Order of Book Series
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Ayelet Waldman Books in Order

Ayelet Waldman has written 16 books, published between 2000 and 2026. The first book is Nursery Crimes (2000) and the newest is A Perfect Hand (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
16
Published
2000–2026
Pages on record
3,204 in 12 of 16 books
Reading time
53–80 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,204 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 16 titles with a page count on record.

See all 16 books in order Printable Ayelet Waldman checklist
Photo of Ayelet Waldman, author of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series

Ayelet Waldman, born December 11, 1964, is an Israeli-American novelist and essayist who spent three years as a federal public defender. Waldman wrote seven novels in the Mommy-Track Mysteries series and four other novels, and draws on legal experience in the fiction. Autobiographical essays on motherhood are also part of the work. The catalogue lists 16 books from Nursery Crimes (2000) to A Perfect Hand (2026), with subject tags naming Juliet Applebaum, Los Angeles and women sleuths; Daughter's Keeper (2003) and Bad Mother (2009) are among the titles.

How many Ayelet Waldman books are there?

Ayelet Waldman has 16 books, released between 2000 and 2026. 7 of them belong to the A Mommy-Track Mystery series.

Ayelet Waldman Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 16 Ayelet Waldman books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Nursery Crimes by Ayelet Waldman, book 1 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2000)
  2. Cover of The Big Nap by Ayelet Waldman, book 2 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2001)
  3. Cover of A Playdate With Death by Ayelet Waldman, book 3 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2002)
  4. Cover of Murder Plays House by Ayelet Waldman, book 5 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2004)
  5. Cover of The Cradle Robbers by Ayelet Waldman, book 6 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2005)
  6. Cover of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman (2006)
  7. Cover of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep by Ayelet Waldman, book 7 of the A Mommy-Track Mystery series (2006)
  8. Cover of Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman (2009)
  9. Cover of Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman (2010)
  1. 1
    Nursery CrimesA Mommy-Track Mystery #12000 · 270 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2000270
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Big NapA Mommy-Track Mystery #22001 · 227 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001227
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    A Playdate With DeathA Mommy-Track Mystery #32002 · 229 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002229
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Daughter's Keeper2003 · 368 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Death Gets A Time-OutA Mommy-Track Mystery #42003 · 314 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003314
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Murder Plays HouseA Mommy-Track Mystery #52004 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2004320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Cradle RobbersA Mommy-Track Mystery #62005 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Love and Other Impossible Pursuits2006 · 340 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006340
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Bye-Bye, Black SheepA Mommy-Track Mystery #72006 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Bad Mother2009 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2009224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Red Hook Road2010 · confirmed 1/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Love and Treasure2014 · confirmed 1/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Ayelet Waldman Quotes2016 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    201632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    A Really Good Day2017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Inside This Place, Not of It2017 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    A Perfect Hand2026 · confirmed 1/4
    2026–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Ayelet Waldman books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

A Mommy-Track Mystery in order

7 books
  1. 1. Nursery Crimes
  2. 2. The Big Nap
  3. 3. A Playdate With Death
  4. 4. Death Gets A Time-Out
  5. 5. Murder Plays House
  6. 6. The Cradle Robbers
  7. 7. Bye-Bye, Black Sheep

Standalone books

9 books

9 Ayelet Waldman titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Ayelet Waldman books in order?

You only need to read Ayelet Waldman books in order within the A Mommy-Track Mystery series, which holds 7 of the 16 Ayelet Waldman books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Ayelet Waldman

Start with Nursery Crimes (2000), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Ayelet Waldman book?

A Perfect Hand (2026) is the newest Ayelet Waldman book released so far.

Is there a new Ayelet Waldman book coming?

No next Ayelet Waldman book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Ayelet Waldman at a glance

Still publishing
Ayelet Waldman published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Ayelet Waldman books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
3,204 pages across the 12 of 16 books with a recorded length, a median of 280 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Ayelet Waldman books, 10 of 16, were published in the 2000s.

What the Ayelet Waldman books are about

14 of the 16 Ayelet Waldman books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: housewives is tagged on 6 of 14. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.