Order of Book Series
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Tess Monaghan Books in Order

Laura Lippman has written 14 Tess Monaghan books, published between 1997 and 2018: 13 in the Tess Monaghan series and 1 related title. The first book is Baltimore Blues (1997) and the newest main-line book is The Tess Chronicles (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
14
Published
1997–2018
Confirmed
14 of 14 titles
Pages on record
2,123 in 7 of 14 books
Reading time
35–53 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,123 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable Tess Monaghan checklist

Tess Monaghan is a private investigator in Baltimore and the lead of Laura Lippman's mystery series. Fourteen catalogued entries run from Baltimore Blues (1997) to The Tess Chronicles (2018), taking in Charm City (1997), Butchers Hill (1998), In Big Trouble (1999) and The Sugar House (2000). The median entry runs 310 pages. No new Tess Monaghan title has appeared since 2018.

How many Tess Monaghan books are there?

Tess Monaghan has 14 books, released between 1997 and 2018. 13 of them belong to the Tess Monaghan series, and 1 related title sit outside it: other titles.

Tess Monaghan Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 Tess Monaghan 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 Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman, book 1 of the Tess Monaghan series (1997)
  2. Cover of Butchers Hill by Laura Lippman, book 3 of the Tess Monaghan series (1998)
  3. Cover of In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman, book 4 of the Tess Monaghan series (1999)
  4. Cover of The Sugar House by Laura Lippman, book 5 of the Tess Monaghan series (2000)
  5. Cover of In a Strange City by Laura Lippman, book 6 of the Tess Monaghan series (2001)
  6. Cover of The Last Place by Laura Lippman, book 7 of the Tess Monaghan series (2002)
  7. Cover of No Good Deeds by Laura Lippman, book 9 of the Tess Monaghan series (2006)
  8. Cover of Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman, book 10 of the Tess Monaghan series (2008)
  9. Cover of The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman, book 11 of the Tess Monaghan series (2008)
  10. Cover of The Book Thing by Laura Lippman, book 3 of the Bibliomysteries series (2012)
  11. Cover of Hush Hush by Laura Lippman, book 13 of the Tess Monaghan series (2015)
  1. 1
    Baltimore BluesTess Monaghan #11997 · confirmed 4/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Charm CityTess Monaghan #21997 · confirmed 4/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Butchers HillTess Monaghan #31998 · 275 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1998275
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    In Big TroubleTess Monaghan #41999 · 342 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1999342
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Sugar HouseTess Monaghan #52000 · confirmed 4/4
    2000–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    In a Strange CityTess Monaghan #62001 · 310 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2001310
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Last PlaceTess Monaghan #72002 · confirmed 4/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    By a Spider's ThreadTess Monaghan #82004 · confirmed 4/4
    2004–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    No Good DeedsTess Monaghan #92006 · 383 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2006383
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Another Thing to FallTess Monaghan #102008 · 352 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2008352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Girl in the Green RaincoatTess Monaghan #112008 · 158 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2008158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Book ThingBibliomysteries #32012 · confirmed 3/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Hush HushTess Monaghan #132015 · 303 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2015303
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Tess ChroniclesTess Monaghan #12018 · confirmed 3/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Tess Monaghan books in order?

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

Where to start with Tess Monaghan

Start with Baltimore Blues (1997), the earliest published book in the Tess Monaghan series.

What is the newest Tess Monaghan book?

The Tess Chronicles (2018) is the newest book in the Tess Monaghan series.

Is there a new Tess Monaghan book coming?

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

Awards Tess Monaghan has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for Tess Monaghan. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Tess Monaghan at a glance

No recent titles
The newest main-line Tess Monaghan title on record is The Tess Chronicles (2018), 8 years ago.
Release pace
Tess Monaghan books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,123 pages across the 7 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 310 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Tess Monaghan books, 7 of 14, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
12 of the 14 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Tess Monaghan books are about

13 of the 14 Tess Monaghan books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: women private investigators is tagged on 10 of 13. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Laura Lippman

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