BookBingeDepartment Q Books in Order
The short answer
Jussi Adler-Olsen · 11 books
- How many books?
- There are 11 books in the Department Q series, published 2011–2026.
- Is it finished?
- No — it's ongoing, but the next book doesn't have a release date yet.
- Where to start
- Start with The Keeper of Lost Causes (2011).
About 5,200 pages — roughly 90 hours of reading
A prickly Copenhagen detective banished to the basement reopens Denmark's coldest cases with his mismatched partner.
Here is the complete Department Q reading order — all 11 books by Jussi Adler-Olsen, in the order you should read them:
Reading order
- The Keeper of Lost CausesDetective Carl Mørck, exiled to a new cold-case unit, reopens the case of a politician who vanished years earlier.2011396 pages
- The Absent OneDepartment Q investigates a brutal decades-old double murder connected to a group of wealthy former boarding-school students.2012432 pages
- A Conspiracy of FaithA message in a bottle leads Department Q to uncover a pattern of kidnappings targeting religious minority families.2013270 pages
- The Purity of VengeanceDepartment Q investigates the disappearances of four women, uncovering a disturbing forced-sterilization program.2013500 pages
- The Marco EffectA teenage boy fleeing a criminal gang stumbles into a case of fraud and murder that Department Q must untangle.2014262 pages
- The Hanging GirlDepartment Q reopens a case ruled an accident years earlier, suspecting the truth was covered up.2015596 pages
- The Scarred WomanDepartment Q investigates welfare fraud and an old unsolved murder that intersect in unexpected ways.2017480 pages
- Victim 2117Department Q traces a decades-old killing back to a survivor's search for the man responsible for her family's death.2020536 pages
- The Shadow MurdersDepartment Q investigates a string of deaths connected by a chilling, ritualistic pattern.2021742 pages
- Locked InDepartment Q takes on a case that forces Carl Mørck to confront unfinished business from his own past.2024512 pages
- No Song for the DeadDepartment Q ties a coastal explosion and a Copenhagen murder to a decades-old boarding-school secret while a new team member's past resurfaces.2026496 pages
Good news: for this series, reading order and publication order are the same — just read straight down the list.
On our lists: Long-running mystery series
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Get BookBingeFrequently asked questions
How many Department Q books are there?
There are 11 books in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, from The Keeper of Lost Causes (2011) to No Song for the Dead (2026). Together they run to about 5,200 pages.
Is the Department Q series finished?
No, it's ongoing. The most recent book is No Song for the Dead (2026), and Jussi Adler-Olsen hasn't dated the next one yet.
What is the first Department Q book?
The Keeper of Lost Causes (2011) is book one, at 396 pages. Detective Carl Mørck, exiled to a new cold-case unit, reopens the case of a politician who vanished years earlier.
Should I read the Department Q series in publication order?
Yes. For the Department Q series, reading order and publication order are the same — The Keeper of Lost Causes (2011) through No Song for the Dead (2026).
How long does it take to read all Department Q books?
About 5,200 pages across 11 books — roughly 90 hours at a page a minute. The longest is The Shadow Murders (742 pages); the shortest is The Marco Effect (262 pages).