Detectives Who Served:
Veterans in Mysteries and Thrillers 
Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke
 
Louisiana police detective Robicheaux was an Army infantry lieutenant during the Vietnam War.
 
First in series: The Neon Rain, 1987. Most recent:
 
Robicheaux: A Novel
by James Lee Burke

Struggling with PTSD, alcoholism and wrenching loss, Dave Robicheaux discovers that he may have committed a homicide he is investigating and endeavors to clear his name and make sense of the killing. 
Jack Reacher series by Lee Child
 
Reacher is a former major in the Army Military Police Corps. Now a civilian, he is not officially a detective but rather a “knight-errant,” helping others who have been wronged.
 
First in series: Killing Floor, 1997. Most recent: 
The Midnight Line: A Jack Reacher Novel
by Lee Child

Spotting a hard-won women's West Point class ring in a pawn shop, Jack Reacher fights a biker gang and a South Dakota gangster to discover the truth about the ring and why its owner sold it.
John Clark (Jack Ryan & John Clark series) by Tom Clancy
 
John Clark served in the Vietnam War as a Navy SEAL and later became a special operative for the CIA. He plays a pivotal role in the plot of many of the Jack Ryan novels.
 
First in series: Without Remorse, 1993. Most recent: 
 
Line of Sight
by Mike Maden

Jack Ryan Jr. finds that the scars of war can last a lifetime in the latest entry in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Twenty years ago, Dr. Kathy Ryan restored the eyesight of a young Bosnian girl who had been injured during an attack in the Balkan War. Today, her son, Jack Ryan Jr. has decided to surprise his mother by tracking down the young lady. What he finds shocks them both.
Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly
 
Bosch is a Los Angeles police homicide detective and a Vietnam veteran who served as a “tunnel rat” during his two tours of duty.
 
First in series: The Black Echo, 1992. Most recent:
Two Kinds of Truth
by Michael Connelly

An investigation into the murder of a young pharmacist leads Harry Bosch and San Fernando's detective squad into the big-business world of pill mills and prescription drug abuse at the same time an old case from Bosch's days with the LAPD returns to haunt him. 
Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by Robert Crais
 
This series features private detectives, former ranger Elvis Cole and his partner, former marine Joe Pike.
 
First in series: Monkey’s Raincoat, 1987. Most recent: 
The Wanted
by Robert Crais

Investigator Elvis Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, embark on a seemingly simple case involving a client who fears her troubled teen son is dealing drugs, an investigation that reveals the young man's dangerous role in a string of high-end burglaries that have resulted in a murder and a disappearance. By the award-winning author of The Promise.
Amos Walker series by Loren D. Estleman
 
Private detective Amos Walker is a Vietnam vet and former military police officer. He works in the Detroit area.
 
First in series: Motor City Blue, 1980. Most recent: 
 
Black and White Ball: An Amos Walker Mystery
by Loren D Estleman

A first crossover novel stars fan-favorite private investigator Amos Walker and hit man Peter Macklin, who are struggling to protect Macklin's estranged wife from a murderous killer who may or may not be Peter's own son. 
Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter
 
Swagger served three tours in Vietnam as a marine sniper. He leaves military service after a war injury but is called upon to assist government operations in his continuing adventures.
 
First in series: Point of Impact, 1993.  Most recent: 
G-Man
by Stephen Hunter

A conclusion to the best-selling Swagger family saga finds the grandson of talented gunfighter Charles Swagger discovering a cache of his mysterious grandfather's FBI memorabilia and resolving to discover his progenitor's fate before realizing that he is being stalked.
J.P. Beaumont series by J. A. Jance
 
Beaumont is a Seattle police homicide detective and Vietnam veteran.
 
First in series: Until Proven Guilty, 1985.  Most recent: 
Proof of Life
by Judith A Jance

When his longtime nemesis dies in what is officially declared an accidental fire, uncomfortably retired J. P. Beaumont is unexpectedly dragged into an ensuing investigation at the request of the deceased. By the author of the Joanna Brady series.
Easy Rawlins series by Walter Mosley
 
Rawlins is a private investigator and WWII veteran in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The series begins in 1948 and continues through the 1960s.
 
First in series: Devil in a Blue Dress, 1990. Most recent: 
Charcoal Joe: An Easy Rawlins Mystery
by Walter Mosley

Easy Rawlins' plans to marry his girlfriend and start a new detective agency interrupted by the case of a promising Stanford student who in the face of daunting evidence has been charged with the race-related murder of a white man. 
Roland Ford series by T. Jefferson Parker
 
Roland Ford is a Marine veteran and former cop turned private investigator.
 
First in series: The Room of White Fire, 2017: 
 
 
 
The Room of White Fire
by T. Jefferson Parker

A marine-turned-private investigator struggling from the recent death of his wife races against time to track down a shattered young soldier who has escaped from a mental institution and who possesses a dangerous secret. By the three-time Edgar Award-winning author of Crazy Blood.
Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, continued by Ace Atkins
 
Boston private detective Spenser, like author Parker, served in the infantry during the Korean War.
 
First in series: The Godwulf Manuscript, 1973.  Most recent: 
Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic
by Ace Atkins

Iconic, tough-but-tender Boston PI Spenser delves into the black market art scene to investigate a decades-long unsolved crime of dangerous proportions. The heist was legendary, still talked about twenty years after the priceless paintings disappeared from one of Boston's premier art museums. Most thought the art was lost forever, buried deep, sold off overseas, or, worse, destroyed as incriminating evidence. But when paint chips from the most valuable piece stolen, Gentlemen in Black by a Spanish master, arrives at the desk of a Boston journalist, the museum finds hope and enlists Spenser's help. Soon the cold art case thrusts Spenser into the shady world of black market art dealers, aged Mafia bosses, and old vendettas. A five-million-dollar-reward by the museum's top benefactor, an aged, unlikable Boston socialite, sets Spenser and pals Vinnie Morris and Hawk onto a trail of hidden secrets, jailhouse confessions, and decades-old murders.
Inspector John Rebus series by Ian Rankin
 
Rebus served in the British Army and trained with special forces. He is an Edinburgh police inspector. This series established a hard-boiled detective style known as “tartan noir.”
 
First in series: Knots and Crosses, 1987.  Most recent: 
Rather Be the Devil: A Novel
by Ian Rankin

Maverick investigator John Rebus gains dangerous enemies upon reopening a cold case from the 1970s involving the murder of a wealthy socialite. 
Scot Horvath series by Brad Thor
 
Counterterrorism expert and ex-Navy SEAL Scot Horvath defends America against political threats domestically and around the globe.
 
First in series: Lions of Lucerne, 2002.  Most recent: 
 
Spymaster
by Brad Thor

Across Europe, a secret organization has begun attacking diplomats. Back in the United States, a foreign ally demands the identity of a highly placed covert asset. In the balance hang the ingredients for all-out war. With his mentor out of the game, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath must take on the role he has spent his career avoiding. But, as with everything else he does, he intends to rewrite the rules—all of them
Dusky MacMorgan series by Randy Wayne White
 
Life as a fisherman should have been a change of pace for ex-Navy SEAL Dusky MacMorgan, but he finds adventure at every turn. 
 
First in series: Key West Connection.
 
Key West Connection
by Randy Wayne White

When his family is brutally murdered by drug runners, ex-Navy SEAL-turned-fisherman Dusky MacMorgan, calling upon his training in the lethal arts, unleashes a deadly campaign of vengeance against the men responsible, including a corrupt U.S. Senator who lives by his own law. 
Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044
mclib.org/