Jack Caffery
crime thriller
Series · crime thriller
Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney
The Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney series by Stephen King has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Mr. Mercedes (2014). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Never Flinch.
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 2014
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime, Thriller
- Last checked
Start here: Mr. Mercedes (2014) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Mr. Mercedes
Mr. Mercedes opens the series in 2014, drawing retired detective Bill Hodges out of a depressed, TV-numbed retirement when the man he never caught -- the perpetrator of a mass-casualty attack with a stolen Mercedes -- starts writing him taunting letters. At 484 pages, it introduces Holly Gibney, the anxious, brilliant character who eventually becomes the series' true protagonist.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mr. Mercedes - Book 2:
Finders Keepers
Finders Keepers is the second book in Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney, published in 2015 at 448 pages, continuing Stephen King's grounded crime-thriller approach before the series' pivot toward horror in its third entry.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Finders Keepers - Book 3:
End of Watch
Between Finders Keepers and The Outsider, Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney continued in 2016 with End of Watch, in which the villain acquires abilities that push the trilogy's closing volume from crime novel into outright horror.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of End of Watch - Book 4:
The Outsider
The Outsider (2018) follows End of Watch in Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney and precedes Holly, running 582 pages as a seemingly airtight murder case collides with an ancient shapeshifting evil, with Holly Gibney arriving partway through to help crack it.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Outsider - Book 5:
Holly
At 449 pages, Holly was published in 2023, the fifth book in the series and the first to fully center on Holly Gibney, now running her own detective agency and carrying a novel entirely on her own investigative instincts.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Holly - Book 6:
Never Flinch
Never Flinch (2025) is the most recent entry in the series, following Holly and finding Holly Gibney juggling a vengeful letter-writer and a celebrity bodyguard job at 439 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Never Flinch
About the Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney series
Retired police detective Bill Hodges is drawn out of a depressed, TV-numbed retirement when the man he never caught -- the perpetrator of a mass-casualty attack with a stolen Mercedes -- starts writing him taunting letters. Hodges assembles an unlikely investigative team, including the anxious, brilliant Holly Gibney, to hunt the killer down across the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. What began as a straight crime novel gradually reveals King's interest in something stranger: by End of Watch, the villain has acquired abilities that push the series into horror.
Holly Gibney -- awkward, obsessive, relentlessly capable -- turned out to be one of King's most enduring characters, and the books that follow belong to her rather than to Hodges. She's a key supporting player in The Outsider (2018), where a seemingly airtight murder case collides with an ancient shapeshifting evil, and by Holly (2023) she is running her own detective agency and carrying a novel entirely on her own investigative instincts. Never Flinch (2025) finds her juggling a vengeful letter-writer and a celebrity bodyguard job. Across six books the series moves steadily from grounded procedural toward the supernatural, anchored throughout by Holly's growth from a barely-functioning side character into King's most quietly heroic detective.
Frequently asked questions
How many Bill Hodges / Holly Gibney books are there?
Six novels: Mr. Mercedes (2014), Finders Keepers (2015), End of Watch (2016), The Outsider (2018), Holly (2023), and Never Flinch (2025), plus a Holly novella inside the If It Bleeds collection.
What order should I read the Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney books in?
Publication order: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, The Outsider, Holly, Never Flinch. Holly's role grows steadily across the series, so reading in order lets her arc build properly.
Do I need to read the Bill Hodges trilogy before The Outsider?
Not strictly -- The Outsider works as a standalone mystery. But Holly Gibney, who becomes crucial partway through, is far more resonant to readers who already know her from Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch.
Is The Outsider a horror novel or a crime novel?
Both. It opens as a grounded police procedural investigating a horrifying child murder, then pivots into supernatural horror once the case's impossible details -- the suspect appears to have been in two places at once -- can no longer be explained rationally.
Does the Bill Hodges trilogy connect to King's other books?
Yes -- the trilogy and its sequels are set in King's shared Maine-and-beyond universe; Brady Hartsfield's storyline in End of Watch introduces overtly supernatural elements that echo other King works, and Holly Gibney continues to be a recurring figure across King's 2018-2026 output.
If you like the Bill Hodges & Holly Gibney series
Reading order last verified .