Abe Glitsky
legal thriller
Series · thriller
Billy Knight
The Billy Knight series by Jeff Lindsay has 2 known books (2 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Tropical Depression (1994). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Red Tide.
- Books
- 2 known books (2 novels)
- Published
- 2
- First published
- 1994
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Thriller
- Last checked
Start here: Tropical Depression (1994) — 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:
Tropical Depression
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.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Tropical Depression - Book 2:
Red Tide
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.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Tide
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.
If you like the Billy Knight series
Reading order last verified .