Deryn Lake Books in Order
Deryn Lake has written 34 books, published between 1994 and 2025. The first book is Death in the Dark Walk (1994) and the newest is Love Song of the Nightingale (2025). Publication order is the reading order below. 17 of the 34 books listed here are in the John Rawlings series, which has its own page: John Rawlings books in order.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1994–2025
- Pages on record
- 6,267 in 20 of 34 books
- Reading time
- 104–157 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,267 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 20 of 34 titles with a page count on record.
Deryn Lake writes historical crime fiction. John Rawlings, an apothecary turned investigator, carries the long-running series, and every early title opens the same way: Death in the Dark Walk (1994), Death at the Beggar's Opera, Death at the Devil's Tavern, Death in the Peerless Pool, Death at Apothecaries' Hall. The Reverend Nick Lawrence mysteries follow later. 34 books reach Love Song of the Nightingale in 2025, at a median of 288 pages.
How many Deryn Lake books are there?
Deryn Lake has 34 books, released between 1994 and 2025. They include 2 series and 7 titles listed outside any series.
Deryn Lake Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Deryn Lake 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.
- 119942882/4
- 219951922/4
- 319962442/4
- 419982162/4
- 519992002/4
- 620002082/4
- 720014642/4
- 820022882/4
- 920032882/4
- 1020042882/4
- 1120062882/4
- 1220073362/4
- 132009–2/4
- 142010–2/4
- 152011–2/4
- 1620121672/4
- 1720141962/4
- 18The King's Women2015 · 528 pages · confirmed 2/420155282/4
- 19As Shadows Haunting2015 · 470 pages · confirmed 2/420154702/4
- 20Pour The Dark Wine2015 · 518 pages · confirmed 2/420155182/4
- 2120151842/4
- 22To Sleep No More2015 · 458 pages · confirmed 2/420154582/4
- 23Banishment2015 · 446 pages · confirmed 2/420154462/4
- 242016–2/4
- 252017–2/4
- 262017–2/4
- 272017–2/4
- 282017–2/4
- 292017–2/4
- 302017–2/4
- 312018–2/4
- 32The Prince's Women2019 · confirmed 2/42019–2/4
- 332022–2/4
- 34Love Song of the Nightingale2025 · confirmed 2/42025–2/4
Deryn Lake series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- John Rawlings books in order 17 books
Deryn Lake 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.
Deryn Lake Short Stories/Novellas
6 books6 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Reverend Nick Lawrence Mystery in order
3 booksDeryn Lake Short Story
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
7 books7 Deryn Lake titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Deryn Lake books in order?
You only need to read Deryn Lake books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Deryn Lake
Start with Death in the Dark Walk (1994), the first John Rawlings book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Deryn Lake book?
Love Song of the Nightingale (2025) is the newest Deryn Lake book released so far.
Is there a new Deryn Lake book coming?
No next Deryn Lake book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Deryn Lake at a glance
- Still publishing
- Deryn Lake published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Deryn Lake books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 6,267 pages across the 20 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 288 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Deryn Lake books, 19 of 34, were published in the 2010s.
What the Deryn Lake books are about
15 of the 34 Deryn Lake books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 11 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 11 of 15 books
- John Rawlings (Fictitious character) 9 of 15 books
- Pharmacists 7 of 15 books
- History 6 of 15 books
- Crime 5 of 15 books
- England 4 of 15 books
- Great Britain 4 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective, historical 4 of 15 books
- Parochial Vicars 3 of 15 books
- Investigation 2 of 15 books
- Murder 2 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 2 of 15 books