DI Nikki Galena
crime fiction
Series · mystery
Dave Gurney
The Dave Gurney series by John Verdon has 8 known books (8 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Think of a Number (2010). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Viper. The next announced book, Ghost Barn, is due 29 September 2026.
- Books
- 8 known books (8 novels)
- Published
- 8
- First published
- 2010
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Think of a Number (2010) — 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:
Think of a Number
Think of a Number launched John Verdon's Dave Gurney series in 2010, introducing the retired NYPD homicide detective and his wife Madeleine at their farmhouse in the Catskills. The case that pulls Gurney back in starts with a stranger mailing an old acquaintance a letter that correctly predicts a number he'll silently choose -- impossible-seeming misdirection that turns out to be a serial killer's elaborate game, unraveled through the fair-play, clue-on-the-page puzzle style Verdon became known for.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Think of a Number - Book 2:
Shut Your Eyes Tight
Shut Your Eyes Tight is the second Dave Gurney novel, published in 2011 and again pulling the retired NYPD detective away from his quiet Catskills retirement into another puzzle-box murder investigation. At 509 pages, it continues the fair-play mystery structure and the quieter tension between Gurney's compulsion to keep working cases and Madeleine's wish for him to actually retire.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shut Your Eyes Tight - Book 3:
Let the Devil Sleep
Let the Devil Sleep is the third entry in John Verdon's Dave Gurney series, running 464 pages when it appeared in 2012. Like its predecessors, it draws Gurney's forensic, detail-obsessed mind into a killer's elaborate scheme set against the rural upstate New York landscape where he and Madeleine settled.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Let the Devil Sleep - Book 4:
Peter Pan Must Die
Peter Pan Must Die is the fourth Dave Gurney novel, following Let the Devil Sleep in 2014. It keeps to John Verdon's classic fair-play puzzle-mystery structure, with the retired NYPD detective's pattern-recognition gift once again drawn out of Catskills retirement by a case only he can unravel.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Peter Pan Must Die - Book 5:
Wolf Lake
Wolf Lake arrived in 2016, continuing Dave Gurney's series between Peter Pan Must Die and White River Burning at 378 pages. As in the earlier books, retirement in the Catskills proves short-lived for Gurney once another intricately staged murder investigation surfaces.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wolf Lake - Book 6:
White River Burning
White River Burning is the sixth Dave Gurney novel, sitting between Wolf Lake and On Harrow Hill in John Verdon's series. At 420 pages, it continues the fair-play puzzle format and the running tension between Gurney's investigative pull and Madeleine's hope for a genuinely quiet retirement.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of White River Burning - Book 7:
On Harrow Hill
On Harrow Hill arrived three years after White River Burning, continuing Dave Gurney in 2021 at 400 pages. John Verdon again sends the retired NYPD detective's forensic, pattern-obsessed mind after a case elaborate enough to justify pulling him from Catskills retirement one more time.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of On Harrow Hill - Book 8:
The Viper
The Viper followed On Harrow Hill in July 2023, closing out Dave Gurney as its most recent published installment at 400 pages. It continues John Verdon's run of fair-play puzzle mysteries before the series' announced concluding novel, Ghost Barn, scheduled for September 2026.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Viper
About the Dave Gurney series
Dave Gurney is a retired NYPD homicide detective -- one of the department's most celebrated, with an unmatched closure record -- who moves with his wife Madeleine to a farmhouse in rural upstate New York expecting a quiet retirement, and instead keeps getting pulled back into puzzle-box murder investigations that only his particular gift for pattern recognition can unravel. John Verdon launched the series in 2010 with Think of a Number, in which a stranger mails Gurney's old acquaintance a letter correctly predicting the number he'll silently choose -- a piece of impossible-seeming misdirection that turns out to be the signature of a serial killer playing an elaborate game.
Verdon writes fair-play puzzle mysteries in the classic sense: every clue the reader needs is on the page, and the pleasure is in watching Gurney's forensic, detail-obsessed mind work through a killer's elaborate scheme before the reveal. The tension between Gurney's compulsion to keep investigating and Madeleine's wish for him to actually retire runs through the whole series as a quieter counter-thread to the increasingly baroque murder plots. Verdon came to crime fiction late, after a career in New York advertising and a decade building Shaker-style furniture, and set the entire series in the Catskills landscape where he and his wife settled.
Frequently asked questions
How many Dave Gurney books are there?
Eight novels have been published, from Think of a Number (2010) through The Viper (2023). A ninth, Ghost Barn, is scheduled for September 2026.
What order should I read the Dave Gurney series in?
Publication order. Think of a Number is the correct starting point; Gurney's circumstances and relationships develop continuously from book to book.
Is Dave Gurney a police procedural?
Not exactly -- Gurney is retired for most of the series and often works cases informally or as a consultant, and the books lean toward classic fair-play puzzle mysteries rather than procedural detail.
Is the series finished?
Not quite -- Ghost Barn, announced for a September 2026 release, is being marketed as the series' concluding novel.
If you like the Dave Gurney series
Reading order last verified .