Finally, in 1980 his wife urged him to "go for it". Lindsey decided to write mystery fiction because of its general marketability. His first two novels appeared in 1983: ''Black Gold, Red Death'' and ''A Cold Mind''. The latter  work introduced Houston homicide detective Stuart Haydon, a cultured, independently wealthy protagonist who would appear in four subsequent novels.

• Black Gold, Red Death (1983)
• A Cold Mind (1983) – a Stuart Haydon novel
• Heat from Another Sun (1984) – a Stuart Haydon novel
• Spiral (1986) – a Stuart Haydon novel
• In the Lake of the Moon (1988) – a Stuart Haydon novel
• Mercy (1990)
• Body of Truth (1992) – a Stuart Haydon novel
• An Absence of Light (1994)
• Requiem for a Glass Heart (1996)
• The Color of Night (1999)
• Animosity (2001)
• The Rules of Silence (2003)
• The Face of the Assassin (2004)