Valbona is the young knight in Simon Turney's Knights Templar series, bound by an oath to protect his murdered lord's daughter.

Arnold Ethon is the fifteen-year-old lead of A.P. Beswick's Spirit Beast Saga, drawn into the world of the Spirit Wardens and their bonded creatures.

Arthur Dent is the unwilling human traveller in Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels, beginning when Earth is demolished.

Titus Artorius Justus is the Roman legionary at the centre of James Mace's Artorian Chronicles, serving through campaigns in Germania, Gaul, and Judea.

Arwen Valondale is the healer at the centre of Kate Golden's Sacred Stones trilogy, whose choice to save her brother brings her to the Onyx Kingdom.

Asher is the Hunter featured in Lara Adrian's Born of Darkness, the opening paranormal romance in the Hunter Legacy series.

Atticus O'Sullivan is the ancient druid at the center of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, an urban fantasy series set largely in modern Tempe, Arizona.

Augusta Goodnight is the guardian angel in Mignon F. Ballard's seven-book Southern paranormal mystery series.

Avery Baker is the textile designer turned renovator in Jennie Bentley's Do-It-Yourself Mysteries, set in Waterfield, Maine.

Ayla is the protagonist of Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children, a prehistoric historical-fiction series set in Ice Age Europe.

Bertie Pollock is a young Edinburgh boy in Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street novels, where he contends with his mother's plans for his life.

Bev is the amnesiac innkeeper at the center of S. Usher Evans' cozy fantasy mystery series The Weary Dragon Inn.

Bianca Dangereuse is the Oklahoma-born stuntwoman and actress at the center of Donis Casey's historical mysteries set in 1920s Hollywood.

Bianca Oliver is the lead character in Claudia Gray's Evernight, a young adult paranormal romance set at a vampire boarding school.

Billy Harney is the Chicago detective at the center of David Ellis's Black Book crime-thriller series.

Blade is the 14-year-old narrator of Tim Bowler's young adult thriller series, on the run in a city he calls the Beast.

Brinna Caruso is the detective at the center of Janice Cantore's Christian police-fiction series, where criminal investigations test both her professional judgment and her faith.

Bronwyn is the modern-day witch at the center of Candace Havens's four-book paranormal romance series, where magic, supernatural threats, and romantic complications meet.

Brother Cadfael is Ellis Peters's Welsh Benedictine monk and amateur investigator, solving mysteries around 12th-century Shrewsbury Abbey.

Brynna is the runaway princess and masked vigilante in S. Usher Evans's young adult fantasy series, forced to balance the throne of Forcadel with her work as the Veil.

Buck Reilly is the former Wall Street trader turned Key West treasure hunter and pilot in John H. Cunningham's Caribbean-set adventure series.

Bunny McGarry is the former Garda detective in Caimh McDonnell's Dublin crime comedies, known for his loyalty, direct methods, and role across connected series.

C. Auguste Dupin is Edgar Allan Poe's Parisian amateur detective, who solves the three Dupin tales through observation and ratiocination.

Callie Parrish is the mortuary cosmetologist and amateur investigator in Fran Rizer's South Carolina cozy mystery series.

Callum Ormond is the teenage fugitive in Gabrielle Lord's Conspiracy 365 thrillers, racing to uncover a family secret within one year.

Cally Frasier is the teenager at the center of R.L. Stine's 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil trilogy, after her family moves into the cursed house.

Cameron Winter is Andrew Klavan's former intelligence operative and English professor, whose investigations combine crime-solving with his interest in literature and moral choices.

Peter Blood is Rafael Sabatini's Irish physician turned pirate captain, forced into outlawry after the Monmouth Rebellion in this seventeenth-century adventure series.

Cara Kennedy is Iris Yamashita's Anchorage detective, sent to isolated Alaskan communities where distance and local history complicate murder investigations.

Carl Mørck leads the Copenhagen cold-case team in Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q novels after an ambush changes his career and working life.

Carson O'Connor is a New Orleans homicide detective who joins Deucalion against Victor Helios in Dean Koontz's modern Frankenstein sequence.

Casey Duncan is Kelley Armstrong's homicide detective in the Rockton novels, a series set in a secret Yukon town for people who need to disappear.

Cass Shipton is a clairvoyant herbalist in Dolores Stewart Riccio's paranormal cozy mysteries about a Wiccan circle investigating crimes in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Cayetano Brule is the Cuban private detective protagonist of Roberto Ampuero's mystery series set in Latin America and Europe.

Cece Laramie is Cara Reinard's interior designer and suburban wife whose husband's affair leads to a reckless revenge plot in a darkly comic suspense series.

Channie is the teenage witch at the center of Charlotte Abel's young adult paranormal romance, fighting a magical curse tied to the name her parents gave her.

Charles Hayden is the Royal Navy officer at the center of Sean S. Thomas Russell's historical naval novels set during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Charlie is a nurse in Walt Browning's post-apocalyptic series, surviving an EMP attack and its aftermath in Central Florida.

Charlie Bradshaw is Stephen Dobyns's former police officer turned private investigator, solving crimes in the Saratoga Springs mystery series.

Charlie Fox is Zoe Sharp's former British Special Forces soldier turned close-protection operative in an international thriller series.

Charlie Harris is the widowed librarian and archivist in Miranda James's Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, set in Mississippi with his Maine Coon cat Diesel.

Charlie Moon is the Ute rancher and tribal investigator in James D. Doss's mystery series set around southwestern Colorado.

Charlie Parker is John Connolly's private investigator, whose murder cases combine crime fiction with supernatural horror.

Chas Riley is the Hamburg state prosecutor at the center of Simone Buchholz's noir crime novels.

Chiara Corelli is the NYPD detective in Catherine Maiorisi's New York City mystery series.

Christy Miller is Robin Jones Gunn's Christian young adult protagonist, followed from her teenage years into adulthood across connected series.

Chuck Bender is the archaeologist at the center of Scott Graham's National Park Mystery series, set across U.S. national parks.

Linh Cinder is the cyborg mechanic at the center of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, a science-fiction series built around fairy-tale retellings.

Claire Aldington is the rector's wife and amateur investigator in Isabelle Holland's five St. Anselm's mysteries.

Claire Calderwood is the detective in Dea Poirier's two-book Calderwood Cases mystery series, set in her Maine island hometown.

Cliff Hardy is the Sydney private investigator in Peter Corris's long-running Australian crime series.

Clyde Barr is the off-grid former mercenary at the center of Erik Storey's two action thrillers.

Conway Sax is a former race mechanic and recovering alcoholic in Steve Ulfelder's four Massachusetts crime novels.

Cooper MacLeish is a Chicago cab driver and Vietnam veteran in Sam Reaves's four hard-boiled crime novels.

Corrie Belle Hollister tells her own story in Michael R. Phillips's nine-book Christian historical series set in nineteenth-century California.

Cotton Malone is a former Justice Department operative and Copenhagen rare-bookseller in Steve Berry's historical thriller series.

Cuno Massey is the young gunman pursuing vengeance in Peter Brandvold's eight-book .45-Caliber Western series.

Dan Hopper is Neil Sands's former paratrooper detective in the two-book Pursuit of Justice crime-thriller series.

Daniel Jacquot is Martin O'Brien's Chief Inspector of the Police Judiciaire, investigating crime across Provence in a ten-book series.

Daniel Marchant is the MI6 officer at the center of Jon Stock's three-book British espionage thriller series.

Danitra Brown is the self-possessed title character in Nikki Grimes's three children's poetry books about her friendship with Zuri Jackson.

Danny Cortez is the title character of Andre Gonzalez's action-thriller series, scheduled to begin with Dead Man's List in 2026.

Danny Wright is the Idaho National Guard private at the center of Trent Reedy's Divided We Fall young adult political-thriller trilogy.

Darcy Merriweather is the wish-granting witch and amateur investigator in Heather Blake's nine-book Wishcraft Mysteries.

Darren Mathews is Attica Locke's Black Texas Ranger, investigating murder and disappearance cases across East Texas in the Highway 59 trilogy.

David Cavanaugh is the Boston criminal defense attorney in Sydney Bauer's six-book legal-thriller series.

David Hunter is Simon Beckett's forensic anthropologist, using evidence from human remains to investigate crimes across a long-running thriller series.

Deucalion is the original creature in Dean Koontz's Frankenstein novels, opposing Victor Helios and his plan to create engineered humans in New Orleans.

Dirk Pitt is a NUMA troubleshooter in Clive Cussler's long-running adventure novels, investigating maritime mysteries, lost history, and large-scale threats.

Dixie Hemingway is a former sheriff's deputy working as a pet sitter on Siesta Key in Blaize Clement's Florida mystery series.

Dr. Pippa Durrant is a forensic psychologist in Miranda Rijks's thriller trilogy whose training in detecting deception draws her into murder cases.

DI Duncan McCormack is a Highland detective working difficult cases in Liam McIlvanney's 1960s Glasgow crime novels.

Dyamonde Daniel is the candid third-grade lead of Nikki Grimes's early chapter books about friendship, money, disappointment, and self-respect.

Dylan Maples is the young lead of Shane Peacock's Canadian mystery adventures, with each case rooted in a different region's geography and history.

Edgar Brim is the young lead of Shane Peacock's Victorian gothic horror trilogy, where literary monsters prove to be real.

Einar Unnsson is an Icelandic outlaw in Tim Hodkinson's Viking Age novels, joining his uncle in Orkney and becoming an ulfhednar warrior.

Galadriel 'El' Higgins is the narrator and protagonist of Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy, set at a magical school where students must survive predatory monsters.

Eleanor Dash is the mystery-writer narrator of Catherine Mack's Vacation Mysteries, investigating real murders while traveling and addressing readers directly.

Elena Deveraux is the vampire hunter at the center of Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter paranormal romance series.

Ella Karman is the former Influencer who enters a hidden school for artifact thieves in Katie Delahanty's Keystone duology.

Ellie Foreman is a Chicago-area video producer and single mother in Libby Fischer Hellmann's mystery series.

Ellie O'Conner is the former CIA operative investigating crime in Jack Hardin's Pine Island Coast Florida Suspense series.

Elphaba Thropp is Gregory Maguire's green-skinned Oz protagonist in The Wicked Years fantasy series.

Em Johnson runs a Kauai bar and investigates murders with the Hula Maidens in Jill Marie Landis's cozy mystery series.

Emily the Strange is the science-minded, cat-loving teenage outsider in Rob Reger's illustrated novel series.

Eric Weston commands Earth's first faster-than-light ship in Evan Currie's Odyssey One military science-fiction series.

Erin McCabe is a transgender criminal defense attorney in Robyn Gigl's New Jersey legal thriller series.

Ern A. Smithe is a library-held reclone of a mystery writer in Gene Wolfe's A Borrowed Man novels.

Eskkar is the former steppe warrior who helps defend Orak in Sam Barone's Bronze Age historical-fiction series.

Essun is the orogene mother at the center of N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy.

Ethan Burke is the Secret Service agent who investigates Wayward Pines in Blake Crouch's thriller trilogy.

Fatma el-Sha'arawi is a Ministry investigator in P. Djeli Clark's alternate-history Cairo stories.

Finn Whitman leads the teenagers who investigate after-hours threats in Ridley Pearson's Kingdom Keepers series.

Flavia Albia is the Roman informer at the center of Lindsey Davis's historical mystery series.

Frank Merlin is a Scotland Yard detective investigating murder in Mark Ellis's wartime London crime series.

Frederick Troy is the Scotland Yard detective at the center of John Lawton's historical crime novels.

Frodo Baggins is the hobbit who carries the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Gabriella 'Gabi' Betarrini leads Lisa T. Bergren's River of Time series after a visit to Italian ruins sends her and her sister Lia to fourteenth-century Italy.

Gawain is the lead character in Sean Poage's The Arthurian Age, a two-book historical-fiction retelling of Arthurian Britain after Rome.

George, born Georgina, is one of Enid Blyton's Famous Five. She joins her cousins Julian, Dick, and Anne, with her dog Timmy, on their holiday adventures.

George Smiley is John le Carre's British intelligence officer, appearing in Cold War novels that include the connected Karla trilogy.

Georgia Davis is the former Chicago police officer turned private investigator in Libby Fischer Hellmann's Chicago mystery series.

Gerald Dunwoody is the Third Grade wizard at the center of K.E. Mills' four-book Rogue Agent comic fantasy series.

Gin Reilly is the FBI special agent in C.R. Chandler's Critical Crimes Unit thrillers, whose work is shaped by growing up with a serial-killer father.

Gina Beaufort Kelly is the private investigator in Jenna Bennett's Fidelity Investigations mysteries, beginning with Ditching David.

Grace Fisher is the British detective at the center of C.J. Grayson's six-book police-procedural crime series.

DCI Greg Geldard is the steady lead investigator in Heather Peck's British police procedural series.

Guido Brunetti is Donna Leon's Venetian commissario, investigating murder and corruption in a long-running series of police mysteries.

DI Angus Gus McGuire leads Liz Mistry's Bradford-set police procedural series.

Augusta Gus Monet is the lead character in Katie Tallo's mystery series about family history and old crimes.

Gwen Lark is the teenage lead of Vera Nazarian's Atlantis Grail science fiction series.

Hadrian Blackwater is the former mercenary and one half of Riyria in Michael J. Sullivan's fantasy series.

Halfdan Loki-Born is the Viking jarl at the center of Simon S J A Turney's Wolves of Odin historical fiction series.

Hannah Ives is Marcia Talley's Annapolis amateur sleuth in a long-running mystery series.

Hans Rekke is the reclusive professor who investigates cold cases with police officer Micaela Vargas in David Lagercrantz's crime series.

Happy Doll is the Los Angeles private investigator at the center of Jonathan Ames's noir mystery series.

Harlow Durant is the detective in Dea Poirier's three-book crime-thriller series. Start with Find Me in the Dark and read the cases in order.

Harry Bosch is Michael Connelly's Los Angeles homicide detective. Read the long-running crime series in publication order, starting with The Black Echo.

Harry Dresden is Jim Butcher's Chicago wizard and private investigator. Start the urban-fantasy series with Storm Front and continue in publication order.

Major Harry Maxim is Gavin Lyall's former SAS officer working on intelligence and security matters at 10 Downing Street. Read the four novels from The Secret Servant onward.

Harry Potter is the young wizard at the center of J.K. Rowling's seven Hogwarts novels. Read the books in publication order, starting with Philosopher's Stone.

Hattie Davish is the traveling secretary in Clara McKenna's five historical mysteries set in 1890s America. Start with A Lack of Temperance and read in order.

Helen Grace is M.J. Arlidge's Hampshire Police detective inspector. Begin the connected British crime series with Eeny Meeny.

Henning Juul is the Oslo crime reporter in Thomas Enger's Norwegian crime series. Start with Burned and read the seven connected investigations in order.

Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie's Belgian private detective. Read the mysteries in publication order, beginning with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Huy Son of Hapu is the central figure in Pauline Gedge's historical trilogy set in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt. Read from The Twice Born to The King's Man.

Ian Bradley is the Wall Street broker at the center of Lauren Layne's Hot Asset, the first 21 Wall Street romance.

Inspector Alan Banks is Peter Robinson's Yorkshire detective in the long-running Inspector Banks crime series.

Inspector George Felse is the police inspector at the center of Ellis Peters's contemporary British mystery series.

Inspector John Rebus is Ian Rankin's Edinburgh detective in a long-running Scottish crime series.

Inspector Jules Maigret is Georges Simenon's Paris commissaire, known for patient investigations into the lives around a crime.

Inspector O is the Pyongyang investigator in James Church's six-book political crime and spy series set in North Korea.

Inspector Pekkala is Sam Eastland's former tsarist investigator, recalled from a Soviet labor camp to work for Stalin.

Inspector Evariste Clovis Desire Pel is Mark Hebden's irascible police detective in a Burgundy-set mystery series.

Isaac Race is the young survivor at the center of Scott Medbury's After Days Trilogy and its America Falls continuation.

Ivar is a dragon-shifter who takes a central role in Coreene Callahan's Villains of the Dragonfury spin-off.

Izzy Palmer is Benedict Brown's accidental amateur sleuth, whose knowledge of classic detective fiction shapes a run of comic English murder cases.

Izzy Spellman is the middle child in Lisa Lutz's San Francisco family of private investigators, where surveillance is both work and a family habit.

Jack Bauer is the Counter Terrorist Unit agent at the center of the 24 franchise and its prequel tie-in novels.

Jack Bonafide is the lead character in Jordan Vezina's three-book action-thriller sequence.

Jack Dillon is Mike Faricy's former U.S. Marshal, stationed in Dublin and working crime cases with the Garda's Special Detective Unit.

Jack Grenard is S. Usher Evans' demon hunter, whose story runs from the Demon Spring trilogy into its direct sequel, Demon Fall.

Detective Inspector Jack Laidlaw is William McIlvanney's Glasgow detective, whose cases combine murder investigations with a close view of the city.

Jack Lamburt is John Etzil's former military operative, the central figure in a seven-book vigilante action-thriller series.

Jack Reacher is the former military police officer in Lee Child and Andrew Child's action-thriller novels, traveling without a permanent home or address.

Jack Rogan is the Australian investigative journalist at the center of Gabriel Farago's historical mystery thrillers.

Jack Stannard is a Navy Royal officer in J.D. Davies's Tudor naval fiction trilogy, set during Henry VIII's reign.

Jack Sullivan is the thirteen-year-old lead of Max Brallier's illustrated middle-grade monster-apocalypse series.

Jack Templar is the young monster hunter in Jeff Gunhus's six-book middle-grade fantasy series.

Jackson Brodie is the former soldier and police officer who works as a private investigator in Kate Atkinson's crime novels.

Jacob Mitzak is the lead character in Jordan Vezina's three-book thriller sequence, beginning with Never Forget.

Jacqueline 'Jack' Daniels is J.A. Konrath's Chicago police lieutenant in a long-running crime-thriller series with cocktail-titled books.

Jake Keller is the intelligence operative at the center of David Ricciardi's four espionage thrillers.

Jake Sullivan is the former intelligence operative at the center of Chip Bell's Gulf Coast mystery thriller series.

James Reece is the former Navy SEAL at the center of Jack Carr's Terminal List thriller series.

James Stark, known as Sandman Slim, is the magician who escapes Hell in Richard Kadrey's urban fantasy series.

Jan Childers leads Richard F. Weyand's Childers Universe novels, beginning as an orphan on Earth and joining the Commonwealth Space Force.

Jason Bourne is Robert Ludlum's amnesiac spy protagonist, continued in later Bourne novels by Eric Van Lustbader and Brian Freeman.

Jason Kolarich is the Chicago defense lawyer at the center of David Ellis's four legal thrillers.

Jason Stafford is a former Wall Street trader who investigates financial crime in Michael Sears's four financial thrillers.

Jean and Louise Dana are the sister detectives in the Dana Girls Mystery Stories, a 30-book juvenile mystery series.

Jeff Case is the continuing protagonist of Mike Slavin's three crime-thriller novels, beginning with Kill Crime.

Jeff Resnick is a former insurance investigator whose psychic abilities draw him into crimes in L.L. Bartlett's paranormal mystery series.

Jemima Shore is the television journalist whose reporting leads to murder investigations in Antonia Fraser's British mysteries.

Jericho Black is the continuing lead of Jordan Vezina's eight-book action and espionage thriller sequence.

Jess Mastriani is the Indiana teenager who can locate missing people after a lightning strike in Meg Cabot's 1-800-Where-R-You series.