Rita Mae Brown Books in Order

How many Rita Mae Brown books are there?

Rita Mae Brown has 76 published books, released between 1971 and 2026. They include 5 separate series. One more, Pawsible Suspects (2027), is announced.

Rita Mae Brown Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 77 Rita Mae Brown 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.

Rita Mae Brown series and characters in order

Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.

• Mrs. Murphy books in order 34 books
• "Sister" Jane books in order 17 books
• Jane Arnold books in order 17 books

Rita Mae Brown 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.

Rita Mae Brown Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Rita Mae Brown books run from Hand That Cradles the Rock (1971) to Clawed and Dangerous (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Rita Mae Brown in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Rita Mae Brown books in order?

You only need to read Rita Mae Brown books in order within each series: the books listed here span 5 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Rita Mae Brown

Start with the first book of the Rita Mae Brown series you want to read: Mrs. Murphy starts with Wish You Were Here (1990), "Sister" Jane starts with Outfoxed (2000) and Jane Arnold starts with Outfoxed (2000). The earliest catalogued title overall is Hand That Cradles the Rock (1971).

What is the newest Rita Mae Brown book?

Clawed and Dangerous (2026) is the newest Rita Mae Brown book released so far.

Is there a new Rita Mae Brown book coming?

Yes. Pawsible Suspects (2027) is the next Rita Mae Brown book announced in the catalogue. A publication year announced this far ahead moves, so it is worth rechecking: every announced title dated after 2026 sits on the upcoming book releases page.

Award nominations for Rita Mae Brown

Wikidata records 1 nomination for Rita Mae Brown. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

• Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction1989Shortlisted

Rita Mae Brown at a glance

Still publishing

Rita Mae Brown is still publishing. Pawsible Suspects is announced for 2027.

Release pace

Rita Mae Brown books have appeared more than one a year on average.

Length

17,986 pages across the 62 of 77 books with a recorded length, a median of 295 pages each.

Busiest decade

Most Rita Mae Brown books, 21 of 77, were published in the 2000s.

What the Rita Mae Brown books are about

64 of the 77 Rita Mae Brown books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: harry haristeen (fictitious character) is tagged on 25 of 64. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

• Harry Haristeen (Fictitious character) 25 of 64 books
• Women cat owners 23 of 64 books
• Cats 21 of 64 books
• Mystery & detective, women sleuths 19 of 64 books
• Mrs. Murphy (Fictitious character) 18 of 64 books
• Mystery & detective 13 of 64 books
• Fox hunting 12 of 64 books
• Jane Arnold (Fictitious character) 12 of 64 books
• Lesbians 12 of 64 books
• Women postal service employees 10 of 64 books
• Murder 8 of 64 books