Boldt/Matthews Books In Order

Publication Order of Boldt & Matthews Books

Author Ridley Pearson began publishing his series about characters Boldt and Matthews in the year 1988, with the release of “Undercurrents”. The series ended after the ninth book was released in the year 2004, and was called “The Body of David Hayes”.

The series stars Daphne Matthews (who is a police psychologist and quite alluring) and Lou Boldt (who is a detective). Both characters are human characters, not the usual super hero types that populate other thriller novel series. Together they make for a strong pair that have a great working relationship together. The series is set in Seattle, Washington.

Right when Lou first meets his partner Daphne, he is attracted to her. It does not help very much that he finds out that his wife was unfaithful to him. Later on in the books, he gets very distant towards his wife.

Daphne is not a character that just lets Lou handle all the action, while she simply handles the psychological aspects of the case. She jumps to action when it is necessary for her to do so.

“Undercurrents” is the first novel in the “Boldt/ Matthews” series and was released in the year 1988. Lou Boldt is head of a special task force within the homicide bureau of Seattle’s police force. It has one job to apprehend the Cross Killer; he is a serial killer that has eluded capture for six months and left the city paralyzed. A body washes up on Puget Sound’s shore and Boldt believes this killer has made a mistake at last.

It shows some of Cross Killer’s work, but one that was horribly botched. Did the woman get killed while she was trying to escape? Did she jump in the water knowingly, so that she could preserve a clue for the police? Is she trying to send Boldt a message? He has the help of Daphne Matthews, and together, they will piece this complicated puzzle back together.

There was just the right amount of suspense in the book, and readers found this to be well written. Fans of the novel found this to be a great way to kick off this series. It has a complex plot combined with a brilliant whodunit. These are books that are more suitable for those that like to think as part of the entertainment, rather than just be told everything while the cops hunt a serial killer. After reading this, some felt themselves wishing that Ridley Pearson still wrote thrillers because he is so good at doing it. This is the proof of that.

“The Angel Maker” is the second novel in the “Boldt/ Matthews” series and was released in the year 1993. Lou Boldt and Daphne Matthews believe that there is some illegal organ harvesting happening when some recent attacks occur on some teenage runaways.

The trail takes them to some dark streets and even starker corners of the mind, while they find themselves hunting a sinister surgeon. This surgeon has some twisted ideas about social justice and mortality.

Daphne puts her life on the line so that she can save one of the runaways from this surgeon’s scalpel. Doing so puts her right up close to the Angel Maker.

Some had a hard time setting this one aside to try and read (or even do anything else in some cases) this held them that well the entire time they were reading. Fans of the novel found themselves digging this one much more than book one in the series. Some especially like Matthews’ character quite a lot in the book. Pearson is able to put some pretty good action sequences in the book, and make the book better for them.

“No Witnesses” is the third novel in the “Boldt/ Matthews” series and was released in the year 1994. The FBI is kept two steps behind when an ingenious extortion is carried out against a food company in Seattle. Lou and Daphne approach this case from opposite ends. One finds microscopic evidence and the other puts together a criminal psychological profile of a guy that is willing to contaminate food and kill if necessary.

The one cop that Daphne secretly loves is being torn apart by the extortion. Boldt’s department is cracking under the stress, and Boldt is able to see this. As the manhunt builds towards its finish, both Boldt and Matthews realize something shocking. This madman may not be working alone like they think.

Fans of the novel find that Ridley Pearson has created a very likable and extremely human cop in Lou Boldt. He is simply not the hero cop that saves the day at the right moment, rather the one that works tirelessly until the case submits to him. The way he interacts with his partner Daphne is pretty flawless. There are other great characters thrown in to make things even more enjoyable. The way the cases combine with the humanness of the characters make the books better reads. These are characters that are simply human and not the incredible super heroes that are often found in these types of books.

“Beyond Recognition” is the fourth novel in the “Boldt/ Matthews” series and was released in the year 1998. An odd string of fires take place in Seattle, and they burn so cleanly that there is no ash left behind. The victims in the fires do not even leave behind any trace. Lou Boldt returns to take on the puzzling arsonist. He keeps his eye trained on the Fire Warden, as he seems to be keeping to close to the flames.

Daphne concerns herself more with the victims in the blazes. Particularly a wily and intelligent ten year old boy that had a horrifying encounter with a man that was disfigured and badly burned man.

Here is a book that gets involved with both the characters and their lives and the events of the book. This has a lot of technical details in it and the plotting is fast pace that keeps things moving right along. Fans of the novel enjoyed this story, especially for one of the important subplots having to do with the killer. Some found the novel builds so much that the final third of the book was hard to put down for some readers.