Joan Hess Books in Order
Joan Hess has written 45 books, published between 1985 and 2016. The first book is Strangled Prose (1985) and the newest is Caveat Emptor and Other Stories (2016). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 45
- Published
- 1985–2016
- Pages on record
- 8,462 in 32 of 45 books
- Reading time
- 141–212 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,462 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 32 of 45 titles with a page count on record.
Joan Hess's mysteries run in three series: Claire Malloy, a bookseller who investigates; Arly Hanks, a policewoman in the imaginary Arkansas town of Maggody; and Theo Bloomer. The catalogue holds 45 books, from Strangled Prose (1985) to Caveat Emptor and Other Stories in 2016, with Malice in Maggody (1987) and Dear Miss Demeanor (1987) among the early titles. The catalogue is listed as likely complete.
How many Joan Hess books are there?
Joan Hess has 45 books, released between 1985 and 2016. They include 3 series and 6 titles listed outside any series.
Joan Hess Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 45 Joan Hess 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.
- 11985–2/4
- 219861982/4
- 319861802/4
- 4Future Tense1987 · confirmed 2/41987–2/4
- 519872362/4
- 6Red Rover, Red Rover1987 · 155 pages · confirmed 2/419871552/4
- 719872082/4
- 819882882/4
- 91988–2/4
- 1019882552/4
- 1119882562/4
- 121989–2/4
- 1319892432/4
- 1419912312/4
- 1519912622/4
- 161991–2/4
- 1719922402/4
- 1819922562/4
- 1919932522/4
- 2019932602/4
- 2119943042/4
- 221994–2/4
- 231994–2/4
- 2419952462/4
- 2519962722/4
- 2619973102/4
- 2719972882/4
- 2819992882/4
- 2920002532/4
- 3020002752/4
- 3120012542/4
- 32Death of a Romance Writer and Other Stories2002 · 280 pages · confirmed 2/420022802/4
- 3320023362/4
- 34Big Foot Stole My Wife! and Other Stories2003 · 205 pages · confirmed 2/420032052/4
- 35The Deadly Ackee and Other Stories of Crime and Catastrophe2003 · 296 pages · confirmed 2/420032962/4
- 362004–2/4
- 3720052912/4
- 382006–2/4
- 392007–2/4
- 4020083202/4
- 412009–2/4
- 422012–2/4
- 4320132932/4
- 4420154312/4
- 45Caveat Emptor and Other Stories2016 · confirmed 2/42016–2/4
Joan Hess 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.
Claire Malloy in order
21 books- 1. Strangled Prose
- 2. The Murder at the Murder at the Mimosa Inn
- 3. Dear Miss Demeanor
- 4. A Really Cute Corpse
- 5. A Diet to Die For
- 6. Roll Over and Play Dead
- 7. Death by the Light of the Moon
- 8. Poisoned Pins
- 9. To Kill a Husband
- 10. Tickled to Death
- 11. Busy Bodies
- 12. Closely Akin to Murder
- and 9 more in the table above
Arly Hanks in order
16 books- 1. Malice in Maggody
- 2. Miracles in Maggody
- 3. Mischief in Maggody
- 4. Much Ado in Maggody
- 5. Madness in Maggody
- 6. Mortal Remains in Maggody
- 7. Maggody in Manhattan
- 8. O Little Town of Maggody
- 9. Martians in Maggody
- 10. The Maggody Militia
- 11. Misery Loves Maggody
- 12. [email protected] / [email protected]
- and 4 more in the table above
Theo Bloomer in order
2 booksStandalone books
6 books6 Joan Hess titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Joan Hess books in order?
You only need to read Joan Hess 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 Joan Hess
Start with Strangled Prose (1985), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Joan Hess book?
Caveat Emptor and Other Stories (2016) is the newest Joan Hess book released so far.
Is there a new Joan Hess book coming?
No next Joan Hess book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Joan Hess at a glance
- Died
- Joan Hess died in 2017, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Joan Hess on record dates from 2016.
- Release pace
- Joan Hess books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 8,462 pages across the 32 of 45 books with a recorded length, a median of 258 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Joan Hess books, 15 of 45, were published in the 1990s.
What the Joan Hess books are about
37 of the 45 Joan Hess books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: booksellers and bookselling is tagged on 14 of 37. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Booksellers and bookselling 14 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 14 of 37 books
- Maggody (Ark. : Imaginary place) 13 of 37 books
- Arkansas 11 of 37 books
- Claire Malloy (Fictitious character) 11 of 37 books
- Policewomen 11 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective 9 of 37 books
- Malloy, claire (fictitious character) 9 of 37 books
- Arly Hanks (Fictitious character) 8 of 37 books
- Hanks, arly (fictitious character) 6 of 37 books
- Arkansas in fiction 5 of 37 books