Martha Grimes Books in Order
Martha Grimes has written 40 books, published between 1981 and 2025. The first book is The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981) and the newest is The Red Queen (2025). Publication order is the reading order below. 26 of the 40 books listed here are in the Richard Jury series, which has its own page: Richard Jury books in order.
- Books
- 40
- Published
- 1981–2025
- Confirmed
- 38 of 40 titles
- Pages on record
- 11,859 in 34 of 40 books
- Reading time
- 198–296 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 11,859 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 34 of 40 titles with a page count on record.
Martha Grimes is an American detective novelist born on May 2, 1931. The best-known Grimes series features Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector, and Melrose Plant, an aristocrat who became an amateur sleuth. The catalogue opens with The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981), followed by The Old Fox Deceiv'd and The Anodyne Necklace, and totals 40 books through The Red Queen (2025). Emma Graham, Andi Oliver and Foul Matter are among the other series.
How many Martha Grimes books are there?
Martha Grimes has 40 books, released between 1981 and 2025. They include 4 series and 2 titles listed outside any series.
Martha Grimes Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 40 Martha Grimes books in the order they were released, 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.
- 11981–3/4
- 219822994/4
- 319833103/4
- 419843203/4
- 519843203/4
- 619853203/4
- 719853203/4
- 8Help the Poor Struggler1986 · 225 pages · confirmed 1/419862251/4
- 919863203/4
- 10I am Only the Running Footman1987 · 314 pages · confirmed 1/419873141/4
- 1119873523/4
- 1219891083/4
- 1319893963/4
- 141991–3/4
- 1519922443/4
- 1619933713/4
- 1719954483/4
- 1819954373/4
- 1919974273/4
- 2019984194/4
- 211999–3/4
- 2219994203/4
- 2320001853/4
- 2420004483/4
- 2520014523/4
- 2620023774/4
- 2720033723/4
- 2820043664/4
- 2920053683/4
- 3020063914/4
- 3120073424/4
- 3220084683/4
- 332010–4/4
- 342011–3/4
- 35Double Double: A Dual Memoir of AlcoholismMartha Grimes Non-Fiction #12013 · 213 pages · confirmed 3/420132133/4
- 3620143413/4
- 3720143273/4
- 3820185963/4
- 3920192433/4
- 402025–4/4
Martha Grimes series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Richard Jury books in order 26 books
Martha Grimes 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.
Emma Graham in order
4 booksMartha Grimes Standalone Novels
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Andi Oliver in order
2 books- 1. Biting the Moon
- 2. Dakota
Foul Matter in order
2 booksMartha Grimes Short Story
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Martha Grimes Non-Fiction
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
2 books2 Martha Grimes titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Martha Grimes Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Martha Grimes books run from The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981) to The Red Queen (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Martha Grimes in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Martha Grimes books in order?
You only need to read Martha Grimes books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Martha Grimes
Start with The Man With a Load of Mischief (1981), the first Richard Jury book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Martha Grimes book?
The Red Queen (2025) is the newest Martha Grimes book released so far.
Is there a new Martha Grimes book coming?
No next Martha Grimes book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Martha Grimes has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Martha Grimes. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- The Grand Master2012Won
- Nero Award1983Won
Martha Grimes at a glance
- Still publishing
- Martha Grimes published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Martha Grimes books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 11,859 pages across the 34 of 40 books with a recorded length, a median of 347 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Martha Grimes books, 13 of 40, were published in the 1980s.
- Corroboration
- 8 of the 40 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 38 in at least three.
What the Martha Grimes books are about
38 of the 40 Martha Grimes books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 26 of 38. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 26 of 38 books
- Richard Jury (Fictitious character) 25 of 38 books
- Jury, richard (fictitious character) 20 of 38 books
- England 18 of 38 books
- Mystery & detective, traditional 12 of 38 books
- Mystery & detective 10 of 38 books
- Plant, melrose (fictitious character) 9 of 38 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 8 of 38 books
- Girls 4 of 38 books
- Graham, emma (fictitious character) 3 of 38 books
Other Mystery authors
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Mystery authors and series in order
- Freida McFadden books in order 35 books
- J.D. Robb books in order 41 books
- Agatha Christie books in order 290 books
- Janet Evanovich books in order 79 books
- Ann Cleeves books in order 52 books
- Richard Osman books in order 14 books
- Elly Griffiths books in order 49 books
- Elizabeth George books in order 36 books