Stuart Palmer Books in Order
21 books are credited to Stuart Palmer, published between 1931 and 2022; 3 of them appeared after Stuart Palmer's death in 1968. The first book is The Penguin Pool Murder (1931) and the newest is The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 21
- Published
- 1931–2022
- Pages on record
- 2,098 in 11 of 21 books
- Reading time
- 35–52 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,098 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 11 of 21 titles with a page count on record.
Stuart Palmer (1905–1968) was an American mystery novelist and screenwriter who created Hildegarde Withers, a schoolteacher who investigates murders in New York. The Penguin Pool Murder (1931) opens that series, with Murder on the Blackboard (1932), The Puzzle of the Silver Persian (1934), The Puzzle of the Red Stallion (1936) and Miss Withers Regrets (1947) after it. Palmer also wrote the Howie Rook mysteries and published as Theodore Orchards and Jay Stewart. Twenty-one books are catalogued, at a median length of 185 pages.
How many Stuart Palmer books are there?
Stuart Palmer has 21 books, released between 1931 and 2022. 3 of them were published after Stuart Palmer's death in 1968. They include 2 series and 1 title listed outside any series.
Stuart Palmer Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 21 Stuart Palmer 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.
- 119312241/4
- 219323071/4
- 319321851/4
- 419331911/4
- 519341591/4
- 61934–1/4
- 71936–1/4
- 819371551/4
- 919411851/4
- 1019471601/4
- 111949–1/4
- 1219501761/4
- 131950–1/4
- 1419511591/4
- 151954–1/4
- 161955–1/4
- 171956–1/4
- 181968–1/4
- 191969–1/4
- 2020021971/4
- 21The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
Stuart Palmer 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.
Hildegarde Withers in order
18 books- 1. The Penguin Pool Murder
- 2. Murder on Wheels
- 3. Murder on the Blackboard
- 4. The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree
- 5. The Puzzle of the Silver Persian
- 6. The Riddle of the Blueblood Murders
- 7. The Puzzle of the Red Stallion
- 8. The Puzzle of the Blue Banderilla
- 9. The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan
- 10. Miss Withers Regrets
- 11. Four Lost Ladies
- 12. The Green Ace / At One Fell Swoop
- and 6 more in the table above
Howie Rook Mystery in order
2 booksStandalone books
1 book1 Stuart Palmer title here is not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Stuart Palmer books in order?
You only need to read Stuart Palmer 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 Stuart Palmer
Start with The Penguin Pool Murder (1931), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Stuart Palmer book?
The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers (2022) is the newest Stuart Palmer book released so far.
Is there a new Stuart Palmer book coming?
No next Stuart Palmer book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Stuart Palmer at a glance
- Died
- Stuart Palmer died in 1968, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Stuart Palmer are still being published after Stuart Palmer's death in 1968; the newest appeared in 2022.
- Release pace
- Stuart Palmer books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
- Length
- 2,098 pages across the 11 of 21 books with a recorded length, a median of 185 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Stuart Palmer books, 8 of 21, were published in the 1930s.
What the Stuart Palmer books are about
11 of the 21 Stuart Palmer books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: withers, hildegarde (fictitious character) is tagged on 10 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Withers, hildegarde (fictitious character) 10 of 11 books
- Hildegarde Withers (Fictitious character) 9 of 11 books
- Mystery & detective 9 of 11 books
- Teachers 9 of 11 books
- Women teachers 9 of 11 books
- New York (N.Y.) 8 of 11 books
- Fiction - Mystery/ Detective 2 of 11 books
- Mystery & Detective - General 2 of 11 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 2 of 11 books
- Mystery/Suspense 2 of 11 books