Order of Book Series
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John Lawton Books in Order

John Lawton has written 17 books, published between 1995 and 2025. The first book is Black Out (1995) and the newest is Smoke and Embers (2025). Publication order is the reading order below. 9 of the 17 books listed here are in the Inspector Troy series, which has its own page: Inspector Troy books in order.

Books
17
Published
1995–2025
Confirmed
16 of 17 titles
Pages on record
3,684 in 10 of 17 books
Reading time
61–92 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,684 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 17 titles with a page count on record.

See all 17 books in order Printable John Lawton checklist

The Second World War and the Cold War frame John Lawton's thrillers, set in London and built on police work and espionage. Frederick Troy heads the Inspector Troy series, Joe Wilderness leads a second, and standalone novels and short fiction sit beside them. Seventeen catalogued books run from Black Out (1995) through Old Flames (1996), A Little White Death (1998) and A Lily of the Field (2010) to Smoke and Embers in 2025.

How many John Lawton books are there?

John Lawton has 17 books, released between 1995 and 2025. They include 2 separate series.

John Lawton Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 17 John Lawton 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 Black Out by John Lawton, book 1 of the Inspector Troy series (1995)
  2. Cover of Old Flames by John Lawton, book 2 of the Inspector Troy series (1996)
  3. Cover of A Little White Death by John Lawton, book 3 of the Inspector Troy series (1998)
  4. Cover of Sweet Sunday by John Lawton, book 1 of the John Lawton Standalone Novels series (2002)
  5. Cover of Flesh Wounds / Blue Rondo by John Lawton, book 5 of the Inspector Troy series (2005)
  6. Cover of Second Violin by John Lawton, book 6 of the Inspector Troy series (2007)
  7. Cover of A Lily of the Field by John Lawton, book 7 of the Inspector Troy series (2010)
  8. Cover of Then We Take Berlin by John Lawton, book 1 of the Joe Wilderness series (2013)
  9. Cover of The Unfortunate Englishman by John Lawton, book 2 of the Joe Wilderness series (2016)
  10. Cover of Hammer to Fall by John Lawton, book 3 of the Joe Wilderness series (2020)
  1. 1
    Black OutInspector Troy #11995 · 342 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1995342
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Old FlamesInspector Troy #21996 · 544 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1996544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    A Little White DeathInspector Troy #31998 · 448 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1998448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Riptide / Bluffing Mr. ChurchillInspector Troy #42001 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2001368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Sweet SundayJohn Lawton Standalone Novels #12002 · 336 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2002336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Flesh Wounds / Blue RondoInspector Troy #52005 · 158 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Second ViolinInspector Troy #62007 · 352 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2007352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    A Lily of the FieldInspector Troy #72010 · confirmed 3/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    East of Suez, West of Charing Cross Road (Short Story)John Lawton Short Stories/Novellas #12011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Then We Take BerlinJoe Wilderness #12013 · 400 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Bentinck's AgentJohn Lawton Short Stories/Novellas #22013 · confirmed 3/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Unfortunate EnglishmanJoe Wilderness #22016 · 352 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2016352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    An Italian JobJohn Lawton Short Stories/Novellas #32016 · confirmed 3/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Friends and TraitorsInspector Troy #82017 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2017384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Hammer to FallJoe Wilderness #32020 · confirmed 3/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Moscow ExileJoe Wilderness #42023 · confirmed 3/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Smoke and EmbersInspector Troy #92025 · confirmed 3/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Lawton series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

John Lawton 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.

Joe Wilderness in order

4 books
  1. 1. Then We Take Berlin
  2. 2. The Unfortunate Englishman
  3. 3. Hammer to Fall
  4. 4. Moscow Exile

John Lawton Short Stories/Novellas

3 books

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

John Lawton Standalone Novels

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

John Lawton Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the John Lawton books run from Black Out (1995) to Smoke and Embers (2025), the sequence in the table above. The Inspector Troy series also has a separate in-universe order on record: Inspector Troy books in chronological order. No other John Lawton story order is on record.

Do you have to read John Lawton books in order?

You only need to read John Lawton books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

What order should you read John Lawton books in?

Read them in publication order, starting with Black Out (1995), the first Inspector Troy book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest John Lawton book?

Smoke and Embers (2025) is the newest John Lawton book released so far.

Is there a new John Lawton book coming?

No next John Lawton 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 Lawton at a glance

Still publishing
John Lawton published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
John Lawton books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
3,684 pages across the 10 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 360 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Lawton books, 7 of 17, were published in the 2010s.

What the John Lawton books are about

12 of the 17 John Lawton books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: troy, frederick (fictitious character) is tagged on 7 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.