Elmore Leonard Books in Order
65 books are credited to Elmore Leonard, published between 1953 and 2025; 2 of them appeared after Elmore Leonard's death in 2013. The first book is The Bounty Hunters (1953) and the newest is Picket Line (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 65
- Published
- 1953–2025
- Confirmed
- 64 of 65 titles
- Pages on record
- 16,837 in 55 of 65 books
- Reading time
- 281–421 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 16,837 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 55 of 65 titles with a page count on record.
Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.
How many Elmore Leonard books are there?
Elmore Leonard has 65 books, released between 1953 and 2025. 2 of them were published after Elmore Leonard's death in 2013. They include 8 series and 1 title listed outside any series.
Elmore Leonard Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 65 Elmore Leonard 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.
- 11953–3/4
- 219531933/4
- 319542913/4
- 419562883/4
- 519592563/4
- 619612083/4
- 719693253/4
- 819692203/4
- 919702563/4
- 1019722723/4
- 1119743523/4
- 1219741603/4
- 13The Tonto Woman and Other Western StoriesElmore Leonard Short Story #21975 · 345 pages · confirmed 3/419753453/4
- 1419762723/4
- 1519773683/4
- 1619773363/4
- 1719783043/4
- 1819793203/4
- 1919803523/4
- 20City Primeval: High Noon in DetroitElmore Leonard Standalone Novels #141980 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/419803683/4
- 2119812823/4
- 2219824163/4
- 2319824003/4
- 2419834323/4
- 251985–3/4
- 2619854323/4
- 2719874483/4
- 2819872453/4
- 2919884483/4
- 3019892873/4
- 3119903843/4
- 321990603/4
- 3319913523/4
- 3419923043/4
- 351993–3/4
- 36Florida Stories1993 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/419931761/4
- 3719953523/4
- 3819963683/4
- 39Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #11998 · 501 pages · confirmed 3/419985013/4
- 40Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #2Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #21998 · 485 pages · confirmed 3/419984853/4
- 41Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #3Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #31998 · 289 pages · confirmed 3/419982893/4
- 4219983433/4
- 4319992753/4
- 4420003503/4
- 452001–3/4
- 4620012283/4
- 4720023203/4
- 48The Complete Western Stories of Elmore LeonardElmore Leonard Short Story #52004 · 528 pages · confirmed 3/420045283/4
- 492004–3/4
- 5020043843/4
- 5120041493/4
- 5220053123/4
- 532006893/4
- 5420062403/4
- 5520061943/4
- 5620072923/4
- 5720072083/4
- 5820092623/4
- 592009–3/4
- 6020102793/4
- 612011–3/4
- 622013–3/4
- 632013–3/4
- 6420152373/4
- 652025–3/4
Elmore Leonard series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Raylan Givens books in order 5 books
Elmore Leonard 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.
Elmore Leonard Standalone Novels
31 books31 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Elmore Leonard Short Story
10 books10 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup in order
3 booksCarl Webster in order
3 booksJack Ryan in order
2 booksFrank Ryan in order
2 books- 1. Swag / Ryan's Rules
- 2. Stick
Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara in order
2 books- 1. The Switch
- 2. Rum Punch
Chili Palmer in order
2 books- 1. Get Shorty
- 2. Be Cool
Elmore Leonard Non-Fiction
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Jack Foley in order
2 books- 1. Out Of Sight
- 2. Road Dogs
Elmore Leonard Short Stories/Novellas
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
1 book1 Elmore Leonard title here is not listed as part of any series.
Elmore Leonard Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Elmore Leonard books run from The Bounty Hunters (1953) to Picket Line (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Elmore Leonard in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Elmore Leonard books in order?
You only need to read Elmore Leonard books in order within each series: the books listed here span 8 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
What order should you read Elmore Leonard books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with Pronto (1993), the first Raylan Givens book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Bounty Hunters (1953).
What is the newest Elmore Leonard book?
Picket Line (2025) is the newest Elmore Leonard book released so far.
Is there a new Elmore Leonard book coming?
No next Elmore Leonard 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 Elmore Leonard has won
Wikidata records 8 awards and 1 nomination for Elmore Leonard. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Owen Wister Award2009Won
- Cartier Diamond Dagger2006Won
- Michigan Author Award1996Won
- The Grand Master1992Won
- Hammett Prize1991Won
- Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1986Wonfor City Primeval
- Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation1985Wonfor LaBrava
- Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel1984Wonfor LaBrava
- Hammett Prize1991Shortlisted
Elmore Leonard at a glance
- Died
- Elmore Leonard died in 2013, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Elmore Leonard are still being published after Elmore Leonard's death in 2013; the newest appeared in 2025.
- Release pace
- Elmore Leonard books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 16,837 pages across the 55 of 65 books with a recorded length, a median of 304 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Elmore Leonard books, 16 of 65, were published in the 2000s.
What the Elmore Leonard books are about
61 of the 65 Elmore Leonard books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: westerns is tagged on 18 of 61. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Westerns 18 of 61 books
- Mystery & detective 16 of 61 books
- Thrillers 11 of 61 books
- Short stories 9 of 61 books
- Crime 7 of 61 books
- Detroit (mich.) 7 of 61 books
- Frontier and pioneer life 6 of 61 books
- Criminals 5 of 61 books
- Florida 5 of 61 books