James Hadley Chase Reading Order

1 book (1996–1996)

2 books (1939–1941)

The Dave Fenner series by James Hadley Chase consists of two complete mystery thrillers published between 1939 and 1941. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with No Orchids for Miss Blandish / The Villain and the Virgin, followed by The Doll's Bad News / Twelve C----- and a Woman. The series represents Chase's early work in the hard-boiled detective genre.

Start with No Orchids for Miss Blandish / The Villain and the Virgin and read in order.

#	Title
1	No Orchids for Miss Blandish / The Villain and the Virgin 1939Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Doll's Bad News / Twelve C----- and a Woman 1941Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1955–1955)

#	Title
1	Mission to Siena(As: Raymond Marshall) 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (1964–1970)

James Hadley Chase's Frank Terrell series comprises five mystery and thriller novels published between 1964 and 1970. The complete series includes The Soft Centre, The Way the Cookie Crumbles, Well Now, My Pretty, Believed Violent, and There's a Hippie on the Highway, and should be read in publication order. All five books are now available, making this a finished series for readers seeking the full narrative arc.

Start with The Soft Centre, the first of 5 books in the Frank Terrell series.

#	Title
1	The Soft Centre 1964Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Way the Cookie Crumbles 1965Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Well Now, My Pretty .. 1967Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Believed Violent 1968Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	There's a Hippie on the Highway 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1972–1977)

This complete mystery thriller series by James Hadley Chase consists of three books featuring the character Helga Rolfe, published between 1972 and 1977. The novels should be read in publication order, beginning with Ace Up My Sleeve, followed by The Joker in the Pack, and concluding with I Hold the Four Aces.

Start with Ace Up My Sleeve and read in order.

#	Title
1	Ace Up My Sleeve 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Joker in the Pack 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	I Hold the Four Aces 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1958–1980)

James Hadley Chase's Mark Girland series consists of four mystery and thriller novels published between 1958 and 1980. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Whiff of Money and continuing through This Is for Real, Have This One on Me, and concluding with You Have Yourself a Deal. Each book can be enjoyed independently, though reading them sequentially provides the fullest experience of the character's development across these decades of crime fiction.

Start with The Whiff of Money, the first of 4 books in the Mark Girland series.

#	Title
1	The Whiff of Money 1958Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	This Is for Real 1965Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Have This One on Me 1967Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	You Have Yourself a Deal 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

67 books (1940–1983)

James Hadley Chase wrote 67 standalone mystery and thriller novels between 1940 and 1983, completing a prolific body of work in the crime fiction genre. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with Lady -- Here's Your Wreath, published under the pseudonym Raymond Marshall. Some titles were issued under variant names throughout the series run. The complete series concluded in 1983 with Chase's final novel.

Start with Lady -- Here's Your Wreath(As: Raymond Marshall), the first of 67 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	Lady -- Here's Your Wreath(As: Raymond Marshall) 1940Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Flesh of the Orchid 1940Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief 1941Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Dead Stay Dumb / Kiss My Fist! 1941Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Eve 1942Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Get a Load of This 1942Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	You Never Know with Women 1942Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Just the Way It Is(As: Raymond Marshall) 1944Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Miss Shumway Waves a Wand 1944Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Blonde's Requiem(As: Raymond Marshall) 1946Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	I'll Get You for This 1946Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Make the Corpse Walk(As: Raymond Marshall) 1946Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	More Deadly Than the Male 1946Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Trusted Like the Fox(As: Raymond Marshall) 1948Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Paw in the Bottle(As: Raymond Marshall) 1949Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Why Pick On Me?(As: Raymond Marshall) 1950Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	But a Short Time to Live(As: Raymond Marshall) 1951Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	In a Vain Shadow(As: Raymond Marshall) 1951Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Strictly for Cash 1951Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	The Fast Buck 1952Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Wary Transgressor(As: Raymond Marshall) 1952Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	I'll Bury My Dead 1953Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	The Things Men Do(As: Raymond Marshall) 1953Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Mission to Venice(As: Raymond Marshall) 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Safer Dead / Dead Ringer 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	The Sucker Punch(As: Raymond Marshall) 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	This Way for a Shroud 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Tiger by the Tail 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Ruthless(As:Raymond Marshall) 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	The Pickup(As: Raymond Marshall) 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	You've Got It Coming 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	You Find Him, I'll Fix Him 1956Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Never Trust a Woman(As:Raymond Marshall) 1957Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	The Guilty Are Afraid 1957Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Hit and Run 1958Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	The Case of the Strangled Starlet / Not So Safe to Be Free 1958Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	The World in My Pocket 1959Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Come Easy, Go Easy 1960Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Just Another Sucker 1960Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	What's Better Than Money? 1960Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	A Lotus for Miss Quon 1961Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	A Coffin from Hong Kong 1962Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	I Would Rather Stay Poor 1962Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	One Bright Summer Morning 1963Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Cade 1966Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Mallory(As: Raymond Marshall) 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	The Vulture is a Patient Bird 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	He Won't Need It Now 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	Just a Matter of Time 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Want to Stay Alive? 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	You're Dead Without Money 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Knock, Knock! Who's There? 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	So What Happens to Me? 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	Three of Spades 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	Believe This... You'll Believe Anything 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Goldfish Have No Hiding Place 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	So Soon to Die 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	Do Me a Favour - Drop Dead 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	My Laugh Comes Last 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	Meet Mark Girland 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	You Must Be Kidding 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	A Can of Worms 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	You Can Say That Again 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	Hand Me a Fig Leaf 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Have a Nice Night 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
66	We'll Share a Double Funeral 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
67	Not My Thing 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1947–1968)

The Steve Harmas series consists of six mystery and thriller novels written by James Hadley Chase between 1947 and 1968. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with No Business of Mine (published under the pseudonym Raymond Marshall) and continuing through Double Shuffle, There's Always a Price Tag, Shock Treatment, Tell It to the Birds, and concluding with An Ear to the Ground. All six books have been published, making this a finished series for readers seeking the full arc of the protagonist's adventures.

Start with No Business of Mine(As: Raymond Marshall), the first of 6 books in the Steve Harmas series.

#	Title
1	No Business of Mine(As: Raymond Marshall) 1947Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Double Shuffle 1954Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	There's Always a Price Tag 1956Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Shock Treatment 1959Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Tell It to the Birds 1963Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	An Ear to the Ground 1968Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (1971–1984)

James Hadley Chase's Tom Lepski series consists of five mystery and thriller novels published between 1971 and 1984, now complete. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with Like a Hole in the Head and continuing through Have a Change of Scene, Consider Yourself Dead, Try This One for Size, and concluding with Hit Them Where It Hurts.

Start with Like a Hole in the Head, the first of 5 books in the Tom Lepski series.

#	Title
1	Like a Hole in the Head 1971Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Have a Change of Scene 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Consider Yourself Dead 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Try This One for Size 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Hit Them Where It Hurts 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1949–1950)

James Hadley Chase's Vic Malloy series comprises three complete mystery thrillers published between 1949 and 1950. The trilogy should be read in publication order, beginning with You're Lonely When You're Dead, followed by Figure It Out for Yourself (also titled The Marijuana Mob), and concluding with Lay Her Among Lilies (also published as Too Dangerous to Be Free).

Start with You're Lonely When You're Dead and read in order.

#	Title
1	You're Lonely When You're Dead 1949Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Figure It Out for Yourself / The Marijuana Mob 1950Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Lay Her Among Lilies / Too Dangerous to Be Free 1950Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible