Order of Book Series
0

Inspector Wexford Books in Order

Ruth Rendell has written 26 Inspector Wexford books, published between 1964 and 2013: 25 in the Inspector Wexford series and 1 related title. The first book is From Doon With Death (1964) and the newest main-line book is No Man's Nightingale (2013). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
26
Published
1964–2013
Confirmed
26 of 26 titles
Pages on record
6,145 in 24 of 26 books
Reading time
102–154 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,145 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 24 of 26 titles with a page count on record.

See all 26 books in order Printable Inspector Wexford checklist

Inspector Wexford is Ruth Rendell's police detective, working murder cases in England. Twenty-six catalogued books run from From Doon With Death (1964) to No Man's Nightingale (2013), taking in Wolf to the Slaughter (1967), The Best Man to Die (1969), A Guilty Thing Surprised (1970) and No More Dying Then (1971). The median book runs 244 pages, and no new Wexford title has appeared since 2013.

How many Inspector Wexford books are there?

Inspector Wexford has 26 books, released between 1964 and 2013. 25 of them belong to the Inspector Wexford series, and 1 related title sit outside it: collections.

Inspector Wexford Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 26 Inspector Wexford 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.

  1. Cover of From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell, book 1 of the Inspector Wexford series (1964)
  2. Cover of Sins of the Fathers / A New Lease of Death by Ruth Rendell, book 2 of the Inspector Wexford series (1967)
  3. Cover of Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell, book 3 of the Inspector Wexford series (1967)
  4. Cover of A Guilty Thing Surprised by Ruth Rendell, book 5 of the Inspector Wexford series (1970)
  5. Cover of No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell, book 6 of the Inspector Wexford series (1971)
  6. Cover of Murder Being Once Done by Ruth Rendell, book 7 of the Inspector Wexford series (1972)
  7. Cover of Some Lie and Some Die by Ruth Rendell, book 8 of the Inspector Wexford series (1973)
  8. Cover of Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell, book 9 of the Inspector Wexford series (1975)
  9. Cover of A Sleeping Life by Ruth Rendell, book 10 of the Inspector Wexford series (1978)
  10. Cover of Means of Evil by Ruth Rendell, book 1 of the Inspector Wexford Collections series (1979)
  11. Cover of Death Notes / Put On By Cunning by Ruth Rendell, book 11 of the Inspector Wexford series (1981)
  12. Cover of Speaker of Mandarin by Ruth Rendell, book 12 of the Inspector Wexford series (1983)
  13. Cover of An Unkindness of Ravens by Ruth Rendell, book 13 of the Inspector Wexford series (1985)
  14. Cover of The Veiled One by Ruth Rendell, book 14 of the Inspector Wexford series (1988)
  15. Cover of Kissing the Gunner's Daughter by Ruth Rendell, book 15 of the Inspector Wexford series (1992)
  16. Cover of Ginger and the Kingsmarkham by Ruth Rendell, book 16 of the Inspector Wexford series (1992)
  17. Cover of Road Rage by Ruth Rendell, book 18 of the Inspector Wexford series (1997)
  18. Cover of Harm Done by Ruth Rendell, book 19 of the Inspector Wexford series (1999)
  19. Cover of The Babes in the Wood by Ruth Rendell, book 20 of the Inspector Wexford series (2002)
  20. Cover of End in Tears by Ruth Rendell, book 21 of the Inspector Wexford series (2005)
  21. Cover of Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell, book 22 of the Inspector Wexford series (2007)
  22. Cover of The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell, book 23 of the Inspector Wexford series (2009)
  23. Cover of The Vault by Ruth Rendell, book 24 of the Inspector Wexford series (2011)
  24. Cover of No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell, book 25 of the Inspector Wexford series (2013)
  1. 1
    From Doon With DeathInspector Wexford #11964 · 240 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1964240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Sins of the Fathers / A New Lease of DeathInspector Wexford #21967 · 249 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1967249
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Wolf to the SlaughterInspector Wexford #31967 · 216 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1967216
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Best Man to DieInspector Wexford #41969 · 201 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1969201
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    A Guilty Thing SurprisedInspector Wexford #51970 · 193 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1970193
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    No More Dying ThenInspector Wexford #61971 · 203 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1971203
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Murder Being Once DoneInspector Wexford #71972 · confirmed 3/4
    1972–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Some Lie and Some DieInspector Wexford #81973 · 181 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1973181
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Shake Hands ForeverInspector Wexford #91975 · 184 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1975184
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    A Sleeping LifeInspector Wexford #101978 · 180 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1978180
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Means of EvilInspector Wexford Collections #11979 · 176 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1979176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Death Notes / Put On By CunningInspector Wexford #111981 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1981224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Speaker of MandarinInspector Wexford #121983 · 212 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1983212
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    An Unkindness of RavensInspector Wexford #131985 · 344 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1985344
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Veiled OneInspector Wexford #141988 · 312 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1988312
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Kissing the Gunner's DaughterInspector Wexford #151992 · 378 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1992378
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Ginger and the KingsmarkhamInspector Wexford #161992 · 64 pages · confirmed 4/4
    199264
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    SimisolaInspector Wexford #171994 · confirmed 3/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Road RageInspector Wexford #181997 · 400 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1997400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Harm DoneInspector Wexford #191999 · 368 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1999368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Babes in the WoodInspector Wexford #202002 · 336 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2002336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    End in TearsInspector Wexford #212005 · 352 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Not in the FleshInspector Wexford #222007 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2007304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Monster in the BoxInspector Wexford #232009 · 287 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2009287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The VaultInspector Wexford #242011 · 266 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2011266
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    No Man's NightingaleInspector Wexford #252013 · 275 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013275
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Inspector Wexford Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the books of the Inspector Wexford series run from From Doon With Death (1964) to No Man's Nightingale (2013), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Inspector Wexford in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Inspector Wexford books in order?

You should read the Inspector Wexford series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 1 related title (collections) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Inspector Wexford book also stands alone.

Where to start with Inspector Wexford

Start with From Doon With Death (1964), the earliest published book in the Inspector Wexford series.

What is the newest Inspector Wexford book?

No Man's Nightingale (2013) is the newest book in the Inspector Wexford series.

Is there a new Inspector Wexford book coming?

No next Inspector Wexford book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Inspector Wexford at a glance

No recent titles
The newest main-line Inspector Wexford title on record is No Man's Nightingale (2013), 13 years ago.
Release pace
Inspector Wexford books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
6,145 pages across the 24 of 26 books with a recorded length, a median of 244 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Inspector Wexford books, 7 of 26, were published in the 1970s.
Corroboration
7 of the 26 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Inspector Wexford books are about

24 of the 26 Inspector Wexford books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 23 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Ruth Rendell

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.