Reading the C. J. Box books in order means catching up with 24 Joe Pickett stories, 6 Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell books, his standalone novels, several short stories, and collections as well. Quite a lot of books, but well worth the read!
Here are the C. J. Box novels in order of publication and chronological order for all his mystery fiction works.
Latest C. J. Box Books
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Joe Pickett Books in Publication Order
- Open Season (#1), 2001
- Savage Run (#2), 2002
- Winterkill(#3), 2003
- Trophy Hunt (#4), 2004
- Dull Knife (#4.5), 2011
- Out of Range (#5), 2005
- In Plain Sight(#6), 2006
- Free Fire (#7), 2007
- Blood Trail (#8), 2008
- Below Zero (#9), 2009
- Nowhere to Run (#10), 2010
- Cold Wind (#11), 2011
- The Master Falconer(#11.5), 2011
- Force of Nature (#12), 2012
- Breaking Point (#13), 2013
- Stone Cold (#14), 2014
- Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country ( #14.5), 2014
- Endangered (#15), 2015
- Off the Grid (#16), 2016
- Vicious Circle (#17), 2017
- Disappeared (#18), 2018
- Wolf Pack (#19), 2019
- Long Range (#20), 2020
- Dark Sky (#21), 2021
- Shadows Reel (#22), 2022
- Storm Watch (#23), 2023
- Three-Inch Teeth (#24), 2024
Joe Pickett Short Stories
- Dull Knife, 2011
- The Master Falconer, 2011
- , 2018 (with Sandra Brown)
- Precious Cargo, 2022 (in Birds of Prey)
Joe Pickett Collections
Other Joe Pickett Books
- Joe Pickett: A Mysterious Profile, 2024
Cody Hoyt / Cassie Dewell Series in Order of Publication
- Back of Beyond (#1), 2011
- The Highway (#2), 2013
- Badlands (#3), 2015
- Paradise Valley (#4), 2017
- The Bitterroots (#5), 2019
- Treasure State (#6), 2022
The Highway Quartet Books in Publication Order
- Back of Beyond (#1), 2011
- The Highway (#2), 2013
- Badlands (#3), 2015
- Paradise Valley (#4), 2017
Standalone Novels in Order of Publication
- Blue Heaven, 2008
- Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, 2009
- Inherit the Dead, 2013 (with Lee Child, Mary Higgins Clark, John Connolly, Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Santlofer, and Lisa Unger)
C.J. Box Novellas and Short Stories
- Honor & …, 2018 (with Sandra Brown)
- Pronghorns of the Third Reich, 2012 (Bibliomysteries)
Anthologies and Short Story Collections in Order of Publication
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2006, 2006
- Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem and Suspense, 2009
- , 2010
- Live Noir or Die Trying (Damn Near Dead #2), 2010
- Mysterious Writers: The Many Facets of Mystery Writing, 2010
- Inherit the Dead, 2013
- Death Sentences: Stories of Deathly Books, Murderous Booksellers and Lethal Literature, 2014
- The Highway Kind, 2016
- Best American Mystery Stories 2017, 2017
- MatchUp, 2017
- Murder, They Wrote: Five Bibliomysteries by Edgar Award-Winning Authors, 2018
- Gather at the River, 2019
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2020, 2020
- Birds of Prey: The Harlan Coben Challenge, 2022
- Killin’ Time in San Diego: Bouchercon Anthology 2023, 2023
Non-Fiction Books in Publication Order
- Travel Smart: Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, 1998 (with Paul Otteson)
Bibliomysteries Books in Publication Order
- The Book of Virtue (By: Ken Bruen), 2012
- Pronghorns of the Third Reich (By: C.J. Box), 2012
- The Book Thing (By: Laura Lippman), 2012
- The Book Case (By: Nelson DeMille), 2012
- An Acceptable Sacrifice (By: Jeffery Deaver), 2012
- Death Leaves a Bookmark (By: William Link), 2012
- The Final Testament (By: Peter Blauner), 2013
- Rides a Stranger (By: David Bell), 2013
- The Long Sonata of the Dead (By: Andrew Taylor), 2013
- The Book of Ghosts (By: Reed Farrel Coleman), 2013
- The Compendium of Srem (By: F. Paul Wilson), 2014
- What’s in a Name? (By: Thomas H. Cook), 2014
- Remaindered (By: Peter Lovesey), 2014
- The Sequel (By: R.L. Stine), 2014
- The Gospel of Sheba (By: Lyndsay Faye), 2014
- The Nature of My Inheritance (By: Bradford Morrow), 2014
- It’s in the Book (By: Mickey Spillane), 2014
- The Scroll (By: Anne Perry), 2014
- The Book of the Lion (By: Thomas Perry), 2015
- The Little Men (By: Megan Abbott), 2015
- Condor in the Stacks (By: James Grady), 2015
- Mystery, Inc. (By: Joyce Carol Oates), 2015
- Every Seven Years (By: Denise Mina), 2015
- From the Queen (By: Carolyn Hart), 2015
- The Travelling Companion (By: Ian Rankin), 2016
- Citadel (By: Stephen Hunter), 2016
- Reconciliation Day (By: Christopher Fowler), 2016
- Dead Dames Don’t Sing (By: John Harvey), 2016
- The Haze (By: James W. Hall), 2016
- Hoodoo Harry (By: Joe R. Lansdale), 2017
- The Pretty Little Box (By: Charles Todd), 2018
- Seven Years (By: Peter Robinson), 2018
- The Hemingway Valise (By: Robert Olen Butler), 2018
- The Last Honest Horse Thief (By: Michael Koryta), 2018
- The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository (By: John Connolly), 2018
- The Dark Door (By: Lisa Unger), 2022
C.J. Box Biography – About the Author
C. J. Box,aka Charles James Box, is the New York Times bestselling author of theJoe Pickett mystery series.
The author is a native of Wyoming. Born in 1958 in Casper, WY, where he grew up. He is the older of three siblings. he graduated with a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Denver.
C.J. Box worked a variety of jobs after college, including as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, and newspaper reporter. He also worked for a time as a Wyoming temporary game warden, an experience that inspired his game warden Joe Pickett’s series of novels. At some point, he owned an international tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie.
He was and is involved in various aspects of tourism, earning the “BIG WYO” Award from the state tourism industry. He was on the Board of Directors of Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and serves on the Wyoming Office of Tourism Board these days.
C J Box is currently living outside of Cheyenne with his family.
The C J Box novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and overall, the books have sold both in the US and abroad missions of copies.
At some point, I owned all theJoe Pickett novels, but I’ve in the meantime given many to the local charity bookshop for those who cannot afford to buy books. I still have one more, a trade paperback called Free Fire, bought several years ago.
Of course, I continue to buy the latest Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett novels featuring the Pickett family as soon as they come out, however, these days I rather buy them as Kindle downloads due to lack of space in my home. For me, reading the CJ Box books in order is one of the biggest joys when I know the latest novel has been just released and I can get ahold of it right away.
The most popular C.J. Box series is Joe Pickett. He is a Wyoming game warden in the small town ofTwelve Sleep. This is a town of hunters, so it’s understandable that game wardens are not viewed with the utmost respect by the natives.
Joe is especially hated because he doesn’t take bribes and he takes his job seriously. Most people there love their rifles and love their drinks as well, not a healthy combination, especially when Joe has to give tickets to armed drunks whoare caught in the act.
In The Disappeared, Joe works two cases at the same time. First, there is the disappearance of three British women who were visiting a local ranch, and second, he and his friend, Nate Romanowski, are called to investigate the killings of some eagles, which is a Federal offense. The problem is that someone wants Joe to stop investigating, but so far it’s not sure which case is someone trying to stall.
A popular Joe Pickett story, The Master Falconer, was named a chilling short story of death and retribution, as well as a dramatic story of justice both old and new.
Reading the Joe Pickett series in order helps us get involved in the world that C.J. Box has created. We can also follow the character development and complexity of their relationships. Each year a new novel in the Joe Pickett series is released, and the latest Joe Pickett novel is Three-Inch Teeth, published in 2024.
In addition to his writing, Box is a frequent public speaker and commentator on outdoor and wildlife issues. He has served on the board of directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and the Wyoming Humanities Council. He currently lives with his family in Wyoming.
Overview of the Joe Pickett Series
The series is about Joe Pickett, a game warden who lives in Twelve Sleep, a remote fictional town in rural west Wyoming. He is a dedicated family man, he considers himself a humble person who wants to do what’s right, and he takes his job seriously.
However, the game warden Joe Pickett’s cases are often dangerous, as he investigates crimes in the region. Some of the issues he comes across are related to the environment, corruption, and violence. For example, during his investigations, he works against environmental terrorists, rogue federal land managers, animal abusers, corrupt bureaucrats, crazy hitmen, domestic abusers, and crazy animal rights activists.
While at some point or another, the game warden had to do things he was not proud of, overall, he is an honest, dedicated man who respects the law, loves his family, and has a moral compass that he rigorously follows.
Overview of theCody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell Series
The series revolves around the investigative work of Cody Hoyt, who is a troubled former cop, and Cassie Dewell, a recently divorced single mother who now works as a private investigator.
Cody is an ex-police investigator who is also Cassie’s former partner. Especially in the earlier books, he is the main protagonist of the series, while the later books focus only on Cassie.
When the two separate series merged together, it turned into one big series involving the two main characters, with the two protagonists’s names in the title.
The Cassie Dewel book series is also called the Highway Quartet series by C.J. Box, which focuses on investigating crimes happening on highways.
Cassie Dewell is a police investigator who has sharp investigative skills which she puts them to good use when working together with Cody Hyt. Initially, she is a single mother who is living in Montana. She is also Cody’s ex-partner.
Eventually, Cassie moves to North Dakota where she gets a job at the local sheriff’s department to hunt down criminals.
In the first book in the series, Back of Beyond, we meet Cody, who is struggling with alcoholism and is facing his personal demons, and Cassie, who is hired to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy businessman in Montana. The more they investigate, the closer they come to uncovering a major chain of deceit and corruption that leads them on a dangerous journey through the wilderness.
The order of appearance of Cody and Cassie in the Highway Quartet books:
- Back And Beyond features Cody .
- The Highway features both Cody and Cassie.
- Badlands, Paradise Valley, The Bitterroots, and Treasure State feature only Cassie.
C.J. Box Books Adaptations
The Joe Pickett stories have been adapted into a two-season TV series running between 2021 and 2023. After two seasons, the series was canceled. It featured Michael DormanasJoe Pickett and Julianna GuillasMarybeth Pickett.
C.J. Box Awards
Several of the books written by C J Box received awards, including the Anthony Award, the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Awards, the Prix Calibre 38 (France), and the Maltese Falcon Award (Japan). His first standalone novel, Blue Season, received the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2008.
He was also awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum, as well as and the Spur Award from Western Writers of America for Best Contemporary Novel.
- Anthony Award Best First Novel winner in 2002 for Open Season
- Edgar Award Best Novel winner in 2009 for Blue Heaven
- Barry Award Best Novel winner in 2016 for Badlands
Authors Similar to C.J. Box
- David Baldacci
- John Sandford
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Lee Child
- Michael Connelly
- Patricia Cornwell
- Robert Crais
- Steve Hamilton
- William Kent Krueger
