William X. Kienzle Books in Order
William X. Kienzle has written 24 books, published between 1979 and 2002. The first book is The Rosary Murders (1979) and the newest is The Gathering (2002). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 24
- Published
- 1979–2002
- Pages on record
- 5,946 in 20 of 24 books
- Reading time
- 99–149 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,946 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 20 of 24 titles with a page count on record.
Father Robert Koesler, a Catholic priest in Detroit, Michigan, is the detective in the mystery series by William X. Kienzle. The catalogue lists 24 books from The Rosary Murders (1979) to The Gathering (2002), and the Father Koesler series makes up the whole run. Death Wears a Red Hat (1980) and Mind Over Murder (1981) came next. Clergy and the Catholic Church are the dominant subjects. The Kienzle catalogue is listed as likely complete.
Source: composed
How many William X. Kienzle books are there?
William X. Kienzle has 24 books, released between 1979 and 2002.
William X. Kienzle Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 24 William X. Kienzle 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 November 2026.
- 119792962/4
- 219802882/4
- 31981–2/4
- 419822732/4
- 519832522/4
- 619842492/4
- 719852522/4
- 819862582/4
- 919873392/4
- 1019882952/4
- 1119893552/4
- 1219902722/4
- 1319913322/4
- 1419923342/4
- 1519933262/4
- 1619943072/4
- 171995–2/4
- 1819963222/4
- 1919973042/4
- 2019982942/4
- 211999–2/4
- 2220002942/4
- 232001–2/4
- 2420023042/4
William X. Kienzle 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.
Father Koesler in order
24 books- 1. The Rosary Murders
- 2. Death Wears a Red Hat
- 3. Mind Over Murder
- 4. Assault with Intent
- 5. Shadow of Death
- 6. Kill and Tell
- 7. Sudden Death
- 8. Deathbed
- 9. Deadline for a Critic
- 10. Marked For Murder
- 11. Eminence
- 12. Masquerade
- and 12 more in the table above
Do you have to read William X. Kienzle books in order?
You only need to read William X. Kienzle books in order within the Father Koesler series, which holds 24 of the 24 William X. Kienzle books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with William X. Kienzle
Start with The Rosary Murders (1979), the earliest published title.
What is the newest William X. Kienzle book?
The Gathering (2002) is the newest William X. Kienzle book released so far.
Is there a new William X. Kienzle book coming?
No next William X. Kienzle book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
William X. Kienzle at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest William X. Kienzle title on record dates from 2002, 24 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- William X. Kienzle books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,946 pages across the 20 of 24 books with a recorded length, a median of 296 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most William X. Kienzle books, 10 of 24, were published in the 1990s.
When William X. Kienzle books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when William X. Kienzle titles appeared. 1980s was the most productive decade with 10 titles.
24 books total across 4 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the William X. Kienzle books are about
20 of the 24 William X. Kienzle books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: robert koesler (fictitious character) is tagged on 17 of 20. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Robert Koesler (Fictitious character) 17 of 20 books
- Clergy 16 of 20 books
- Catholic Church 14 of 20 books
- Catholics 12 of 20 books
- Detroit (mich.) 8 of 20 books
- Michigan 7 of 20 books
- Mystery & detective 7 of 20 books
- Catholic church, clergy 4 of 20 books
- Priests 2 of 20 books