P.D. James Books in Order
27 books are credited to P.D. James, published between 1962 and 2019; 4 of them appeared after P.D. James's death in 2014. The first book is Cover Her Face (1962) and the newest is The Victim (2019). Publication order is the reading order below. 14 of the 27 books listed here are in the Adam Dalgliesh series, which has its own page: Adam Dalgliesh books in order.
- Books
- 27
- Published
- 1962–2019
- Confirmed
- 27 of 27 titles
- Pages on record
- 7,356 in 23 of 27 books
- Reading time
- 123–184 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,356 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 27 titles with a page count on record.
P.D. James was the professional name of Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 to 27 November 2014), an English novelist and life peer. Fame arrived through the detective novels featuring Adam Dalgliesh, a police commander who also writes poetry. A second series follows Cordelia Gray. The catalogue lists 27 books from Cover Her Face (1962) to The Victim (2019), including standalone novels, short stories and non-fiction.
How many P.D. James books are there?
P.D. James has 27 books, released between 1962 and 2019. 4 of them were published after P.D. James's death in 2014. They include 2 separate series.
P.D. James Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 27 P.D. James 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.
- 11962–3/4
- 219632524/4
- 319672724/4
- 419712724/4
- 519713634/4
- 619722564/4
- 719753464/4
- 819773614/4
- 91980–4/4
- 1019823524/4
- 1119864804/4
- 1219894664/4
- 1319922414/4
- 1419945114/4
- 1519976884/4
- 1619992884/4
- 1720014294/4
- 1820034324/4
- 192005484/4
- 202005–4/4
- 2120084164/4
- 2220091984/4
- 2320122914/4
- 2420161524/4
- 2520171944/4
- 262017–3/4
- 272019484/4
P.D. James series in order
Each series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Adam Dalgliesh books in order 14 books
- Cordelia Gray books in order 2 books
P.D. James 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.
P D James Non-Fiction
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
P.D. James Standalone Novels
3 books3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
P.D. James Short Story
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
P.D. James Short Stories/Novellas
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Faber Stories in order
1 book- 15. The Victim
P.D. James Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the P.D. James books run from Cover Her Face (1962) to The Victim (2019), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for P.D. James in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read P.D. James books in order?
You only need to read P.D. James books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with P.D. James
Start with the first book of the P.D. James series you want to read: Adam Dalgliesh starts with Cover Her Face (1962) and Cordelia Gray starts with An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972). The earliest catalogued title overall is Cover Her Face (1962).
What is the newest P.D. James book?
The Victim (2019) is the newest P.D. James book released so far.
Is there a new P.D. James book coming?
No next P.D. James 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 P.D. James has won
Wikidata records 6 awards and 2 nominations for P.D. James. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Anthony Award2010Wonfor Talking About Detective Fiction
- Bodley Medal2002Won
- The Grand Master1999Won
- Riverton International Honour Prize1993Won
- Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1988Wonfor A Taste for Death
- Cartier Diamond Dagger1987Won
- Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form2007Shortlistedfor Children of Men
- Nebula Award for Best Script2007Shortlistedfor Children of Men
P.D. James at a glance
- Died
- P.D. James died in 2014, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to P.D. James are still being published after P.D. James's death in 2014; the newest appeared in 2019.
- Release pace
- P.D. James books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 7,356 pages across the 23 of 27 books with a recorded length, a median of 291 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most P.D. James books, 6 of 27, were published in the 2000s.
- Corroboration
- 25 of the 27 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the P.D. James books are about
25 of the 27 P.D. James 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 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 13 of 25 books
- Mystery & detective 12 of 25 books
- Adam Dalgliesh (Fictitious character) 11 of 25 books
- Investigation 9 of 25 books
- Murder 7 of 25 books
- Fiction in English 5 of 25 books
- Dalgliesh, adam (fictitious character) 4 of 25 books
- England 4 of 25 books
- Authorship 2 of 25 books
- Cordelia Gray (Fictitious character) 2 of 25 books