Con Lehane
Con Lehane has published 10 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with What Goes Around Comes Around (2005).
A bartender leans across the counter. A union organizer walks the picket line. A college professor grades papers late into the night. Con Lehane has lived all these lives, and each one seeps into his mystery writing. He's the voice behind the 42nd Street Library Mysteries and the Brian McNulty series—stories that pull from the grit and rhythm of real work, real people.
His short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, proving his range beyond the novel form. Lehane teaches fiction and mystery writing at The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he shares the craft he's honed across decades and day jobs. What makes him different? He writes mysteries that feel lived-in. His characters carry the weight of experience, not just plot.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionThe grand reading room of New York's iconic 42nd Street Library holds more than books and whispered scholarship—it becomes the scene of a murder that will test the mettle of one unlikely investigator. When a prominent scholar is found dead among the stacks, the case falls to Raymond Ambler, a crime fiction curator whose expertise in fictional murders must now serve him in solving a real one. The library's labyrinthine corridors and hidden corners transform from sanctuary to crime scene, and Ambler finds himself navigating a world where academic rivalries run deep and secrets are catalogued as carefully as rare manuscripts. What makes this mystery compelling is its setting—the 42nd Street Library isn't just backdrop but character, its hushed halls and vast collections providing both atmosphere and clues. Lehane understands that libraries are places of passion, where obsessions over obscure texts and professional jealousies can simmer for years before boiling over. Ambler, with his bibliophile's soul and amateur sleuth's curiosity, must untangle motives hidden in footnotes and alibis shelved among the Dewey Decimal System. This is cozy mystery elevated by location and intelligence, a book that trusts its readers to appreciate both the puzzle and the place. Lehane has crafted a series opener that promises more adventures for his librarian detective, blending the cerebral pleasures of academic intrigue with the satisfying mechanics of a well-constructed whodunit.Publication dateApril 26, 2016Amazon rating3.7/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherMinotaur Books
- TagscrimemysteryhorrorDescriptionThe 42nd Street Library stands as one of New York's most iconic institutions, its marble halls and hushed reading rooms a sanctuary from the chaos outside. But when a body is discovered in the manuscript room, that sanctuary becomes a crime scene, and the library's secrets—both literary and lethal—begin to surface. Enter the investigation into a world where rare books hold more than stories and the people who guard them harbor motives as complex as the texts they preserve. Con Lehane crafts a mystery that understands the peculiar intensity of library culture: the territorial curators, the obsessive researchers, the quiet desperation of those who've devoted their lives to preserving the past. The manuscript room, with its temperature controls and white gloves, becomes an unlikely stage for murder, and solving it means navigating the byzantine politics of an institution where knowledge is power and access is everything. This is cerebral crime fiction that trusts its readers, offering a puzzle as meticulously constructed as the library's card catalog once was, back when such things still existed.Publication dateNovember 21, 2017Amazon rating4/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherMinotaur Books
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionRaymond Ambler is a crime fiction curator at New York's 42nd Street Library, a man who knows murder mysteries inside and out. He just never expected to be living one. When a real killing lands on his doorstep—connected to the library's rare collections and the shadowy world of book collectors—Ambler finds himself pulled from the safety of his reading room into an investigation that's anything but academic. The stacks hold secrets. Someone is willing to kill for them. This is a mystery for people who love mysteries. Lehane understands the rhythms of classic detective fiction and uses them to his advantage, building a puzzle that feels both familiar and fresh. Ambler is no hard-boiled detective—he's thoughtful, bookish, a little out of his depth—which makes him the perfect guide through a case where knowledge is currency and every clue might be hiding in plain sight on a library shelf. The 42nd Street Library becomes a character in its own right, atmospheric and labyrinthine, the kind of place where danger can lurk behind any corner. If you've ever lost hours in a library or wondered what dark stories might be tucked between the pages, this one's for you.Publication dateNovember 19, 2019Amazon rating4.4/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherMinotaur Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionThe quiet order of a great library conceals more than forgotten volumes and hushed conversations—it harbors secrets that can turn deadly when the wrong questions are asked. In the heart of New York's iconic 42nd Street Library, a murder disrupts the careful cataloging of knowledge, and the investigation that follows will test the boundaries between scholarship and survival. Raymond Ambler, a crime fiction curator with an instinct for patterns that extend beyond the page, finds himself drawn into a mystery that feels uncomfortably real. When violence intrudes upon the marble halls and reading rooms he knows so well, the methods of detection he has studied in countless novels become tools for navigating an actual investigation. The library's labyrinthine stacks and the tangled relationships among its staff and patrons form a puzzle where motive and opportunity hide in plain sight, waiting to be decoded by someone who understands how stories—and crimes—are constructed. Con Lehane crafts a mystery that honors both the cerebral tradition of the genre and the particular atmosphere of institutional New York, where intellect and danger can share the same address. The investigation moves through a world of rare books and academic rivalries, where the definition of murder may be found not in legal statutes but in the careful parsing of human behavior, and where a librarian's attention to detail becomes the key to unmasking a killer.Publication dateDecember 6, 2022Amazon rating4.2/5Print length240LanguageEnglishPublisherSevern House
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionRaymond Ambler, the crime fiction curator at New York's iconic 42nd Street Library, finds himself pulled from the stacks into a real-life mystery when murder strikes at a college campus. What begins as a professional consultation quickly becomes something far more dangerous, as Ambler discovers that academic rivalries can turn deadly and that the truth hidden in dusty archives might be worth killing for. This installment in the 42nd Street Library Mystery series brings Lehane's signature blend of literary atmosphere and classic detective work to the insular world of academia, where tenure battles and intellectual feuds simmer beneath a veneer of civility. Ambler's encyclopedic knowledge of crime fiction becomes both his greatest asset and a lens through which he must navigate a labyrinth of suspects, each with their own secrets and motives. The college library itself becomes a character—its quiet reading rooms and forgotten collections holding clues that only someone with Ambler's particular expertise can decipher. Lehane writes with affection for both the mystery genre and the world of libraries, crafting a story that honors traditional whodunit conventions while exploring what happens when a man who lives among fictional crimes must solve a real one. For readers who love their mysteries steeped in books, populated by flawed but thoughtful characters, and paced with the deliberate care of a librarian reshelfing a beloved collection.Publication dateMarch 5, 2024Amazon rating4.2/5Print length226LanguageEnglishPublisherSevern House
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionThere's something about a library after hours that feels both sacred and unsettling, when the silence grows thick and the shadows between the stacks seem to hold secrets of their own. In this installment of the 42nd Street Library Mystery series, Con Lehane returns to the hallowed halls of New York's iconic institution, where the pursuit of knowledge takes a deadly turn when murder disrupts the quiet sanctuary of the reading room. The library has always been a place where stories unfold on pages, but now a real-life mystery demands to be solved, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Lehane weaves together the atmospheric setting of one of the world's most famous libraries with the tension of a classic whodunit, creating a puzzle that will keep you guessing until the final page. The reading room becomes a crime scene, transforming a space of contemplation into one of suspicion, where every patron and staff member might hold a clue or harbor a motive. For fans of literary mysteries that honor their settings as much as their plots, this is a book that understands the particular magic—and danger—that can lurk within a beloved institution.Publication dateFebruary 3, 2026Amazon rating4/5Print length240LanguageEnglishPublisherSevern House
Order of Brian McNulty Books
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionThis is a mystery that understands the long memory of crime. Con Lehane's Brian McNulty novels operate in the space where past sins refuse to stay buried, and What Goes Around Comes Around delivers exactly what its title promises: consequences. McNulty is a bartender-turned-investigator, the kind of protagonist who sees the world from behind the bar—listening, watching, piecing together what people reveal when they think no one's paying attention. He's not a cop. He's not a PI with a license. He's something more interesting: a working-class New Yorker with a knack for asking the right questions. The setup is classic noir territory. Someone from the past resurfaces. Old debts come due. The city itself becomes a character, all grit and memory, where neighborhoods hold grudges and everyone knows someone who knows someone. Lehane writes with the economy of a bartender's anecdote—no wasted words, just the essentials. What sets this apart is McNulty himself. He's not chasing redemption or nursing a tragic backstory. He's just trying to make sense of the mess in front of him, one lead at a time. The prose is clean. The stakes are personal. And the resolution feels earned, not engineered. If you want a mystery that respects both the genre and your intelligence, this delivers.Publication dateFebruary 15, 2005Amazon rating3.5/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherMinotaur Books
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionWhat does a bartender see that others miss, and what happens when those observations pull him into the darker currents of human nature? Con Lehane's novel follows Brian McNulty, a New York City bartender whose profession has trained him to read people with the quiet precision of someone who has spent years watching lives unfold across a bar top, one drink at a time. When a regular patron's behavior shifts in troubling ways, McNulty finds himself drawn into a mystery that extends far beyond the familiar confines of his establishment. The solitary drinker of the title becomes a cipher, a puzzle that McNulty cannot ignore, and what begins as professional curiosity transforms into something more dangerous. Lehane constructs a narrative that moves through the shadowed corners of the city, where the boundaries between observer and participant blur, and where a bartender's instinct for human behavior becomes both asset and liability. This is crime fiction that understands the rhythms of working-class New York, where the bar serves as confessional, theater, and trap all at once. Lehane writes with the assurance of someone who knows these spaces intimately, crafting a protagonist whose ordinariness makes him extraordinary—a man whose daily work of listening and watching has prepared him, perhaps unwillingly, for the role of amateur detective. The result is a mystery grounded in character and place, where the real tension comes from what people reveal when they think no one is paying attention.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2006Amazon rating3.4/5Print length269LanguageEnglishPublisherPoisoned Pen Pr
- TagsmysteryDescriptionA bartender at a New York City hotel becomes an unlikely detective when murder disrupts the rhythm of his carefully ordered world. Brian McNulty knows the regulars, pours the drinks, and keeps the secrets that accumulate in the dim corners of a Manhattan bar—until one of those secrets turns deadly. When a guest at the old hotel is found dead under suspicious circumstances, McNulty finds himself drawn into an investigation that pulls him away from his familiar post behind the bar and into the darker corridors of the establishment he thought he knew. The hotel's faded elegance conceals layers of deception, and McNulty must navigate a cast of characters who all have something to hide. His skills at reading people, honed through years of listening to confessions over whiskey, become his greatest asset as he pieces together what really happened. Con Lehane crafts a mystery that feels lived-in and authentic, anchored by a protagonist who brings a working-class sensibility to the detective role. McNulty isn't a cop or a private eye—he's a bartender who cares about justice and can't look away when something's wrong. The old hotel setting pulses with atmosphere, and the mystery unfolds with the steady, observant pace of someone who's spent a lifetime watching human nature from the other side of the bar.Publication dateJune 12, 2007Amazon rating4/5Print length240LanguageEnglishPublisherMinotaur Books
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagshistorical-fictionmysterycrimeDescription1950s America, when suspicion hung in the air like cigarette smoke and a single accusation could destroy a life overnight. Con Lehane's The Red Scare Murders plunges readers into this atmosphere of paranoia and political persecution, where the hunt for communists becomes a cover for something far more sinister. When bodies begin appearing against the backdrop of McCarthy-era hysteria, the investigation becomes a dangerous dance between justice and ideology. The murders seem connected to the anti-communist fervor gripping the nation, but the truth lies buried beneath layers of fear, loyalty, and betrayal. Lehane crafts a world where everyone has something to hide and trust is a luxury no one can afford, capturing the suffocating tension of an era when neighbors turned on neighbors and patriotism became a weapon. This standalone mystery delivers both a gripping whodunit and a sharp-eyed examination of American anxiety at its most fevered pitch. Lehane understands that the best historical crime fiction doesn't just solve murders—it resurrects the moral complexities of its time, forcing readers to confront how easily fear can be manipulated and how quickly the machinery of justice can be corrupted. The Red Scare Murders reminds us that some of history's darkest chapters were written not by foreign enemies, but by our own willingness to sacrifice principle for the illusion of security.Publication date2025Amazon rating4/5LanguageEnglishPublisherRecorded Books
Frequently Asked Questions about Con Lehane
Con Lehane writes mysteries. His books fall into two series and include one standalone novel. The Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books began with Murder at the 42nd Street Library in 2016. The Order of Brian McNulty Books began with What Goes Around Comes Around in 2005. His standalone novel, The Red Scare Murders, is scheduled for 2025. The 42nd Street Library Mystery series is the most recent. If you are new to his work, starting with the first book in the 42nd Street Library Mystery series, Murder at the 42nd Street Library, is a good entry point. Alternatively, you could begin with the first book in the Brian McNulty series, What Goes Around Comes Around, to understand the earlier work.
To begin reading Con Lehane, start with Murder at the 42nd Street Library, the first book in his 42nd Street Library Mystery series published in 2016. This series follows a librarian solving crimes within the iconic New York Public Library. The mysteries are set within this specific, atmospheric location, offering a clear starting point. This approach allows readers to immerse themselves in the setting and characters without needing prior knowledge of other series. The book introduces the central characters and the unique premise of mysteries unfolding within the library's walls.
The books within each series by Con Lehane should be read in order. The Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books, starting with Murder at the 42nd Street Library (2016), features continuing characters and developing plotlines that are best appreciated sequentially. Similarly, the Order of Brian McNulty Books, beginning with What Goes Around Comes Around (2005), also benefits from a chronological reading order to fully grasp the narrative arcs. While the standalone novel, The Red Scare Murders (2025), can be read independently, the series books are designed to be read in the order they were published.
Con Lehane writes both series and standalone novels. He has two distinct series: the Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books and the Order of Brian McNulty Books. Each series consists of multiple interconnected titles. In addition to these series, he has also written standalone novels. The Red Scare Murders, scheduled for release in 2025, is an example of a standalone novel. This indicates a varied approach to his writing, offering readers both serialized stories and individual, self-contained mysteries.
Con Lehane has written a total of nine books across his series and includes one upcoming standalone novel. The Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books contains six titles, with the most recent being Murder at the College Library (2024). The Order of Brian McNulty Books comprises three books, the last of which is Death at the Old Hotel (2007). Additionally, he has one standalone novel, The Red Scare Murders, scheduled for publication in 2025. This accounts for a total of ten books when including the upcoming standalone.
The first book Con Lehane wrote was What Goes Around Comes Around, published in 2005. This novel is the inaugural title in his Order of Brian McNulty Books series. It introduces readers to the character of Brian McNulty and sets the stage for subsequent mysteries within this particular narrative thread. This book serves as the starting point for understanding the development of his early work and establishes the foundation for the characters and themes he would explore in his subsequent writing.
Con Lehane's most recent book is Murder at the College Library, published in 2024. This title is part of his Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books series. It continues the investigations and mysteries set within the unique environment of a library, following the established pattern of his ongoing series. This book represents his latest contribution to the mystery genre and the 42nd Street Library series, showcasing his continued engagement with these characters and settings.
Con Lehane writes mystery novels. His work is primarily characterized by crime fiction set in specific, often institutional, environments. The Order of 42nd Street Library Mystery Books are set within libraries, focusing on mysteries that occur in and around these academic and public spaces. The Order of Brian McNulty Books also fall into the crime and mystery genre. His standalone novels, such as the upcoming The Red Scare Murders, are also within the broad category of mystery fiction.
Freya Sampson
Coming soon
M.R.C. Kasasian
Coming soon
Jessica Fellowes
Coming soon
Cyril Hare
Coming soon
We verified the reading order for Con Lehane's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: May 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Con Lehane Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/con-lehane