Hannah Vogel
historical mystery
Series · mystery
Waterman & Stark
The Waterman & Stark series by Gregg Olsen has 6 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Victim Six (2010).
- Books
- 5 novels + 1 novella
- First published
- 2010
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: Victim Six (2010) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Victim Six
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Victim Six - Book 2:
Closer Than Blood
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Closer Than Blood - Book 3:
The Bone Box
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bone Box - Book 4:
The Girl in the Woods
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Girl in the Woods - Book 5:
Now That She's Gone
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Now That She's Gone - Book 6:
Just Try to Stop Me
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Just Try to Stop Me
About the Waterman & Stark series
Kitsap County, Washington sits just a ferry ride from Seattle but feels a world apart -- pine-thick, water-bound, and small enough that everyone half-knows everyone else's business. That's the terrain Gregg Olsen works in this series, pairing forensic pathologist Birdy Waterman with sheriff's detective Kendall Stark: Birdy reads what the bodies won't say out loud, Kendall works the living witnesses and the paper trail, and together they take on cases that usually start as something the county wants to believe is an accident.
Olsen came to fiction after two decades writing true crime, and it shows in how these books are built -- procedural detail that reads as researched rather than borrowed from other thrillers, small-town Pacific Northwest atmosphere, and victims who are given enough interior life that their deaths land as losses rather than plot devices. Waterman and Stark are professional partners, not a romance, and the series leans on that dynamic -- her forensic patience against his dogged legwork -- across a run of standalone-ish cases that still build in cumulative darkness toward the final book.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Waterman & Stark series?
Six: five novels and one short novella (The Bone Box), published between 2010 and 2016.
Is Waterman & Stark connected to Gregg Olsen's other detective series?
No -- it's set in fictional Kitsap County and doesn't share characters with his Emily Kenyon, Nicole Foster, or Detective Megan Carpenter series, though all draw on the same Pacific Northwest true-crime sensibility.
Do I need to read The Bone Box?
No. It's a short standalone novella that doesn't set up plot points the later novels depend on -- read it for more time with the characters, or skip straight to the novels.
Is the series finished?
Yes, it concluded with Just Try to Stop Me (2016); Olsen has not continued it since.
If you like the Waterman & Stark series
Reading order last verified .