Crime linkage and the investigation of behavioural consistency amongst serial offenders has been a flourishing field of research over the past decade or so, especially with respect to serial sex offenders. The emerging research in this field has often portrayed serial sex offenders as a single, distinct, and homogeneous group. Such an assumption, however, has never been empirically examined. Using a criminal career approach and a sample of 72 serial sex offenders who have committed a total of 361 sexual assaults on stranger victims, the current study aims to examine and describe subgroups of crime series patterns amongst serial sex offenders in terms of duration and frequency of offending. The level of environmental consistency display (i.e. offender's choice of crime location and characteristics of the crime site selected) across subgroups of crime series patterns is also examined. Study findings suggest the presence and heterogeneity of crime series patterns amongst serial sex offenders, advocating for the consideration of subgroups of crime series patterns when studying serial sex offenders. Moreover, the offenders' level of environmental consistency varies across the different crime series patterns identified, allowing for the identification of subgroups of offenders showing a higher or lower level of environmental consistency. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key words: serial offenders; crime series patterns; consistency; specialisation; sex offenders; crime linkage Crime linkage analysis is an investigative technique that can help police investigators to determine, on the basis of behavioural similarities displayed across different crime scenes, whether they are faced with a possible series of related offences committed by the same offender. Special units amongst certain police departments therefore rely on the assumption that serial offenders, whether burglars or sex offenders, tend to repeat their offending over time and be consistent in how they go about it. Different explanations have been put