The Best Books in Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan Series, According to Goodreads
If you visit the mystery section of any bookstore, you are sure to see Iris Johansen books. An award-winning, bestselling author, Johansen once worked taking reservations for an airline in the early 1980s, before she decided to try her hand at writing books. After a successful decade of writing romance novels, she started shifting more toward thrillers, and that’s when her career really took off.
Today, Johansen has more than 100 novels under her belt, which is simply astonishing. Of all those books, it’s her Eve Duncan series that fans love the most. Johansen introduced Eve, a forensic sculptor, in 1998 with Face of Deception. Using her talents as an artist, she reconstructs faces on skulls to help identify bodies. It’s a way for her to deal with the loss of her own daughter, who was taken and never found.
Of course, identifying people who aren’t meant to be discovered makes Eve a target for all kinds of danger, sending her off on many thrilling adventures. And I mean many: There are more than two dozen titles in the series now, the latest being Smokescreen, an action-packed thriller that takes place across a remote African jungle.
In Smokescreen, Eve travels to Africa to help identify the victims of guerrilla soldiers. But when she arrives, Eve discovers that the request for her help may have been a cover story for a more sinister plot: one that seeks to isolate her, far from home, in an unstable country where violence threatens to break out again at any moment...
Fans of the Eve Duncan series should be really excited for Smokescreen! It has received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, and New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen said "Smokescreen is supercharged, combustible and totally addictive. There's no one like Iris Johansen!"
In what is an incredible feat, every single book in the Eve Duncan series has an amazing rating on Goodreads. It’s always fun to read a series in order, but if you’re not a stickler for structure, or you’re looking to revisit the series, this list is for you.
The 10 Best-Rated Eve Duncan Books, According to Goodreads
A dangerous killer has Eve Duncan in his sights. He knows she won’t be able to resist going to Georgia to help identify the nine skeletons recently discovered, in the hopes that one might be her missing daughter, Bonnie. And that’s when he’ll strike.
The stars of this book are K-9 search-and-rescue team Sarah Patrick and Monty, her golden retriever, who were first introduced in The Killing Game. In this novel, they are in South America, looking for a kidnapped scientist at the request of billionaire John Logan.
Former Navy SEAL turned cop, Joe Quinn, and CIA agent Catherine Ling make a shocking discovery in the search for Eve Duncan’s missing daughter: Eve's first love, John Gallo, a soldier supposedly killed in action, is alive. This information is going to make things difficult for Joe and Eve.
Kevin Jelak, a serial murderer, is on Eve's short list of killers who might know something about her missing daughter Bonnie. As she investigates another of his killings and plans her next move, Jelak begins to get into Eve’s head—and her house.
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CIA agent Catherine Ling’s son was stolen in the night eight years ago, and it has tormented her every day since. She turns to Eve Duncan to help her find out once and for all if her son is still alive. And while they look into Catherine’s missing son, a new killer takes an interest in them.
Eve Duncan puts her own life at risk to protect Cara Delaney from the people who want her dead. Hiding out in the Scottish highlands, Cara is taken despite Eve’s best efforts, and now Eve must find Cara and rescue the young girl before it’s too late.
Eve Duncan is invited to solve a mysterious case when a package arrives containing a skull and a two-sided mirror. As she works to identify the skull, the face of a beautiful woman emerges. But as she seeks the woman's identity, Eve is also playing into the killer's hands.
This is the exciting conclusion to one of the trilogies within the series, starting with Taking Eve, and continuing with Hunting Eve. The story puts Eve in the path of a grieving father who will do anything to find out what happened to his son, and thinks Eve is the one to help him.
This is the first book in a different trilogy within the Eve Duncan series. In it, she's back on the hunt for a man from her past: John Gallo, who turned up very much alive years after being declared dead. He was Eve's first love, and just may hold the key to the disappearance of Eve's daughter.
In the second of the Eve trilogy, Eve must figure out how to escape the dangerous man who has taken her prisoner. As she fights to survive, dark secrets they are both harboring come to light.
What to Read Next
Liberty Hardy is a Book Riot senior contributing editor, co-host of All the Books, a Book of the Month judge, and above all else, a ravenous reader. She resides in Maine with her cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon. You can see pictures of her cats and book hauls on Twitter @MissLiberty and Instagram @franzencomesalive.