Parnell Hall Books in Order
Parnell Hall has written 57 books, published between 1987 and 2020. The first book is Detective (1987) and the newest is The Dead Client (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 57
- Published
- 1987–2020
- Confirmed
- 1 of 57 titles
- Pages on record
- 11,525 in 39 of 57 books
- Reading time
- 192–288 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 11,525 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 39 of 57 titles with a page count on record.
Parnell Hall (October 31, 1944 to December 15, 2020) was an American mystery writer, known for the Puzzle Lady and Stanley Hastings series. Hall also wrote the screenplay for the 1984 film C.H.U.D. The Puzzle Lady stories carried crosswords made with Manny Nosowsky and sudoku made with Will Shortz. Writing as J.P. Hailey, Hall produced the Steve Winslow series, and co-wrote Smooth Operator with Stuart Woods. Malice Domestic gave Hall a Lifetime Achievement award in 2019. The catalogue lists 57 books, from Detective (1987) to The Dead Client (2020). Cora Felton, crossword puzzle makers and New York private investigators appear in the subject tags.
How many Parnell Hall books are there?
Parnell Hall has 57 books, released between 1987 and 2020. They include 3 series and 1 title listed outside any series.
Parnell Hall Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 57 Parnell Hall 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.
- 119872882/4
- 219871932/4
- 319882402/4
- 4198812/4
- 519893202/4
- 619892852/4
- 719902762/4
- 819902822/4
- 9199012/4
- 101990–2/4
- 1119913202/4
- 121992–2/4
- 1319932732/4
- 141994–2/4
- 1519952882/4
- 1619962882/4
- 1719974262/4
- 1819983142/4
- 1919993232/4
- 2020003702/4
- 2120013912/4
- 2220013122/4
- 2320023842/4
- 242002–2/4
- 2520033222/4
- 262003–2/4
- 2720043842/4
- 2820053502/4
- 2920063682/4
- 302006–2/4
- 3120072632/4
- 322007–2/4
- 3320083042/4
- 3420093232/4
- 3520093092/4
- 3620102502/4
- 372011–2/4
- 3820113262/4
- 3920123082/4
- 402013–2/4
- 412013–2/4
- 422013–2/4
- 4320132812/4
- 442013–2/4
- 452013–2/4
- 462014–2/4
- 4720143362/4
- 4820152622/4
- 492015–2/4
- 5020162882/4
- 5120173932/4
- 522018–3/4
- 5320182912/4
- 5420192722/4
- 55Chasing Jack2020 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/420203202/4
- 562020–2/4
- 572020–2/4
Parnell Hall series and characters in order
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Puzzle Lady books in order 21 books
- Puzzle Lady Mysteries books in order 21 books
- Puzzle Lady Mystery books in order 21 books
Parnell Hall 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.
Stanley Hastings in order
27 booksSteve Winslow in order
7 booksCozy Case Files Mystery Sampler in order
1 bookStandalone books
1 book1 Parnell Hall title here is not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Parnell Hall books in order?
You only need to read Parnell Hall books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Parnell Hall
Start with the first book of the Parnell Hall series you want to read: Puzzle Lady starts with A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (1999), Puzzle Lady Mysteries starts with A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (1999) and Puzzle Lady Mystery starts with A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (1999). The earliest catalogued title overall is Detective (1987).
What is the newest Parnell Hall book?
The Dead Client (2020) is the newest Parnell Hall book released so far.
Is there a new Parnell Hall book coming?
No next Parnell Hall book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Parnell Hall at a glance
- Died
- Parnell Hall died in 2020, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Parnell Hall on record dates from 2020.
- Release pace
- Parnell Hall books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 11,525 pages across the 39 of 57 books with a recorded length, a median of 308 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Parnell Hall books, 19 of 57, were published in the 2010s.
What the Parnell Hall books are about
41 of the 57 Parnell Hall books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 26 of 41. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 26 of 41 books
- New York (N.Y.) 17 of 41 books
- Private investigators 17 of 41 books
- Hastings, stanley (fictitious character) 16 of 41 books
- Crossword puzzle makers 15 of 41 books
- Stanley Hastings (Fictitious character) 15 of 41 books
- Cora Felton (Fictitious character) 14 of 41 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 14 of 41 books
- Actors and actresses 11 of 41 books
- Older women 10 of 41 books
- Murder 8 of 41 books