Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Books in Order
S.J. Rozan has written 23 Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books, published between 1992 and 2026: 16 in the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith series and 7 related titles. The first book is China Trade (1994) and the newest main-line book is First Do No Harm (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
Also searched as Lydia Chin and Bill Smith.
- Books
- 23
- Published
- 1992–2026
- Confirmed
- 23 of 23 titles
- Pages on record
- 3,810 in 12 of 23 books
- Reading time
- 64–95 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,810 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 23 titles with a page count on record.
Lydia Chin and Bill Smith are the private investigators of S.J. Rozan's New York mystery series. Chinese Americans appear among the subjects, and the books are catalogued as both mystery and police procedural. The series counts 23 books, from Body English (1992) and China Trade (1994) through Mandarin Plaid (1996) and No Colder Place (1997). First Do No Harm (2026) is the newest, and Lydia Chin and Bill Smith also appear in short stories and novellas.
How many Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books are there?
Lydia Chin/Bill Smith has 23 books, released between 1992 and 2026. 16 of them belong to the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith series, and 7 related titles sit outside it: short stories and novellas.
Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 23 Lydia Chin/Bill Smith 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.
- 11992–3/4
- 219942753/4
- 319952913/4
- 419962753/4
- 519972883/4
- 61998–3/4
- 719983363/4
- 819993363/4
- 920013123/4
- 1020023383/4
- 112004–3/4
- 1220093733/4
- 1320103093/4
- 142011–3/4
- 1520113253/4
- 162012–3/4
- 172012–3/4
- 182013–3/4
- 192019–3/4
- 202020–3/4
- 2120213523/4
- 222023–3/4
- 232026–3/4
Do you have to read Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books in order?
You should read the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 7 related titles (short stories and novellas) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Lydia Chin/Bill Smith book also stands alone.
Where to start with Lydia Chin/Bill Smith
Start with China Trade (1994), the earliest published book in the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith series.
What is the newest Lydia Chin/Bill Smith book?
First Do No Harm (2026) is the newest book in the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith series.
Is there a new Lydia Chin/Bill Smith book coming?
No next Lydia Chin/Bill Smith book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Lydia Chin/Bill Smith at a glance
- Still running
- Lydia Chin/Bill Smith is still running, with a main-line title published as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,810 pages across the 12 of 23 books with a recorded length, a median of 318 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books, 8 of 23, were published in the 1990s.
What the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books are about
12 of the 23 Lydia Chin/Bill Smith books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: private investigators is tagged on 11 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Private investigators 11 of 12 books
- Chinese Americans 8 of 12 books
- Chin, lydia (fictitious character) 7 of 12 books
- Lydia Chin (Fictitious character) 7 of 12 books
- Bill Smith (Fictitious character) 6 of 12 books
- Mystery & detective 5 of 12 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 4 of 12 books
- New York (N.Y.) 4 of 12 books
- Smith, bill (fictitious character) 4 of 12 books
- Chinese Americans in fiction 2 of 12 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 2 of 12 books
More books by S.J. Rozan
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- S.J. Rozan books in order 33 books