Ngaio Marsh Books in Order
38 books are credited to Ngaio Marsh, published between 1934 and 2018; 5 of them appeared after Ngaio Marsh's death in 1982. The first book is A Man Lay Dead (1934) and the newest is Money in the Morgue (2018). Publication order is the reading order below. 35 of the 38 books listed here are in the Roderick Alleyn series, which has its own page: Roderick Alleyn books in order.
- Books
- 38
- Published
- 1934–2018
- Confirmed
- 38 of 38 titles
- Pages on record
- 5,605 in 21 of 38 books
- Reading time
- 93–140 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,605 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 21 of 38 titles with a page count on record.
Inspector Roderick Alleyn of the English police carries almost all of Ngaio Marsh's detective fiction. 38 catalogued books run from A Man Lay Dead (1934) to Money in the Morgue, taking in Enter a Murderer (1935), The Nursing Home Murder (1935), Death in Ecstasy (1936), Vintage Murder (1937) and Artists in Crime (1938). Marsh also published short stories and non-fiction. The catalogue is likely complete.
The Roderick Alleyn novels are set across a range of settings, from high society to rural locations, and depict the social landscape of early 20th-century England alongside their mysteries.
How many Ngaio Marsh books are there?
Ngaio Marsh has 38 books, released between 1934 and 2018. 5 of them were published after Ngaio Marsh's death in 1982. 35 of them belong to the Roderick Alleyn series.
Ngaio Marsh Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 38 Ngaio Marsh 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.
- 11934–3/4
- 21935–3/4
- 31935–4/4
- 41936–4/4
- 51937–3/4
- 61938–4/4
- 71938–4/4
- 81939–3/4
- 919403353/4
- 1019403203/4
- 111941–3/4
- 121943–3/4
- 1319452453/4
- 1419472773/4
- 1519493363/4
- 1619512563/4
- 1719532463/4
- 1819552563/4
- 191956–3/4
- 2019582403/4
- 2119592243/4
- 221962–3/4
- 2319632563/4
- 2419653203/4
- 2519662843/4
- 2619682564/4
- 2719702423/4
- 2819712883/4
- 2919732563/4
- 301976–3/4
- 3119782563/4
- 3219802243/4
- 3319822323/4
- 341989–3/4
- 35Alleyn and Others / The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio MarshRoderick Alleyn #331989 · confirmed 3/41989–3/4
- 361990–3/4
- 3719952563/4
- 382018–4/4
Ngaio Marsh series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Roderick Alleyn books in order 35 books
Ngaio Marsh 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.
Ngaio Marsh Non-Fiction
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Ngaio Marsh Short Story
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Ngaio Marsh Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Ngaio Marsh books run from A Man Lay Dead (1934) to Money in the Morgue (2018), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Ngaio Marsh in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Ngaio Marsh books in order?
You only need to read Ngaio Marsh books in order within the Roderick Alleyn series, which holds 35 of the 38 Ngaio Marsh books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Ngaio Marsh
Start with A Man Lay Dead (1934), the first Roderick Alleyn book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Ngaio Marsh book?
Money in the Morgue (2018) is the newest Ngaio Marsh book released so far.
Is there a new Ngaio Marsh book coming?
No next Ngaio Marsh 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 Ngaio Marsh has won
Wikidata records 1 award for Ngaio Marsh. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- The Grand Master1978Won
Ngaio Marsh at a glance
- Died
- Ngaio Marsh died in 1982, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Ngaio Marsh are still being published after Ngaio Marsh's death in 1982; the newest appeared in 2018.
- Release pace
- Ngaio Marsh books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 5,605 pages across the 21 of 38 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ngaio Marsh books, 8 of 38, were published in the 1930s.
- Corroboration
- 6 of the 38 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the Ngaio Marsh books are about
37 of the 38 Ngaio Marsh books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: roderick alleyn (fictitious character) is tagged on 34 of 37. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Roderick Alleyn (Fictitious character) 34 of 37 books
- Police 33 of 37 books
- Alleyn, roderick (fictitious character) 24 of 37 books
- Fiction in English 19 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 17 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective 13 of 37 books
- Investigation 9 of 37 books
- Murder 9 of 37 books
- England 6 of 37 books
- New Zealand Detective and mystery stories 4 of 37 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