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Billy Knight

by Jeff Lindsay

The Billy Knight series by Jeff Lindsay has 2 known books (2 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Tropical Depression (1994). Red Tide is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.

Books
2 known books (2 novels)
Published
2
First published
1994
Status
completed
Shelved under
Thriller
Start here: Tropical Depression (1994) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of Tropical Depression
Tropical Depression (1994)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Tropical Depression

    Novel
    Tropical Depression is the novel that opens Billy Knight, Jeff Lindsay's series, first published in 1994. It's followed in the reading order by Red Tide, the only other book in the series.
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  2. Red Tide

    Novel
    Red Tide, published in 2015 at 228 pages, is the belated sequel to Jeff Lindsay's 1994 debut Tropical Depression, sending ex-LAPD cop turned Key West charter captain Billy Knight and his partner Nicky after a smuggling ship called the Black Freighter.
    View book

Key facts about the Billy Knight series

The Billy Knight series has 2 books on our list. Since all 2 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with Tropical Depression, since it opens the publication order in 1994. Red Tide is book 2, from 2015.

Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions.

Red Tide is the latest book with a full release date, out on 27 October 2015. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 1994 and 2015, while their length runs from 228 to 256 pages. That is a run of 21 years.

Jeff Lindsay has 17 books on our list. Additionally, they write Dexter and Riley Wolfe. We shelve the books under thriller.

About the Billy Knight series

Billy Knight is an ex-LAPD cop trying to leave police work behind for good, running fishing charters out of Key West. In Tropical Depression, a body turns up floating near his boat and pulls him into a case the local authorities can't or won't handle properly; in Red Tide, a sequel that arrived two decades later, Billy and his partner Nicky go hunting a smuggling ship called the Black Freighter and the trafficker behind it. Both books trade the comic, interior first-person voice Jeff Lindsay would later perfect with Dexter Morgan for a more straightforward hardboiled Florida-noir register -- sun, corruption, and a burned-out cop who can't quite stay retired.

Tropical Depression (1994) was Lindsay's debut novel, published under his fuller birth name, Jeffry P. Lindsay, before Dexter made "Jeff Lindsay" his standard byline. It went out of print for years until Diversion Books reissued it in 2015 alongside the belated sequel, Red Tide, introducing Billy Knight to readers who'd come to Lindsay through Dexter.

Frequently asked questions

How many Billy Knight books are there?

Two: Tropical Depression (1994), Jeff Lindsay's debut novel, and its belated sequel Red Tide (2015).

What order should I read the Billy Knight books in?

Publication order: Tropical Depression, then Red Tide. Red Tide continues directly from the first book's characters and setting despite the two-decade gap between them.

Is Billy Knight related to Dexter?

No, they're unconnected series and characters. Tropical Depression actually predates Dexter -- it was Jeff Lindsay's first novel, originally published under his fuller name, Jeffry P. Lindsay, a decade before Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

Is the Billy Knight series finished?

It reads as a complete two-book series; no further installment has been announced since Red Tide in 2015.

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