Peter May Books in Order
Peter May has written 33 books, published between 1978 and 2024. The first book is The Reporter (1978) and the newest is The Black Loch (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 33
- Published
- 1978–2024
- Confirmed
- 31 of 33 titles
- Pages on record
- 8,617 in 23 of 33 books
- Reading time
- 144–215 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,617 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 33 titles with a page count on record.
Peter May, born 20 December 1951, is a Scottish novelist, crime writer and television screenwriter. The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and France's Cezam Prix Litteraire, and The Lewis Man took Le Telegramme's Grand Prix des Lecteurs. Entry Island won two awards in 2014, and May received France's Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere in 2025. Sales exceed twelve million copies. The catalogue lists 33 books, from The Reporter (1978) to The Black Loch (2024), with the China Thrillers, the Enzo Files and the Lewis Tetralogy among the series.
Source: Wikidata
How many Peter May books are there?
Peter May has 33 books, released between 1978 and 2024. They include 3 series and 2 titles listed outside any series.
Peter May Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 33 Peter May 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 November 2026.
- 119783004/4
- 21979–4/4
- 41992–4/4
- 519993534/4
- 620004054/4
- 720003524/4
- 820024163/4
- 920033364/4
- 1020044024/4
- 1120063364/4
- 1220073004/4
- 1320084654/4
- 1420093864/4
- 1520102864/4
- 1620104233/4
- 1720104403/4
- 182010–4/4
- 1920114434/4
- 202012–4/4
- 2120132404/4
- 2220135344/4
- 2320154244/4
- 2420164004/4
- 2520173104/4
- 2620183664/4
- 272020–4/4
- 2820204004/4
- 292021–4/4
- 30The Open Question2021 · confirmed 1/42021–1/4
- 31Night Gate2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
- 322023–4/4
- 332024–4/4
Peter May characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Lewis Trilogy books in order 4 books
Peter May 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.
Peter May Standalone Novels
12 books12 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
China Thrillers in order
7 booksEnzo Files in order
7 booksLewis Tetralogy in order
4 booksPeter May Non-Fiction
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
2 books2 Peter May titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Peter May Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Peter May books run from The Reporter (1978) to The Black Loch (2024), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Peter May in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Peter May books in order?
You only need to read Peter May books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
What order should you read Peter May books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with The Blackhouse (2009), the first Lewis Trilogy book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Reporter (1978).
What is the newest Peter May book?
The Black Loch (2024) is the newest Peter May book released so far.
Is there a new Peter May book coming?
No next Peter May 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 Peter May has won
Wikidata records 4 awards for Peter May. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
- Grand Prix de Littérature Policière2025Won
- Dagger in the Library2021Won
- Trophées 8132015Won
- Barry Award for Best Novel2013Wonfor The Blackhouse
Peter May at a glance
- Still publishing
- Peter May published a book as recently as 2024.
- Release pace
- Peter May books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 8,617 pages across the 23 of 33 books with a recorded length, a median of 386 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Peter May books, 12 of 33, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 28 of the 33 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 31 in at least three.
When Peter May books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Peter May titles appeared. 2010s was the most productive decade with 12 titles.
33 books total across 6 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Peter May books are about
25 of the 33 Peter May books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: investigation is tagged on 9 of 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Investigation 9 of 25 books
- Murder 9 of 25 books
- Mystery & detective 8 of 25 books
- Police 6 of 25 books
- Forensic pathologists 4 of 25 books
- France 4 of 25 books
- Margaret Campbell (Fictitious character) 4 of 25 books
- Thrillers 4 of 25 books
- Women pathologists 4 of 25 books
- Americans 3 of 25 books
- Cold cases (criminal investigation) 3 of 25 books
- Crimes against 3 of 25 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