Lily Bard
hardboiled mystery
Series · crime
Tres Navarre
The Tres Navarre series by Rick Riordan has 7 known books (7 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Big Red Tequila (1997).
- Books
- 7 known books (7 novels)
- Published
- 7
- First published
- 1997
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Big Red Tequila (1997) — 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:
Big Red Tequila
Big Red Tequila opens Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre crime series, published in June 1997 at 372 pages. It's followed by The Widower's Two-Step, the second of seven books in a series that ran to completion in 2007.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Big Red Tequila - Book 2:
The Widower's Two-Step
The Widower's Two-Step is the second book in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series, published in May 1998 at 416 pages. It follows Big Red Tequila and precedes The Last King of Texas.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Widower's Two-Step - Book 3:
The Last King of Texas
The Last King of Texas is the third entry in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series, published in January 2000 at 400 pages. It follows The Widower's Two-Step and precedes The Devil Went Down to Austin.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Last King of Texas - Book 4:
The Devil Went Down to Austin
The Devil Went Down to Austin is the fourth book in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series, published in June 2001 at 351 pages. It follows The Last King of Texas and precedes Southtown.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Devil Went Down to Austin - Book 5:
Southtown
Southtown is the fifth entry in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series, published in May 2004 at 260 pages. It follows The Devil Went Down to Austin and precedes Mission Road.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Southtown - Book 6:
Mission Road
Mission Road is the sixth book in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series, published in June 2005 at 304 pages. It follows Southtown and precedes the series' final book, Rebel Island.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mission Road - Book 7:
Rebel Island
Rebel Island closes out Rick Riordan's seven-book Tres Navarre series, published in September 2007 at 330 pages. It follows Mission Road as the final entry in a crime series that ran from 1997 to 2007.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rebel Island
About the Tres Navarre series
Long before Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan wrote adult crime fiction: the Tres Navarre series follows Jackson "Tres" Navarre, a San Antonio private investigator with a PhD in medieval literature, a martial-arts habit, and a deep, complicated relationship with his own Texas-Mexican heritage. Where Riordan's later mythology series turn ancient legends into middle-grade adventure, Tres Navarre turns them into hardboiled noir -- each book folds a piece of history, folklore or literature (a Texas Ranger legend, a medieval ballad, San Antonio's own layered past) into a modern murder investigation.
Tres works cases alongside a vivid recurring cast: his mother Vivia, English-professor sparring partner and eventual restaurateur ex Maia Lee, and a rotating set of San Antonio locals rendered with the same eye for place that Riordan later brought to Camp Half-Blood. The tone is grittier and more adult than anything in his YA work -- violence has real consequences, relationships are messy, and Tres's academic background gives the prose a wry, literate voice distinct from Riordan's later kid-facing books.
The series won Riordan an Anthony Award and two Shamus Awards before Percy Jackson made him a household name in children's publishing, and it remains the clearest evidence of his range: seven novels of grounded, place-specific adult crime fiction, published 1997-2007, entirely separate from the mythology series that would define his later career.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Tres Navarre series?
7 books, published from Big Red Tequila (1997) through Rebel Island (2007).
What order should I read Tres Navarre in?
Publication order, used here -- Tres's relationships and personal history develop across the series.
Is Tres Navarre connected to Percy Jackson?
No -- it's an entirely separate, adult crime series that Rick Riordan wrote before Percy Jackson and the Olympians made him famous as a children's author. There's no shared setting or characters.
Is Tres Navarre appropriate for kids?
No -- it's written for an adult audience, with more graphic violence and mature content than any of Riordan's YA mythology series.
Is the Tres Navarre series finished?
Yes, it concluded with Rebel Island in 2007. Rick Riordan has focused on YA mythology series since.
If you like the Tres Navarre series
Reading order last verified .