Walter Mosley Reading Order

121 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 🇺🇸

17 books (1993–2023)

Start with The New Mystery, the first of 17 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	The New Mystery 1993Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Plot Thickens 1997Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Best American Mystery Stories 1998 1998Buy 🇺🇸
4	A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora 2000Buy 🇺🇸
5	Writers on Writing 2001Buy 🇺🇸
6	Writing Los Angeles 2002Buy 🇺🇸
7	The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 2003Buy 🇺🇸
8	The Best American Short Stories 2003 2003Buy 🇺🇸
9	Reading the Bones 2004Buy 🇺🇸
10	Dangerous Women 2005Buy 🇺🇸
11	Transgressions 2005Buy 🇺🇸
12	The Darker Mask 2008Buy 🇺🇸
13	Freedom 2009Buy 🇺🇸
14	The Civil Rights Reader 2009Buy 🇺🇸
15	Black Pulp 2013Buy 🇺🇸
16	Crime Hits Home 2022Buy 🇺🇸
17	New Suns 2 2023Buy 🇺🇸

4 books (2012–2013)

Start with Disciple, the first of 4 books in the Crosstown to Oblivion series.

#	Title
1	Disciple 2012Buy 🇺🇸
2	Merge 2012Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Gift of Fire and On the Head of a Pin 2012Buy 🇺🇸
4	Stepping Stone and Love Machine 2013Buy 🇺🇸

17 books (1990–2025)

Start with Devil in a Blue Dress, the first of 17 books in the Easy Rawlins series.

#	Title
1	Devil in a Blue Dress 1990Buy 🇺🇸
2	A Red Death 1991Buy 🇺🇸
3	White Butterfly 1992Buy 🇺🇸
4	Black Betty 1994Buy 🇺🇸
5	A Little Yellow Dog 1996Buy 🇺🇸
6	Gone Fishin' 1997Buy 🇺🇸
7	Bad Boy Brawly Brown 2001Buy 🇺🇸
8	Six Easy Pieces 2003Buy 🇺🇸
9	Little Scarlet 2004Buy 🇺🇸
10	Cinnamon Kiss 2005Buy 🇺🇸
11	Blonde Faith 2007Buy 🇺🇸
12	Little Green 2013Buy 🇺🇸
13	Rose Gold 2014Buy 🇺🇸
14	Charcoal Joe 2016Buy 🇺🇸
15	Blood Grove 2021Buy 🇺🇸
16	Farewell, Amethystine 2024Buy 🇺🇸
17	Gray Dawn 2025Buy 🇺🇸

3 books (2001–2006)

Start with Fearless Jones and read in order.

#	Title
1	Fearless Jones 2001Buy 🇺🇸
2	Fear Itself 2003Buy 🇺🇸
3	Fear of the Dark 2006Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2022–2022)

3 books (2018–2025)

Start with Down the River unto the Sea and read in order.

#	Title
1	Down the River unto the Sea 2018Buy 🇺🇸
2	Every Man a King 2023Buy 🇺🇸
3	Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right 2025Buy 🇺🇸

7 books (2009–2020)

Start with The Long Fall, the first of 7 books in the Leonid McGill series.

#	Title
1	The Long Fall 2009Buy 🇺🇸
2	Karma 2010Buy 🇺🇸
3	Known to Evil 2010Buy 🇺🇸
4	When the Thrill Is Gone 2011Buy 🇺🇸
5	All I Did Was Shoot My Man 2012Buy 🇺🇸
6	And Sometimes I Wonder About You 2015Buy 🇺🇸
7	Trouble Is What I Do 2020Buy 🇺🇸

7 books (2000–2019)

Start with Workin' on the Chain Gang, the first of 7 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	Workin' on the Chain Gang 2000Buy 🇺🇸
2	What Next 2003Buy 🇺🇸
3	Life Out of Context 2005Buy 🇺🇸
4	This Year You Write Your Novel 2007Buy 🇺🇸
5	Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation 2011Buy 🇺🇸
6	Folding the Red Into the Black 2016Buy 🇺🇸
7	The Elements of Fiction Writing 2019Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2011–2011)

#	Title
1	The Fall of Heaven 2011Buy 🇺🇸

5 books (1993–2016)

Start with The Watt’s Lion, the first of 5 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	The Watt’s Lion 1993Buy 🇺🇸
2	Whispers in the Dark 2000Buy 🇺🇸
3	Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore 2014Buy 🇺🇸
4	Jack Strong 2014Buy 🇺🇸
5	Archibald Lawless, Anarchist at Large 2016Buy 🇺🇸

2 books (2001–2020)

Start with Futureland and read in order.

#	Title
1	Futureland 2001Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Awkward Black Man 2020Buy 🇺🇸

3 books (1997–2008)

Start with Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned and read in order.

#	Title
1	Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned 1997Buy 🇺🇸
2	Walkin' the Dog 1999Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Right Mistake 2008Buy 🇺🇸

17 books (1995–2023)

Start with RL's Dream, the first of 17 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	RL's Dream 1995Buy 🇺🇸
2	Blue Light 1998Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Greatest 2000Buy 🇺🇸
4	The Man in My Basement 2004Buy 🇺🇸
5	47 2005Buy 🇺🇸
6	The Wave 2005Buy 🇺🇸
7	Diablerie 2006Buy 🇺🇸
8	Fortunate Son 2006Buy 🇺🇸
9	Killing Johnny Fry 2006Buy 🇺🇸
10	The Tempest Tales 2008Buy 🇺🇸
11	The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 2009Buy 🇺🇸
12	Parishioner 2012Buy 🇺🇸
13	Odyssey 2013Buy 🇺🇸
14	Inside a Silver Box 2015Buy 🇺🇸
15	The Further Tales of Tempest Landry 2015Buy 🇺🇸
16	John Woman 2018Buy 🇺🇸
17	Touched 2023Buy 🇺🇸

4 books (2005–2006)

Start with Transgressions(With: Stephen King,Lawrence Block,Anne Perry,Jeffery Deaver,Sharyn McCrumb,Ed McBain,Donald E Westlake,Bonnie Jeanne Perry,Joyce Carol Oates,John Farris), the first of 4 books in the Transgressions series.

#	Title
1	Transgressions(With: Stephen King,Lawrence Block,Anne Perry,Jeffery Deaver,Sharyn McCrumb,Ed McBain,Donald E Westlake,Bonnie Jeanne Perry,Joyce Carol Oates,John Farris) 2005Buy 🇺🇸
2	Transgressions, Vol. 2(By: Stephen King,Lawrence Block,Ed McBain,John Farris) 2006Buy 🇺🇸
3	Transgressions, Vol. 3(By: Anne Perry,Sharyn McCrumb,Ed McBain,Donald E Westlake,John Farris) 2006Buy 🇺🇸
4	Transgressions, Vol. 4(By: Anne Perry,Sharyn McCrumb,Ed McBain) 2006Buy 🇺🇸