Martin Walker Books in Order
Martin Walker has written 51 books, published between 1977 and 2026. The first book is The National Front (1977) and the newest is A Murder in Springtime (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 51
- Published
- 1977–2026
- Confirmed
- 41 of 51 titles
- Pages on record
- 10,694 in 33 of 51 books
- Reading time
- 178–267 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 10,694 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 33 of 51 titles with a page count on record.
Martin Walker, born 1947, is a Scottish former journalist and historian who writes the Bruno detective novels, featuring Bruno Courrèges, a police chief in rural France. Walker worked at The Guardian from 1971 to 1999, joined United Press International in 2000 as a Washington correspondent, and is now UPI's editor-in-chief emeritus. The 51 catalogued titles run from The National Front (1977) to A Murder in Springtime (2026). Non-fiction in the list includes The Waking Giant: Soviet Union Under Gorbachev (1986) and The Cold War and the Making of the Modern World (1993).
The novels are set in the fictional French village of St. Denis, where Bruno investigates crimes and local disputes; each book also depicts regional French food alongside the mystery plot.
How many Martin Walker books are there?
Martin Walker has 51 books, released between 1977 and 2026. 25 of them belong to the Bruno, Chief Of Police series.
Martin Walker Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 51 Martin Walker 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.
- 119772243/4
- 219782433/4
- 319781923/4
- 419803683/4
- 519803493/4
- 619834013/4
- 71986–3/4
- 819892243/4
- 919903523/4
- 10The Cold War and the Making of the Modern WorldMartin Walker Non-Fiction #71993 · 404 pages · confirmed 3/419934043/4
- 1119963683/4
- 12America Reborn: A Twentieth-Century Narrative in Twenty-Six LivesMartin Walker Non-Fiction #92000 · 416 pages · confirmed 3/420004163/4
- 1320013933/4
- 1420023843/4
- 1520032243/4
- 16Bruno, Chief of Police / Death in the DordogneBruno, Chief Of Police #12008 · 288 pages · confirmed 4/420082884/4
- 1720093034/4
- 1820103204/4
- 192011–4/4
- 2020123333/4
- 212012–3/4
- 2220133213/4
- 23The Children Return / Children of War / Death UndercoverBruno, Chief Of Police #82014 · 319 pages · confirmed 3/420143193/4
- 242014–3/4
- 25The Resistance Man2015 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/420153361/4
- 262015–3/4
- 27The Children Return2016 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/420163361/4
- 28The Patriarch2016 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/420163361/4
- 292016–3/4
- 30Fatal Pursuit2017 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/420173201/4
- 3120173173/4
- 32The Templars' Last Secret2018 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/420183361/4
- 3320183353/4
- 342018–3/4
- 35A Taste for Vengeance2019 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/420193521/4
- 3620193523/4
- 372019–3/4
- 38The Body in the Castle Well2020 · confirmed 1/42020–1/4
- 392020–3/4
- 4020203203/4
- 41The Shooting at Chateau Rock2021 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/420213201/4
- 4220213363/4
- 43The Coldest Case2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
- 44Bruno's Challenge and Other Stories of the French CountrysideBruno, Chief Of Police #202022 · confirmed 3/42022–3/4
- 452022–3/4
- 4620232723/4
- 47To Kill a Troubadour2023 · confirmed 1/42023–1/4
- 482023–3/4
- 492024–3/4
- 502025–3/4
- 512026–3/4
Martin Walker series and characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
Martin Walker books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
Bruno, Chief Of Police books in order
25 books by Martin Walker- 1. Bruno, Chief of Police / Death in the Dordogne
- 2. The Dark Vineyard
- 3. Black Diamond
- 4. The Crowded Grave
- 5. The Devil's Cave
- 6. Bruno and the Carol Singers / Bruno and le Pere Noel
- 7. The Resistance Man
- 8. The Children Return / Children of War / Death Undercover
- 9. A Market Tale
- 10. The Dying Season / The Patriarch
- 11. Fatal Pursuit
- 12. The Templars' Last Secret
- and 13 more in the table above
Martin Walker Non-Fiction
12 books12 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Martin Walker Standalone Novels
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
10 books10 Martin Walker titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Martin Walker Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Martin Walker books run from The National Front (1977) to A Murder in Springtime (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Martin Walker in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Martin Walker books in order?
You only need to read Martin Walker books in order within the Bruno, Chief Of Police series, which holds 25 of the 51 Martin Walker books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Martin Walker
Start with Bruno, Chief of Police / Death in the Dordogne (2008), the first Bruno, Chief of Police book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The National Front (1977).
What is the newest Martin Walker book?
A Murder in Springtime (2026) is the newest Martin Walker book released so far.
Is there a new Martin Walker book coming?
No next Martin Walker book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Martin Walker at a glance
- Still publishing
- Martin Walker published a book as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Martin Walker books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 10,694 pages across the 33 of 51 books with a recorded length, a median of 335 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Martin Walker books, 20 of 51, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 4 of the 51 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 41 in at least three.
What the Martin Walker books are about
38 of the 51 Martin Walker 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 13 of 38. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 13 of 38 books
- Police chiefs 11 of 38 books
- Country life 9 of 38 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 9 of 38 books
- France 8 of 38 books
- English literature 6 of 38 books
- Bruno Courrèges (Fictitious character) 5 of 38 books
- Social life and customs 5 of 38 books
- History 4 of 38 books
- Biography 3 of 38 books
- Investigation 3 of 38 books
- Murder 3 of 38 books