Edmund Crispin Books in Order
12 books are credited to Edmund Crispin, published between 1944 and 1979; 1 of them appeared after Edmund Crispin's death in 1978. The first book is The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944) and the newest is Fen Country (1979). Publication order is the reading order below. 10 of the 12 books listed here are in the Gervase Fen series, which has its own page: Gervase Fen books in order.
- Books
- 12
- Published
- 1944–1979
- Pages on record
- 2,518 in 11 of 12 books
- Reading time
- 42–63 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,518 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 11 of 12 titles with a page count on record.
Edmund Crispin was the pen name of Robert Bruce Montgomery (1921-1978), an English crime writer and composer. The detective novels follow Gervase Fen, a college teacher of English, and open with The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944), continuing through Holy Disorders (1945), The Moving Toyshop (1946), Buried for Pleasure (1948) and The Long Divorce (1951). Twelve books are catalogued between 1944 and 1979, at a median 224 pages. As Bruce Montgomery he composed music, including the scores for the early Carry On films.
How many Edmund Crispin books are there?
Edmund Crispin has 12 books, released between 1944 and 1979. 1 of them were published after Edmund Crispin's death in 1978. 10 of them belong to the Gervase Fen series.
Edmund Crispin Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 12 Edmund Crispin 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.
- 119442411/4
- 219452401/4
- 319462441/4
- 419472081/4
- 519482881/4
- 619481781/4
- 719502241/4
- 819512131/4
- 9Beware of the Trains1953 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/419531601/4
- 10We Know You're Busy Writing But....1969 · confirmed 1/41969–1/4
- 1119773011/4
- 1219792211/4
Edmund Crispin series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Gervase Fen books in order 10 books
Edmund Crispin 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.
Standalone books
2 books2 Edmund Crispin titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Edmund Crispin books in order?
You only need to read Edmund Crispin books in order within the Gervase Fen series, which holds 10 of the 12 Edmund Crispin books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Edmund Crispin
Start with The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944), the first Gervase Fen book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Edmund Crispin book?
Fen Country (1979) is the newest Edmund Crispin book released so far.
Is there a new Edmund Crispin book coming?
No next Edmund Crispin book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Edmund Crispin at a glance
- Died
- Edmund Crispin died in 1978, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Edmund Crispin are still being published after Edmund Crispin's death in 1978; the newest appeared in 1979.
- Release pace
- Edmund Crispin books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 2,518 pages across the 11 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 224 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Edmund Crispin books, 6 of 12, were published in the 1940s.
What the Edmund Crispin books are about
10 of the 12 Edmund Crispin books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: college teachers is tagged on 9 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- College teachers 9 of 10 books
- English teachers 9 of 10 books
- Gervase Fen (Fictitious character) 9 of 10 books
- Fen, gervase (fictitious character) 6 of 10 books
- Mystery & detective 6 of 10 books
- England 4 of 10 books
- English teachers in fiction 3 of 10 books
- Crimes against 2 of 10 books
- Investigation 2 of 10 books
- Murder 2 of 10 books