Order of Book Series
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Dorothy B. Hughes Books in Order

Dorothy B. Hughes has written 16 books, published between 1931 and 1978. The first book is Dark Certainty (1931) and the newest is Erle Stanley Gardner (1978). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
16
Published
1931–1978
Pages on record
2,173 in 10 of 16 books
Reading time
36–54 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,173 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 16 titles with a page count on record.

See all 16 books in order Printable Dorothy B. Hughes checklist

Dorothy B. Hughes (August 10, 1904 to May 6, 1993) was an American crime writer, literary critic and historian. Hughes wrote 14 crime and detective novels, mostly hardboiled and noir. Ride the Pink Horse (1946) and In a Lonely Place (1947) are the novels Hughes is best known for. The catalogue lists 16 titles from Dark Certainty (1931) to Erle Stanley Gardner (1978), including The So Blue Marble (1940) and The Fallen Sparrow (1942). Griselda Satterlee is the series under the Hughes name.

How many Dorothy B. Hughes books are there?

Dorothy B. Hughes has 16 books, released between 1931 and 1978. 2 of them belong to the Griselda Satterlee series.

Dorothy B. Hughes Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 16 Dorothy B. Hughes 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 Dark Certainty by Dorothy B. Hughes (1931)
  2. Cover of The Fallen Sparrow by Dorothy B. Hughes (1942)
  3. Cover of Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B. Hughes (1946)
  4. Cover of In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes (1947)
  5. Cover of The Davidian Report by Dorothy B. Hughes (1952)
  6. Cover of The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes (1963)
  7. Cover of Erle Stanley Gardner by Dorothy B. Hughes (1978)
  1. 1
    Dark Certainty1931 · 68 pages · confirmed 1/4
    193168
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The So Blue MarbleGriselda Satterlee #11940 · 194 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1940194
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Cross Eyed Bear Murders1940 · confirmed 1/4
    1940–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Bamboo BlondeGriselda Satterlee #21941 · confirmed 1/4
    1941–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Fallen Sparrow1942 · 201 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1942201
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Blackbirder1943 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1943240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Delicate Ape1944 · confirmed 1/4
    1944–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Johnnie1944 · confirmed 1/4
    1944–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Dread Journey1945 · 264 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1945264
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Ride the Pink Horse1946 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1946208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Scarlet Imperial1946 · confirmed 1/4
    1946–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    In a Lonely Place1947 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1947224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Candy Kid1950 · confirmed 1/4
    1950–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Davidian Report1952 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Expendable Man1963 · 264 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963264
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Erle Stanley Gardner1978 · 350 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978350
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Dorothy B. Hughes 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.

Griselda Satterlee in order

2 books
  1. 1. The So Blue Marble
  2. 2. The Bamboo Blonde

Standalone books

14 books

14 Dorothy B. Hughes titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Dorothy B. Hughes books in order?

You only need to read Dorothy B. Hughes books in order within the Griselda Satterlee series, which holds 2 of the 16 Dorothy B. Hughes books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Dorothy B. Hughes

Start with Dark Certainty (1931), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Dorothy B. Hughes book?

Erle Stanley Gardner (1978) is the newest Dorothy B. Hughes book released so far.

Is there a new Dorothy B. Hughes book coming?

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

Awards Dorothy B. Hughes has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Dorothy B. Hughes. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • The Grand Master1978Won

Dorothy B. Hughes at a glance

Died
Dorothy B. Hughes died in 1993, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Dorothy B. Hughes on record dates from 1978.
Release pace
Dorothy B. Hughes books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
2,173 pages across the 10 of 16 books with a recorded length, a median of 216 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Dorothy B. Hughes books, 11 of 16, were published in the 1940s.

What the Dorothy B. Hughes books are about

10 of the 16 Dorothy B. Hughes 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 8 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.