Jane Langton Books in Order
Jane Langton has written 34 books, published between 1961 and 2008. The first book is The Majesty of Grace / Her Majesty, Grace Jones (1961) and the newest is The Dragon Tree (2008). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1961–2008
- Pages on record
- 6,959 in 30 of 34 books
- Reading time
- 116–174 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,959 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 30 of 34 titles with a page count on record.
Jane Langton (1922–2018) wrote children's literature and mystery novels, and illustrated her own books. Two sequences carry most of the work: the Homer Kelly mysteries, built on a recurring detective of that name, and the Hall Family Chronicles, which run to magic and fairy tale. Thirty-four books are catalogued, from The Majesty of Grace (1961) to The Dragon Tree (2008), with Massachusetts and Cambridge among the settings, at a median length of 252 pages.
How many Jane Langton books are there?
Jane Langton has 34 books, released between 1961 and 2008. They include 3 series and 6 titles listed outside any series.
Jane Langton Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Jane Langton 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
- 219622422/4
- 319643682/4
- 419671942/4
- 519712382/4
- 61972–2/4
- 719752932/4
- 8Paper Chains1977 · 172 pages · confirmed 2/419771722/4
- 919782652/4
- 1019801822/4
- 1119822822/4
- 1219842472/4
- 1319842722/4
- 14The Hedgehog Boy1985 · 40 pages · confirmed 2/41985402/4
- 1519862442/4
- 1619883532/4
- 17Agatha Christie's Devon1990 · 96 pages · confirmed 2/41990962/4
- 1819913362/4
- 19Salt1992 · 40 pages · confirmed 2/41992402/4
- 201992–2/4
- 2119934162/4
- 22The Queen's Necklace1994 · 34 pages · confirmed 2/41994342/4
- 2319952722/4
- 2419963392/4
- 2519983042/4
- 2619992562/4
- 2720001762/4
- 2820012722/4
- 292002–2/4
- 3020033222/4
- 3120052112/4
- 3220052952/4
- 33Saint Francis and the Wolf2007 · 32 pages · confirmed 2/42007322/4
- 3420081662/4
Jane Langton 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.
Homer Kelly in order
18 books- 1. The Transcendental Murder / The Minuteman Murder
- 2. Dark Nantucket Noon
- 3. The Memorial Hall Murder
- 4. Natural Enemy
- 5. Emily Dickinson is Dead
- 6. Good and Dead
- 7. Murder at the Gardner
- 8. The Dante Game
- 9. God in Concord
- 10. Divine Inspiration
- 11. The Shortest Day
- 12. Dead as a Dodo
- and 6 more in the table above
Hall Family Chronicles in order
8 booksGrace Jones in order
2 booksStandalone books
6 books6 Jane Langton titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Jane Langton books in order?
You only need to read Jane Langton 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 Jane Langton
Start with The Majesty of Grace / Her Majesty, Grace Jones (1961), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Jane Langton book?
The Dragon Tree (2008) is the newest Jane Langton book released so far.
Is there a new Jane Langton book coming?
No next Jane Langton book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Jane Langton at a glance
- Died
- Jane Langton died in 2018, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Jane Langton on record dates from 2008.
- Release pace
- Jane Langton books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 6,959 pages across the 30 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 252 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Jane Langton books, 10 of 34, were published in the 1990s.
What the Jane Langton books are about
33 of the 34 Jane Langton books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: homer kelly (fictitious character) is tagged on 17 of 33. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Homer Kelly (Fictitious character) 17 of 33 books
- College teachers 16 of 33 books
- Mystery & detective 16 of 33 books
- Kelly, homer (fictitious character) 15 of 33 books
- Children's fiction 9 of 33 books
- Massachusetts 8 of 33 books
- Cambridge (mass.) 7 of 33 books
- Lawyers 7 of 33 books
- Fairy tales 3 of 33 books
- Fantasy 3 of 33 books
- Folklore 3 of 33 books