Peter O’Donnell Books in Order
48 books are credited to Peter O’Donnell, published between 1965 and 2017; 11 of them appeared after Peter O’Donnell's death in 2010. The first book is Modesty Blaise (1965) and the newest is The Killing Game (2017). Publication order is the reading order below. 34 of the 48 books listed here are in the Modesty Blaise Comic Strip series, which has its own page: Modesty Blaise Comic Strip books in order.
- Books
- 48
- Published
- 1965–2017
- Pages on record
- 5,246 in 31 of 48 books
- Reading time
- 87–131 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,246 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 31 of 48 titles with a page count on record.
Modesty Blaise (1965) opens Peter O'Donnell's catalogue and introduces the action heroine and undercover trouble-shooter who defines it. O'Donnell (1920-2010) was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, and the Modesty Blaise comic strip runs alongside the novels as a separate catalogued sequence. Under the pen name Madeleine Brent, O'Donnell also wrote gothic historical romance; Merlin's Keep took the Romantic Novelists' Association's Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 1978. The 48 catalogued titles reach from 1965 to 2017.
How many Peter O’Donnell books are there?
Peter O’Donnell has 48 books, released between 1965 and 2017. 11 of them were published after Peter O’Donnell's death in 2010. They include 2 separate series.
Peter O’Donnell Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 48 Peter O’Donnell 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.
- 119652882/4
- 219662882/4
- 319672882/4
- 419692882/4
- 519712882/4
- 61972–2/4
- 719732842/4
- 819772562/4
- 91978–2/4
- 1019782882/4
- 1119812902/4
- 1219822802/4
- 1319852882/4
- 141986–2/4
- 1519861122/4
- 161987642/4
- 171987962/4
- 181987962/4
- 191990–2/4
- 2019962672/4
- 211996642/4
- 2220021002/4
- 232003–2/4
- 2420041122/4
- 2520041122/4
- 262005–2/4
- 272005962/4
- 2820061282/4
- 2920061042/4
- 302007–2/4
- 312007–2/4
- 3220081042/4
- 332008962/4
- 342009–2/4
- 352009–2/4
- 362009–2/4
- 372010–2/4
- 3820111122/4
- 392011–2/4
- 40201312/4
- 412013–2/4
- 422014–2/4
- 432014–2/4
- 4420151042/4
- 4520151442/4
- 4620161042/4
- 4720171042/4
- 482017–2/4
Peter O’Donnell series and characters in order
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Modesty Blaise Comic Strip books in order 34 books
- Modesty Blaise books in order 48 books
Peter O’Donnell 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.
Modesty Blaise books in order
13 books by Peter O’Donnell- 1. Modesty Blaise
- 1. Pieces of Modesty
- 2. Sabre-Tooth
- 2. Cobra Trap
- 3. I, Lucifer
- 4. A Taste for Death
- 5. The Impossible Virgin
- 6. The Silver Mistress
- 7. Last Day in Limbo
- 8. Dragon's Claw
- 9. The Xanadu Talisman
- 10. The Night of Morningstar
- and 1 more in the table above
Modesty Blaise Non-Fiction
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Do you have to read Peter O’Donnell books in order?
You only need to read Peter O’Donnell 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 Peter O’Donnell
Start with the first book of the Peter O’Donnell series you want to read: Modesty Blaise Comic Strip starts with The Black Pearl (1978) and Modesty Blaise starts with Modesty Blaise (1965). The earliest catalogued title overall is Modesty Blaise (1965).
What is the newest Peter O’Donnell book?
The Killing Game (2017) is the newest Peter O’Donnell book released so far.
Is there a new Peter O’Donnell book coming?
No next Peter O’Donnell book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Peter O’Donnell at a glance
- Died
- Peter O’Donnell died in 2010, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Peter O’Donnell are still being published after Peter O’Donnell's death in 2010; the newest appeared in 2017.
- Release pace
- Peter O’Donnell books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,246 pages across the 31 of 48 books with a recorded length, a median of 112 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Peter O’Donnell books, 15 of 48, were published in the 2000s.
What the Peter O’Donnell books are about
29 of the 48 Peter O’Donnell books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: comics & graphic novels is tagged on 21 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Comics & graphic novels 21 of 29 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 20 of 29 books
- Intelligence service 15 of 29 books
- Detective and mystery comic books, strips 13 of 29 books
- 1960s 12 of 29 books
- Intelligence service in fiction 11 of 29 books
- Women spies in fiction 11 of 29 books
- Modesty Blaise (Fictitious character) 9 of 29 books
- Women spies 7 of 29 books
- Comics & graphic novels, crime & mystery 5 of 29 books
- Blaise, modesty (fictitious character) 4 of 29 books
- 1980s 2 of 29 books