Reading order · 9 books · 2009 to 2022 · Set in Stockholm
Joona Linna Books in Order
Detective Inspector Joona Linna of Sweden’s National Crime Unit is a quiet Finnish-born detective who is almost always right. He hunts serial killers, above all the terrifying Jurek Walter, with Saga Bauer of the Security Police. Lars Kepler is the pen name of a married couple.
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Series facts
- Books
- 9
- Published
- 2009 to 2022
- First book
- The Hypnotist
- Latest
- The Spider (2022)
- Setting
- Set in Stockholm
The reading order
Every Joona Linna book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
9 books · Set in Stockholm
- 1The Hypnotist2009With Erik Maria BarkA family is murdered in a Stockholm suburb, and the only survivor, a teenage boy, is too badly injured to talk.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Nightmare2010With Joona LinnaA young woman is found drowned on a drifting boat, though the boat is dry, and a senior official is found hanged in his flat.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Fire Witness2011With Joona LinnaA teenage girl is murdered at a home for troubled girls, and a woman who claims to be a medium says she saw it happen.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Sandman2012With Joona LinnaA young man, missing for thirteen years and declared dead, walks out of the snow by a railway line.Buy on Amazon
- 5Stalker2014With Joona LinnaA video of a woman at home is sent to the police, and minutes later she is murdered.Buy on Amazon
- 6The Rabbit Hunter2016With Joona LinnaA killer is targeting powerful men in Stockholm, and Joona Linna, in prison, is the only one who can stop him.Buy on Amazon
- 7Lazarus2018With Joona LinnaA body is found in Oslo with links to Jurek Walter, and Joona fears the killer may still be alive.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Mirror Man2020With Joona LinnaA girl who was abducted on her way home from school five years ago is found dead in a playground in Stockholm.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Spider2022With Joona LinnaSaga Bauer receives a postcard with a riddle that predicts a murder, and the killer seems to be closing in on Joona.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read in order, starting with The Hypnotist. The Jurek Walter story runs through The Sandman, Stalker and Lazarus.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Joona Linna | Erik Maria Bark | Saga Bauer | Disa | Jurek Walter | Lumi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Hypnotist | MMajor | LLead | ·Minor | |||
| 2 The Nightmare | LLead | ·Minor | ||||
| 3 The Fire Witness | LLead | ·Minor | ||||
| 4 The Sandman | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 5 Stalker | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 6 The Rabbit Hunter | LLead | MMajor | ||||
| 7 Lazarus | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ·Minor | ||
| 8 The Mirror Man | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 9 The Spider | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor |
Characters in the Joona Linna books
6 characters from Lars Kepler’s chart, with the number of Joona Linna books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Joona LinnaDetective Inspector, National Crime Unit | 9 | The Hypnotist 2009 |
| Erik Maria BarkHypnotist and psychiatrist | 2 | The Hypnotist 2009 |
| Saga BauerSecurity police officer | 6 | The Sandman 2012 |
| DisaJoona’s partner | 3 | The Hypnotist 2009 |
| Jurek WalterSerial killer | 3 | The Sandman 2012 |
| LumiJoona’s daughter | 2 | Lazarus 2018 |