Order of Book Series
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John Dunning Books in Order

John Dunning has written 16 books, published between 1975 and 2013. The first book is The Holland Suggestions (1975) and the newest is Dreamer (2013). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
16
Published
1975–2013
Confirmed
16 of 16 titles
Pages on record
5,623 in 13 of 16 books
Reading time
94–141 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,623 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 13 of 16 titles with a page count on record.

See all 16 books in order Printable John Dunning checklist

Cliff Janeway, a Denver ex-policeman turned antiquarian bookseller, is the detective John Dunning is remembered for, introduced in Booked to Die (1992). Dunning (1942-2023) was an American writer working in both detective fiction and non-fiction, and his reference books on old-time radio, including Tune in Yesterday (1976), stand beside the novels. The catalogue holds 16 titles from The Holland Suggestions (1975) to Dreamer (2013), at a median of 432 pages. No Dunning book has appeared since 2013.

How many John Dunning books are there?

John Dunning has 16 books, released between 1975 and 2013. 5 of them belong to the Cliff Janeway series.

John Dunning Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 16 John Dunning 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.

  1. Cover of Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976 by John Dunning (1976)
  2. Cover of Truly Murderous by John Dunning, book 2 of the John Dunning Non-Fiction series (1979)
  3. Cover of Denver by John Dunning, book 2 of the John Dunning Standalone Novels series (1980)
  4. Cover of Looking For Ginger North by John Dunning, book 3 of the John Dunning Standalone Novels series (1980)
  5. Cover of Deadline by John Dunning, book 4 of the John Dunning Standalone Novels series (1981)
  6. Cover of Occult Murders by John Dunning, book 5 of the John Dunning Standalone Novels series (1989)
  7. Cover of Booked to Die by John Dunning, book 1 of the Cliff Janeway series (1992)
  8. Cover of The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning, book 2 of the Cliff Janeway series (1992)
  9. Cover of On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning, book 3 of the John Dunning Non-Fiction series (1998)
  10. Cover of The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning, book 3 of the Cliff Janeway series (2004)
  11. Cover of The Bookwoman's Last Fling by John Dunning, book 5 of the Cliff Janeway series (2006)
  1. 1
    The Holland SuggestionsJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #11975 · 232 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1975232
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976John Dunning Non-Fiction #11976 · 703 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1976703
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Truly MurderousJohn Dunning Non-Fiction #21979 · 248 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1979248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    DenverJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #21980 · 407 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1980407
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Looking For Ginger NorthJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #31980 · 286 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1980286
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    DeadlineJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #41981 · 253 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1981253
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Occult MurdersJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #51989 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1989288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Booked to DieCliff Janeway #11992 · 432 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1992432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Bookman's WakeCliff Janeway #21992 · 432 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1992432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    BookscoutJohn Dunning Short Stories/Novellas #11994 · confirmed 3/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time RadioJohn Dunning Non-Fiction #31998 · 822 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1998822
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Two O'Clock Eastern Wartime ExportJohn Dunning Standalone Novels #62001 · confirmed 3/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Bookman's PromiseCliff Janeway #32004 · 469 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2004469
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Sign of the BookCliff Janeway #42005 · 544 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Bookwoman's Last FlingCliff Janeway #52006 · 507 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2006507
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    DreamerJohn Dunning Short Stories/Novellas #22013 · confirmed 3/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Dunning 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.

John Dunning Standalone Novels

6 books

6 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Cliff Janeway in order

5 books
  1. 1. Booked to Die
  2. 2. The Bookman's Wake
  3. 3. The Bookman's Promise
  4. 4. The Sign of the Book
  5. 5. The Bookwoman's Last Fling

John Dunning Non-Fiction

3 books

3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

John Dunning Short Stories/Novellas

2 books

2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Do you have to read John Dunning books in order?

You only need to read John Dunning books in order within the Cliff Janeway series, which holds 5 of the 16 John Dunning books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with John Dunning

Start with The Holland Suggestions (1975), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Dunning book?

Dreamer (2013) is the newest John Dunning book released so far.

Is there a new John Dunning book coming?

No next John Dunning book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

John Dunning at a glance

No recent titles
The newest John Dunning title on record dates from 2013, 13 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
John Dunning books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
5,623 pages across the 13 of 16 books with a recorded length, a median of 432 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Dunning books, 4 of 16, were published in the 2000s.

What the John Dunning books are about

12 of the 16 John Dunning 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 3 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.