Robert K. Tanenbaum Books In Order – Complete List

Robert K. Tanenbaum is the bestselling author of the popular Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi legal thriller series, which currently includes 29 books. He is also an attorney and is a former mayor of Beverly Hills California.

Here are the Robert K. Tanenbaum books in order for his Butch Karp courtroom thriller series.

Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi Books in Publication Order

1. No Lesser Plea, 1987
2. Depraved Indifference, 1989
3. Immoral Certainty, 1991
4. Reversible Error, 1992
5. Material Witness, 1993
6. Corruption of Blood, 1994
7. Justice Denied, 1994
8. Falsely Accused, 1996
9. Irresistible Impulse, 1997
10. Reckless Endangerment, 1998
11. Act of Revenge, 1999
12. True Justice, 2000
13. Enemy Within, 2001
14. Absolute Rage, 2002
15. Resolved, 2003
16. Hoax, 2004
17. Fury, 2005
18. Counterplay, 2006
19. Malice, 2007
20. Escape, 2008
21. Capture, 2009
22. Betrayed, 2010
23. Outrage, 2011
24. Bad Faith, 2012
25. Tragic, 2013
26. Fatal Conceit, 2014
27. Trap, 2015
28. Infamy, 2016
29. Without Fear or Favor, 2017

Non-Fiction Books in Publication Order

• The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer, 1987 (with Peter S. Greenberg)
• Badge of the Assassin, 1979 (with Philip Rosenberg)
• Echoes of My Soul, 2013
• Coal Country Killing: A Culture, a Union, and the Murders That Changed It All, 2023 (with Steve Jackson)

Robert K. Tanenbaum Biography

Robert K. Tanenbaum was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. After winning a basketball scholarship, he attended the University of California, Berkeley where he received his BA.

Later on, he enrolled at the Boalt Hall School of Law where he received his J.D.

After his graduation from law school, he moved back to New York, where he started his work as a lawyer.

He worked as an Assistant New York County District Attorney in Manhattan under the historical New York County DA Frank Hogan, where he later became head of the Homicide Bureau, served as Chief of the Criminal Courts, and was in charge of the D.A.’s legal staff training program.

This was a job that he left in 1977 disappointed because it all became too political with regards to whether to prosecute and if yes, what penalties to give. Sometimes plea bargains were offered when they should not have been, and fairness was no longer the word of the day. However, during his time in Manhattan, he never lost a felony case.

His next venture took him to investigate the J.F. Kennedy assassination and the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination, working as the Deputy Chief Counsel for the House Select Committee on these cases.

In addition, he taught Advanced Criminal Procedure for four years at the very same school where he received his J.D., at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, Robert K. Tanenbaum is still holding seminars on continuing legal education for lawyers in California, New York, as well as Pennsylvania.

Following his career as an attorney, he also became mayor of Santa Barbara, California, serving two terms.

His writing career started in 1987 when he got both his fiction and non-fiction books published: No Lesser Plea, the first in the Butch Karp thriller series, and his true crime book called The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer.

Currently, the author has 29 Butch Karp books published, with the latest one Without Fear or Favor, published in 2017, as well as 3 non-fiction books, all related to crimes and criminals. Initially, when writing the first Butch Karp novel, the author thought it would become a standalone novel.

The book The Piano Teacher was co-written with Peter S. Greenberg.

Most of Robert K. Tanenbaum’s books were written based on his personal experience working in the D.A.’s office.

He also worked in the prosecution of the Hillside Strangler in Los Angeles, as well as mounted the defense for Amy Grossberg, and worked in several other high-profile cases.

The courtroom drama books published between 1987 and 2003 were ghostwritten by Michael Gruber.

Robert K. Tanenbaum is currently living in California with his wife and three children, where he has a private law practice.

Who Are Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi?

Roger Butch Karp is the main character in Robert K. Tanenbaum’s book series. He is a Criminal Courts Bureau chief for the New York District Attorney’s Office who is married to Marlene Ciampi, the Assistant District Attorney, who also fights crime by his side.

The series begins in New York City in the 1970s. The first book of the series, No Lesser Plea, was published in 1987.

When the book series started, Butch was an assistant district attorney and Marlene was his colleague and lover. He has a strong sense of justice that keeps him going for close to 30 books. After several novels, we can see the character’s progression as he gets promoted along with his – now – wife.

Initially, Marlene ran the sex crimes unit, and later on became a private investigator, while her husband now worked as a D.A. While Roger would not touch a gun, given his line of work, that doesn’t stop Marlene from doing so if it’s really necessary. In fact, many people called her a real vigilante, at least in the first books when she had a much greater role in the books.

This is also one of the reasons why it’s good to read the books in order. While each story stands on its own without ending on a cliffhanger, we can see the growth and development of both Butch and Marlene. We get to stay with the main characters as they age, get married, and later have three children who in turn become parents after they grow up in turn. We basically get to see all this almost in real life.

In addition, later books do mention earlier stories which is easier to follow if you’ve already read the respective novels.