Emma Lathen Books in Order
Emma Lathen has written 34 books, published between 1961 and 2016. The first book is Banking on Death (1961) and the newest is Dot Com Murder (2016). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1961–2016
- Pages on record
- 2,921 in 12 of 34 books
Emma Lathen was the shared pen name of two American businesswomen: Mary Jane Latsis, an economist, and Martha Henissart, an attorney who took a physics degree at Mount Holyoke College in 1950. Together they wrote Wall Street mysteries around John Putnam Thatcher, a banker who investigates murder in the securities trade, beginning with Banking on Death in 1961. The pair also published as R. B. Dominic and wrote the Ben Safford series. The catalogue holds 34 titles through Dot Com Murder in 2016, and the 1970s were its busiest decade.
How many Emma Lathen books are there?
Emma Lathen has 34 books, released between 1961 and 2016. They include 3 series and 1 title listed outside any series.
Emma Lathen Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Emma Lathen 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.
- 11961–2/4
- 21963–2/4
- 31964–2/4
- 41966–2/4
- 51966–2/4
- 61967–2/4
- 719681922/4
- 81968–2/4
- 91968–2/4
- 101969–2/4
- 111969–2/4
- 121970–2/4
- 1319702392/4
- 141971–2/4
- 1519711892/4
- 161971–2/4
- 171972–2/4
- 1819741862/4
- 191974–2/4
- 201975–2/4
- 2119761822/4
- 2219782552/4
- 2319802202/4
- 241980–2/4
- 251982–2/4
- 2619832182/4
- 2719882552/4
- 2819913362/4
- 2919932882/4
- 3019963612/4
- 311997–2/4
- 321999–2/4
- 33Whatever Happened to Emma Lathen?2016 · confirmed 2/42016–2/4
- 342016–2/4
Emma Lathen 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.
John Putnam Thatcher in order
24 books- 1. Banking on Death
- 2. A Place for Murder
- 3. Accounting for Murder
- 4. Murder Makes the Wheels Go 'Round
- 5. Death Shall Overcome
- 6. Murder Against the Grain
- 7. A Stitch in Time
- 8. Come to Dust
- 9. When in Greece
- 10. Murder To Go
- 11. Pick Up Sticks
- 12. Ashes to Ashes
- and 12 more in the table above
Ben Safford in order
7 booksElizabeth Thatcher in order
2 booksStandalone books
1 book1 Emma Lathen title here is not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Emma Lathen books in order?
You only need to read Emma Lathen books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Emma Lathen
Start with Banking on Death (1961), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Emma Lathen book?
Dot Com Murder (2016) is the newest Emma Lathen book released so far.
Is there a new Emma Lathen book coming?
No next Emma Lathen book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Emma Lathen at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Emma Lathen title on record dates from 2016, 10 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Emma Lathen books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 2,921 pages across the 12 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 230 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Emma Lathen books, 11 of 34, were published in the 1970s.
What the Emma Lathen books are about
27 of the 34 Emma Lathen 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 25 of 27. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 25 of 27 books
- John Putnam Thatcher (Fictitious character) 18 of 27 books
- Bankers 16 of 27 books
- Thatcher, john putnam (fictitious character) 14 of 27 books
- New York (N.Y.) 13 of 27 books
- Fiction in English 10 of 27 books
- Crime 7 of 27 books
- Thrillers 6 of 27 books
- Wall Street 5 of 27 books
- Securities industry 4 of 27 books
- Murder 3 of 27 books
- Wall street (new york, n.y.) 3 of 27 books