James R. Benn Books in Order
James R. Benn has written 26 books, published between 2000 and 2026. The first book is On Desperate Ground / Desperate Ground (2000) and the newest is The Ninth Circle (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 26
- Published
- 2000–2026
- Confirmed
- 26 of 26 titles
- Pages on record
- 5,230 in 17 of 26 books
- Reading time
- 87–131 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,230 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 26 titles with a page count on record.
James R. Benn, born in 1949, is an American author of historical crime fiction. The Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries form Benn's main sequence, putting the investigator Billy Boyle on murder cases inside the 1939-1945 war. Benn's catalogue holds 26 books dated 2000 to 2026, from the debut Desperate Ground to The Ninth Circle, with standalone novels alongside the series.
How many James R. Benn books are there?
James R. Benn has 26 books, released between 2000 and 2026. They include 2 separate series.
James R. Benn Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 26 James R. Benn 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.
- 1On Desperate Ground / Desperate GroundJames R Benn Standalone Novels #12000 · 334 pages · confirmed 3/420003343/4
- 220063963/4
- 320072943/4
- 420083133/4
- 520093253/4
- 62010–3/4
- 720113453/4
- 820122963/4
- 920123383/4
- 1020133073/4
- 1120143253/4
- 1220153383/4
- 1320163193/4
- 1420173103/4
- 15201813/4
- 1620193413/4
- 1720203363/4
- 182021–3/4
- 1920213123/4
- 202022–3/4
- 212022–3/4
- 222023–3/4
- 232023–3/4
- 242024–3/4
- 252025–3/4
- 262026–3/4
James R. Benn characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Billy Boyle books in order 21 books
James R. Benn 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.
Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries in order
21 books- 1. Billy Boyle
- 2. The First Wave
- 3. Blood Alone
- 4. Evil for Evil
- 5. Rag and Bone
- 6. A Mortal Terror
- 7. Death's Door
- 8. A Blind Goddess
- 9. The Rest is Silence
- 10. The White Ghost
- 11. Blue Madonna
- 12. The Devouring
- and 9 more in the table above
James R Benn Standalone Novels
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
James R. Benn in order
1 bookDo you have to read James R. Benn books in order?
You only need to read James R. Benn 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 James R. Benn
Start with Billy Boyle (2006), the first Billy Boyle book. The earliest catalogued title overall is On Desperate Ground / Desperate Ground (2000).
What is the newest James R. Benn book?
The Ninth Circle (2026) is the newest James R. Benn book released so far.
Is there a new James R. Benn book coming?
No next James R. Benn book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
James R. Benn at a glance
- Still publishing
- James R. Benn published a book as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- James R. Benn books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,230 pages across the 17 of 26 books with a recorded length, a median of 325 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most James R. Benn books, 11 of 26, were published in the 2010s.
What the James R. Benn books are about
20 of the 26 James R. Benn books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: world war, 1939-1945 is tagged on 16 of 20. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- World War, 1939-1945 16 of 20 books
- Billy Boyle (Fictitious character) 10 of 20 books
- Mystery & detective, historical 10 of 20 books
- Investigation 7 of 20 books
- Murder 7 of 20 books
- War & military 6 of 20 books
- Mystery & detective 5 of 20 books
- Crime 4 of 20 books
- American literature 3 of 20 books
- Americans 3 of 20 books
- History 3 of 20 books