Modesty Blaise Books in Order
Peter O’Donnell has written 48 Modesty Blaise books, published between 1965 and 2017: 13 in the Modesty Blaise series and 35 related titles. The first book is Modesty Blaise (1965) and the newest main-line book is Cobra Trap (1996). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 48
- Published
- 1965–2017
- Pages on record
- 5,246 in 31 of 48 books
- Reading time
- 87–131 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,246 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 31 of 48 titles with a page count on record.
Modesty Blaise is a woman spy created by Peter O'Donnell, carried through novels and through a long-running comic strip. The catalogue holds 48 entries between 1965 and 2017, opening with Modesty Blaise (1965) and taking in Sabre-Tooth (1966), I, Lucifer (1967), A Taste for Death (1969) and The Silver Mistress (1973). Comic strip collections form their own series beside the prose books. Intelligence work, crime and detection are the recurring subjects, and The Killing Game (2017) is the last entry.
How many Modesty Blaise books are there?
Modesty Blaise has 48 books, released between 1965 and 2017. 13 of them belong to the Modesty Blaise series, and 35 related titles sit outside it: graphic novels and non-fiction.
Modesty Blaise Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 48 Modesty Blaise 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.
- 119652882/4
- 219662882/4
- 319672882/4
- 419692882/4
- 519712882/4
- 61972–2/4
- 719732842/4
- 819772562/4
- 91978–2/4
- 1019782882/4
- 1119812902/4
- 1219822802/4
- 1319852882/4
- 141986–2/4
- 1519861122/4
- 161987642/4
- 171987962/4
- 181987962/4
- 191990–2/4
- 2019962672/4
- 211996642/4
- 2220021002/4
- 232003–2/4
- 2420041122/4
- 2520041122/4
- 262005–2/4
- 272005962/4
- 2820061282/4
- 2920061042/4
- 302007–2/4
- 312007–2/4
- 3220081042/4
- 332008962/4
- 342009–2/4
- 352009–2/4
- 362009–2/4
- 372010–2/4
- 3820111122/4
- 392011–2/4
- 40201312/4
- 412013–2/4
- 422014–2/4
- 432014–2/4
- 4420151042/4
- 4520151442/4
- 4620161042/4
- 4720171042/4
- 482017–2/4
Do you have to read Modesty Blaise books in order?
You should read the Modesty Blaise series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 35 related titles (graphic novels and non-fiction) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Modesty Blaise book also stands alone.
Where to start with Modesty Blaise
Start with Modesty Blaise (1965), the earliest published book in the Modesty Blaise series.
What is the newest Modesty Blaise book?
Cobra Trap (1996) is the newest book in the Modesty Blaise series. The newest related title is The Killing Game (2017).
Is there a new Modesty Blaise book coming?
No next Modesty Blaise book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Modesty Blaise at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest main-line Modesty Blaise title on record is Cobra Trap (1996), 30 years ago. Related titles have appeared since.
- Release pace
- Modesty Blaise books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,246 pages across the 31 of 48 books with a recorded length, a median of 112 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Modesty Blaise books, 15 of 48, were published in the 2000s.
What the Modesty Blaise books are about
29 of the 48 Modesty Blaise books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: comics & graphic novels is tagged on 21 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Comics & graphic novels 21 of 29 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 20 of 29 books
- Intelligence service 15 of 29 books
- Detective and mystery comic books, strips 13 of 29 books
- 1960s 12 of 29 books
- Intelligence service in fiction 11 of 29 books
- Women spies in fiction 11 of 29 books
- Women spies 7 of 29 books
- Comics & graphic novels, crime & mystery 5 of 29 books
- Blaise, modesty (fictitious character) 4 of 29 books
- 1980s 2 of 29 books
- Espionage 2 of 29 books
More books by Peter O’Donnell
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Peter O’Donnell books in order 48 books
Series that include Modesty Blaise books
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.