Raymond Chandler Reading Order
7 series · 178 books · Born 1888
Raymond Chandler was a prominent American-British author renowned for his contributions to the detective fiction genre. Active from 1933 until 2025, he penned a remarkable 178 books across seven series, including the iconic Philip Marlowe saga, alongside numerous short stories, novellas, screenplays, and works of non-fiction. His compelling storytelling and vivid characterizations have solidified his reputation, making him a key figure in the evolution of crime literature.
Akashic Noir Series
Ongoing121 books (2002–2025)
Start with San Francisco Noir, the first of 121 books in the Akashic Noir series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco Noir 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | Bronx Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | Seattle Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Brooklyn Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 |  Hasidic Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Brooklyn Noir 2 2005Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | Chicago Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Dublin Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | Baltimore Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | D.C. Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | London Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  Manhattan Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | Miami Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 |  Twin Cities Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 |  Detroit Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 | Havana Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 |  Los Angeles Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 |  New Orleans Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 19 | Wall Street Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 20 |  Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 21 | D.C. Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 22 | Istanbul Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 23 | Las Vegas Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 24 | Manhattan Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 25 | Paris Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 26 | Queens Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 27 | Toronto Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 28 | Trinidad Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 29 |  Boston Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 30 | Delhi Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 31 |  Phoenix Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 32 | Portland Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 33 | Rome Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 34 | San Francisco Noir 2 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 35 | Copenhagen Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 36 | Haiti Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 37 | Indian Country Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 38 |  Lone Star Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 39 | Los Angeles Noir 2 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 40 | Mexico City Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 41 | Moscow Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 42 |  Orange County Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 43 | Philadelphia Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 44 | Richmond Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 45 | Barcelona Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 46 |  Cape Cod Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 47 | New Jersey Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 48 | Pittsburgh Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 49 | San Diego Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 50 |  Boston Noir 2 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 51 | Kansas City Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 52 | Kingston Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 53 | Long Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 54 | Mumbai Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 55 | St. Petersburg Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 56 |  Staten Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 57 |  Venice Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 58 | Buffalo Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 59 |  Dallas Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 60 | Haiti Noir 2 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 61 | Manila Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 62 |  USA Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 63 | Belfast Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 64 | Helsinki Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 65 |  Prison Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 66 | Rio Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 67 | Singapore Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 68 | Tehran Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 69 | Tel Aviv Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 70 | Beirut Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 71 | Chicago Noir: The Classics 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 72 | Marseille Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 73 | Memphis Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 74 | Providence Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 75 | Zagreb Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 76 | Brussels Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 77 |  Mississippi Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 78 | New Orleans Noir: The Classics 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 79 | Prague Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 80 | San Juan Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 81 | St. Louis Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 82 |  Stockholm Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 83 |  Atlanta Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 84 | Buenos Aires Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 85 | Montana Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 86 | Montreal Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 87 | New Haven Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 88 | Oakland Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 89 | Trinidad Noir: The Classics 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 90 | Baghdad Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 91 | Berlin Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 92 | Hong Kong Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 93 | Lagos Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 94 | Marrakech Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 95 | Santa Cruz Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 96 | Sydney Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 97 | São Paulo Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 98 | Vancouver Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 99 | Amsterdam Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 100 | Houston Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 101 | Milwaukee Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 102 | Accra Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 103 | Addis Ababa Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 104 | Alabama Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 105 | Belgrade Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 106 | Berkeley Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 107 | Columbus Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 108 | Miami Noir: The Classics 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 109 | Nairobi Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 110 | Santa Fe Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 111 | Tampa Bay Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 112 | Palm Springs Noir 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 113 | Denver Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 114 | Paris Noir: The Suburbs 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 115 |  South Central Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 116 | Cleveland Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 117 | East Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 118 | West Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 119 | Honolulu Noir 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 120 |  Hamburg Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 121 | Sacramento Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
Anthologies Series
Complete14 books (1953–2018)
Start with Hard-Boiled Detectives, the first of 14 books in the Anthologies series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hard-Boiled Detectives 1953Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories 1988Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  Great Law and Order Stories 1990Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  The Little Book of Horrors: Tiny Tales of Terror 1992Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories 1996Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories 1996Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950 1999Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century 2000Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  The Oxford Book of Detective Stories 2000Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  Writing Los Angeles 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 |  The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  Pulp Fiction - The Dames 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | Books to Die For 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 | Writers: Their Lives and Works 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
Non-Fiction Series
Complete5 books (1933–2014)
Start with Stories and Early Novels, the first of 5 books in the Non-Fiction series.
Philip Marlowe Series
Likely Complete13 books (1939–2023)
Start with The Big Sleep, the first of 13 books in the Philip Marlowe series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The Big Sleep 1939Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  Farewell, My Lovely 1940Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  The High Window 1942Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  The Lady in the Lake 1943Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Little Sister 1949Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  The Long Goodbye 1953Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  Playback 1958Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Poodle Springs(With: Robert B. Parker) 1989Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  Perchance to Dream(By: Robert B. Parker) 1991Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  The Black-Eyed Blonde / Marlowe(By: Benjamin Black) 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 |  Only to Sleep(By: Lawrence Osborne) 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  The Goodbye Coast(By: Joe Ide) 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 |  The Second Murderer(By: Denise Mina) 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
Screenplays Series
Complete2 books (1944–1976)
Start with Double Indemnity(With: Billy Wilder) and read in order.
Short Stories/Novellas Series
Complete11 books (1936–2020)
Start with The Curtain, the first of 11 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The Curtain 1936Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | Mandarin's Jade 1937Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | Try The Girl 1937Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Bay City Blues 1938Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Bronze Door 1939Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 | No Crimes In The Mountains 1941Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | Professor Bingo's Snuff 1951Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  English Summer 1976Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | Goldfish 1981Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | The Man Who Liked Dogs 1996Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | I’ll Be Waiting 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
Short Story Collections Series
Complete12 books (1944–1965)
Start with Five Murders, the first of 12 books in the Short Story Collections series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Five Murders 1944Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  Five Sinister Characters 1945Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | Red Wind 1946Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Spanish Blood 1946Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Finger Man 1947Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  The Simple Art of Murder 1950Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  Trouble is My Business 1950Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Pickup on Noon Street 1952Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | Smart-Aleck Kill 1953Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  Pearls are a Nuisance 1958Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | Killer in the Rain 1964Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  The Smell of Fear 1965Buy 🇺🇸 |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many books has Raymond Chandler written?
- Raymond Chandler has written 178 books across 7 series. Their published works span from 1933 to 2025.
- What is the first book in each Raymond Chandler series?
- Here are the first books in Raymond Chandler's series: Akashic Noir: San Francisco Noir; Anthologies: Hard-Boiled Detectives; Non-Fiction: Stories and Early Novels; Philip Marlowe: The Big Sleep; Screenplays: Double Indemnity(With: Billy Wilder).
- What order should I read Raymond Chandler's books?
- We recommend reading Raymond Chandler's series in publication order. Each series can be read independently.
- Is Raymond Chandler still writing new books?
- Yes, Raymond Chandler has 1 ongoing series: Akashic Noir.