Ruth Rendell Books in Order

88 books are credited to Ruth Rendell, published between 1964 and 2019; 2 of them appeared after Ruth Rendell's death in 2015. The first book is From Doon With Death (1964) and the newest is BBC Radio Drama Collection (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

Ruth Rendell also publishes as Barbara Vine.

Books: 88
Published: 1964–2019
Confirmed: 86 of 88 titles
Pages on record: 19,994 in 75 of 88 books
Reading time: 333–500 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 19,994 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 75 of 88 titles with a page count on record.

See all 88 books in order Printable Ruth Rendell checklist

Ruth Rendell (17 February 1930 to 2 May 2015) was an English writer of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries who held the title Baroness Rendell of Babergh. Chief Inspector Wexford is the creation most associated with Rendell. Separate standalone crime novels looked into what drives criminals and their victims, and the pseudonym Barbara Vine carried that interest into a third body of work. Rendell's novels have sold an estimated 20 million copies. The catalogue records 88 books, starting with From Doon With Death (1964), then To Fear a Painted Devil (1965) and Vanity Dies Hard (1966).

How many Ruth Rendell books are there?

Ruth Rendell has 88 books, released between 1964 and 2019. 2 of them were published after Ruth Rendell's death in 2015. They include 2 separate series.

Ruth Rendell series and characters in order

The character linked below has its own reading-order page.

Inspector Wexford books in order 26 books

Ruth Rendell 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.

Ruth Rendell Standalone Novels

43 books

43 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Inspector Wexford books in order

25 books by Ruth Rendell

1. From Doon With Death
2. Sins of the Fathers / A New Lease of Death
3. Wolf to the Slaughter
4. The Best Man to Die
5. A Guilty Thing Surprised
6. No More Dying Then
7. Murder Being Once Done
8. Some Lie and Some Die
9. Shake Hands Forever
10. A Sleeping Life
11. Death Notes / Put On By Cunning
12. Speaker of Mandarin
and 13 more in the table above

Ruth Rendell Short Story

11 books

11 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Ruth Rendell Short Stories/Novellas

5 books

5 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Ruth Rendell Non-Fiction

2 books

2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Inspector Wexford Collections

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Ruth Rendell Children's in order

1 book

1. Archie and Archie

Ruth Rendell Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Ruth Rendell books run from From Doon With Death (1964) to BBC Radio Drama Collection (2019), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Ruth Rendell in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Ruth Rendell books in order?

You only need to read Ruth Rendell 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 Ruth Rendell

Start with From Doon With Death (1964), the first Inspector Wexford book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest Ruth Rendell book?

BBC Radio Drama Collection (2019) is the newest Ruth Rendell book released so far.

Is there a new Ruth Rendell book coming?

No next Ruth Rendell 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 Ruth Rendell has won

Wikidata records 9 awards for Ruth Rendell. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

The Grand Master1997Won
Anthony Award1995Won
Cartier Diamond Dagger1991Won
Gold Dagger1991Wonfor King Solomon's Carpet
Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel1987Wonfor A Dark-Adapted Eye
Gold Dagger1987Wonfor A Fatal Inversion
Gold Dagger1986Wonfor Live Flesh
Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation1980Wonfor Make Death Love Me
Gold Dagger1976Wonfor A Demon in My View

Ruth Rendell at a glance

Died: Ruth Rendell died in 2015, according to Wikidata.
After death: Books credited to Ruth Rendell are still being published after Ruth Rendell's death in 2015; the newest appeared in 2019.
Release pace: Ruth Rendell books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length: 19,994 pages across the 75 of 88 books with a recorded length, a median of 259 pages each.
Busiest decade: Most Ruth Rendell books, 22 of 88, were published in the 1990s.
Corroboration: 7 of the 88 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 86 in at least three.

What the Ruth Rendell books are about

79 of the 88 Ruth Rendell 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 36 of 79. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Mystery & detective 36 of 79 books
Inspector Wexford (Fictitious character) 24 of 79 books
Police 24 of 79 books
England 17 of 79 books
Wexford, inspector (fictitious character) 13 of 79 books
Suspense 9 of 79 books
Mystery & detective, traditional 8 of 79 books
Psychological fiction 6 of 79 books
Thrillers 6 of 79 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