Helen McCloy Books in Order
32 books are credited to Helen McCloy, published between 1938 and 2003; 1 of them appeared after Helen McCloy's death in 1992. The first book is Design for Dying / Dance of Death (1938) and the newest is The Pleasant Assassin and Other Cases of Dr. Basil Willing (2003). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 32
- Published
- 1938–2003
- Pages on record
- 3,004 in 14 of 32 books
Helen McCloy wrote American mystery fiction under that name and as Helen Clarkson. Dr. Basil Willing, a psychiatrist who holds that every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, debuted in Dance of Death (1938) and appeared in 13 McCloy novels plus several short stories. McCloy returned often to the doppelganger, then closed each story with a psychological or realistic explanation for events that had looked supernatural. 32 titles are catalogued from 1938 to 2003, the last being The Pleasant Assassin and Other Cases of Dr. Basil Willing. McCloy lived from 1904 to 1994.
Source: Wikidata
How many Helen McCloy books are there?
Helen McCloy has 32 books, released between 1938 and 2003. 1 of them were published after Helen McCloy's death in 1992. 14 of them belong to the Dr. Basil Willing series.
Helen McCloy Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 32 Helen McCloy 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 November 2026.
- 11938–1/4
- 21940–1/4
- 31941–1/4
- 41942–1/4
- 51942–1/4
- 6Do Not Disturb1943 · confirmed 1/41943–1/4
- 71943–1/4
- 8Panic1944 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419442561/4
- 91945–1/4
- 10She Walks Alone / Wish You Were Dead1948 · confirmed 1/41948–1/4
- 1119502441/4
- 12Better Off Dead1951 · confirmed 1/41951–1/4
- 1319511921/4
- 14He Never Came Back1954 · confirmed 1/41954–1/4
- 15Unfinished Crime1954 · confirmed 1/41954–1/4
- 161955–1/4
- 171956–1/4
- 18The Slayer and the Slain1957 · 206 pages · confirmed 1/419572061/4
- 19Life Is a Brutal Affair1960 · confirmed 1/41960–1/4
- 20Before I Die1963 · 191 pages · confirmed 1/419631911/4
- 21Surprise, Surprise / The Singing Diamonds And other stories1965 · confirmed 1/41965–1/4
- 22Further Side of Fear1967 · confirmed 1/41967–1/4
- 2319682871/4
- 24A Question of Time1971 · confirmed 1/41971–1/4
- 25A Change Of Heart1973 · 209 pages · confirmed 1/419732091/4
- 26The Sleepwalker1974 · 212 pages · confirmed 1/419742121/4
- 27Minotaur Country1975 · 212 pages · confirmed 1/419752121/4
- 28Cruel as the Grave / The Changeling Conspiracy1976 · 287 pages · confirmed 1/419762871/4
- 29The Impostor1977 · 180 pages · confirmed 1/419771801/4
- 30The Smoking Mirror1979 · 181 pages · confirmed 1/419791811/4
- 3119801821/4
- 32The Pleasant Assassin and Other Cases of Dr. Basil WillingDr. Basil Willing #142003 · 165 pages · confirmed 1/420031651/4
Helen McCloy 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.
Dr. Basil Willing in order
14 books- 1. Design for Dying / Dance of Death
- 2. The Man in the Moonlight
- 3. The Deadly Truth
- 4. Who's Calling?
- 5. Cue for Murder
- 6. The Goblin Market
- 7. The One That Got Away
- 8. Through a Glass, Darkly
- 9. Alias Basil Willing
- 10. The Long Body
- 11. Two-Thirds of a Ghost
- 12. Mr. Splitfoot
- and 2 more in the table above
Standalone books
18 books18 Helen McCloy titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Helen McCloy books in order?
You only need to read Helen McCloy books in order within the Dr. Basil Willing series, which holds 14 of the 32 Helen McCloy books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Helen McCloy
Start with Design for Dying / Dance of Death (1938), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Helen McCloy book?
The Pleasant Assassin and Other Cases of Dr. Basil Willing (2003) is the newest Helen McCloy book released so far.
Is there a new Helen McCloy book coming?
No next Helen McCloy 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 Helen McCloy has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Helen McCloy. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
- Edgar Awards1990Won
- Nero Award1980Won
Helen McCloy at a glance
- Died
- Helen McCloy died in 1992, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Helen McCloy are still being published after Helen McCloy's death in 1992; the newest appeared in 2003.
- Release pace
- Helen McCloy books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,004 pages across the 14 of 32 books with a recorded length, a median of 208 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Helen McCloy books, 9 of 32, were published in the 1940s.
When Helen McCloy books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Helen McCloy titles appeared. 1940s was the most productive decade with 9 titles.
32 books total across 7 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Helen McCloy books are about
19 of the 32 Helen McCloy 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 14 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 14 of 19 books
- Basil Willing (Fictitious character) 8 of 19 books
- Fiction in English 8 of 19 books
- Psychiatrists 8 of 19 books
- Crime 2 of 19 books