Order of Book Series
0

Adam Dalgliesh Books in Order

Adam Dalgliesh by P.D. James contains 14 books, published between 1962 and 2008. The first book is Cover Her Face (1962) and the newest is The Private Patient (2008). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
14
Published
1962–2008
Confirmed
14 of 14 titles
Pages on record
5,016 in 12 of 14 books
Reading time
84–125 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,016 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable Adam Dalgliesh checklist

Cover Her Face (1962) introduces Adam Dalgliesh, the police detective P.D. James wrote 14 novels around. Murder investigations in England supply the plots, through Shroud for a Nightingale (1971), The Black Tower (1975), Death of an Expert Witness (1977), A Taste for Death (1986) and Devices and Desires (1989). The Private Patient (2008) closes the series.

How many Adam Dalgliesh books are there?

Adam Dalgliesh has 14 books, released between 1962 and 2008.

Adam Dalgliesh Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 Adam Dalgliesh 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 A Mind to Murder by P.D. James, book 2 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1963)
  2. Cover of Unnatural Causes by P.D. James, book 3 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1967)
  3. Cover of Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James, book 4 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1971)
  4. Cover of The Black Tower by P.D. James, book 5 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1975)
  5. Cover of Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James, book 6 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1977)
  6. Cover of A Taste for Death by P.D. James, book 7 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1986)
  7. Cover of Devices and Desires by P.D. James, book 8 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1989)
  8. Cover of Original Sin by P.D. James, book 9 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1994)
  9. Cover of A Certain Justice by P.D. James, book 10 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (1997)
  10. Cover of Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James, book 11 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (2001)
  11. Cover of The Murder Room by P.D. James, book 12 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (2003)
  12. Cover of The Lighthouse by P.D. James, book 13 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (2005)
  13. Cover of The Private Patient by P.D. James, book 14 of the Adam Dalgliesh series (2008)
  1. 1
    Cover Her Face1962 · confirmed 3/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    A Mind to Murder1963 · 252 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1963252
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Unnatural Causes1967 · 272 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1967272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Shroud for a Nightingale1971 · 363 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1971363
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Black Tower1975 · 346 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1975346
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Death of an Expert Witness1977 · 361 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1977361
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    A Taste for Death1986 · 480 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1986480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Devices and Desires1989 · 466 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1989466
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Original Sin1994 · 511 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1994511
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    A Certain Justice1997 · 688 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1997688
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Death in Holy Orders2001 · 429 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2001429
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Murder Room2003 · 432 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2003432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Lighthouse2005 · confirmed 4/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Private Patient2008 · 416 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2008416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Adam Dalgliesh Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Adam Dalgliesh books run from Cover Her Face (1962) to The Private Patient (2008), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Adam Dalgliesh in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Adam Dalgliesh books in order?

You should read the Adam Dalgliesh books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Adam Dalgliesh book also stands alone.

Where to start with Adam Dalgliesh

Start with Cover Her Face (1962), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Adam Dalgliesh book?

The Private Patient (2008) is the newest Adam Dalgliesh book released so far.

Is there a new Adam Dalgliesh book coming?

No next Adam Dalgliesh 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 Adam Dalgliesh has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Adam Dalgliesh. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Adam Dalgliesh at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Adam Dalgliesh title on record dates from 2008, 18 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Adam Dalgliesh books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
5,016 pages across the 12 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 422 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Adam Dalgliesh books, 4 of 14, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
13 of the 14 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Adam Dalgliesh books are about

13 of the 14 Adam Dalgliesh 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 12 of 13. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by P.D. James

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

Other series by P.D. James

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.