I.J. Parker Books in Order
I.J. Parker has written 35 books, published between 2002 and 2023. The first book is Rashomon Gate (2002) and the newest is Spring Festival in Akaiwa (2023). Publication order is the reading order below. 22 of the 35 books listed here are in the Sugawara Akitada series, which has its own page: Sugawara Akitada books in order.
- Books
- 35
- Published
- 2002–2023
- Pages on record
- 7,360 in 19 of 35 books
- Reading time
- 123–184 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,360 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 19 of 35 titles with a page count on record.
Sugawara Akitada, a government investigator in old Japan, carries I.J. Parker's historical mystery series. Murder, exile and the nobility supply the subjects, and the novels run long, at a median of 388 pages. The catalogue holds 35 books from Rashomon Gate (2002) to Spring Festival in Akaiwa (2023), among them The Dragon Scroll (2005), Island of Exiles (2007) and The Fires of the Gods (2010), plus a Hollow Reed sequence and a run of Akitada short stories and novellas.
How many I.J. Parker books are there?
I.J. Parker has 35 books, released between 2002 and 2023. They include 2 series and 2 titles listed outside any series.
I.J. Parker Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 35 I.J. Parker 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.
- 120023362/4
- 22003–2/4
- 320033382/4
- 420053382/4
- 520063562/4
- 620075682/4
- 720094162/4
- 820102472/4
- 920104642/4
- 102011–2/4
- 112011–2/4
- 122011–2/4
- 132011–2/4
- 142011–2/4
- 15Akitada and the Way of JusticeSugawara Akitada Short Stories/Novellas #62011 · 388 pages · confirmed 2/420113882/4
- 1620113922/4
- 17The Sword Master2012 · 406 pages · confirmed 2/420124062/4
- 182012–2/4
- 192012–2/4
- 202012–2/4
- 212012–2/4
- 2220123752/4
- 23The Left-Handed God2013 · 388 pages · confirmed 2/420133882/4
- 2420133702/4
- 252014–2/4
- 2620143882/4
- 2720154122/4
- 2820153822/4
- 292015–2/4
- 3020173982/4
- 3120183982/4
- 322019–2/4
- 332020–2/4
- 342021–2/4
- 352023–2/4
I.J. Parker series and characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Sugawara Akitada books in order 31 books
I.J. Parker books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
Sugawara Akitada books in order
22 books by I.J. Parker- 1. Rashomon Gate
- 2. The Hell Screen
- 3. The Dragon Scroll
- 4. Black Arrow
- 5. Island of Exiles
- 6. The Convict's Sword
- 7. The Fires of the Gods
- 8. The Masuda Affair
- 9. Death on an Autumn River
- 10. The Emperor's Woman
- 11. Death of a Doll Maker
- 12. The Crane Pavilion
- and 10 more in the table above
Sugawara Akitada Short Stories/Novellas
9 books9 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Hollow Reed in order
2 booksStandalone books
2 books2 I.J. Parker titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read I.J. Parker books in order?
You only need to read I.J. Parker books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with I.J. Parker
Start with Rashomon Gate (2002), the first Sugawara Akitada book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest I.J. Parker book?
Spring Festival in Akaiwa (2023) is the newest I.J. Parker book released so far.
Is there a new I.J. Parker book coming?
No next I.J. Parker book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
I.J. Parker at a glance
- Paused
- No new I.J. Parker title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
- Release pace
- I.J. Parker books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 7,360 pages across the 19 of 35 books with a recorded length, a median of 388 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most I.J. Parker books, 25 of 35, were published in the 2010s.
What the I.J. Parker books are about
10 of the 35 I.J. Parker books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 8 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- History 8 of 10 books
- Sugawara Akitada (Fictitious character) 6 of 10 books
- Japan 5 of 10 books
- Mystery & detective 4 of 10 books
- Nobility 4 of 10 books
- Historical fiction 3 of 10 books
- Investigation 3 of 10 books
- Murder 3 of 10 books
- Exiles 2 of 10 books
- Government investigators 2 of 10 books