Harpur & Iles Books in Order
Harpur & Iles by Bill James contains 37 books, published between 1985 and 2022. The first book is You'd Better Believe It (1985) and the newest is Low Pastures (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 37
- Published
- 1985–2022
- Pages on record
- 7,243 in 32 of 37 books
- Reading time
- 121–181 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,243 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 32 of 37 titles with a page count on record.
Harpur & Iles is a British police procedural series by Bill James, built on the working relationship between detective Colin Harpur and Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles. Drug trafficking and police corruption in England drive the cases. 37 books run from You'd Better Believe It (1985) to Low Pastures (2022), at a median of 218 pages and roughly one a year. Nothing has followed since 2022.
How many Harpur & Iles books are there?
Harpur & Iles has 37 books, released between 1985 and 2022.
Harpur & Iles Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 37 Harpur & Iles 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.
- 1You'd Better Believe It1985 · 157 pages · confirmed 1/419851571/4
- 2The Lolita Man1987 · 158 pages · confirmed 1/419871581/4
- 3Halo Parade1987 · 175 pages · confirmed 1/419871751/4
- 4Protection1988 · 188 pages · confirmed 1/419881881/4
- 5Come Clean1989 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419892561/4
- 6Take1990 · 239 pages · confirmed 1/419902391/4
- 7Club1991 · 223 pages · confirmed 1/419912231/4
- 8Astride a Grave1991 · 205 pages · confirmed 1/419912051/4
- 9Gospel1992 · 206 pages · confirmed 1/419922061/4
- 10Roses, Roses1993 · 204 pages · confirmed 1/419932041/4
- 11In Good Hands1994 · 214 pages · confirmed 1/419942141/4
- 12The Detective Is Dead1995 · 215 pages · confirmed 1/419952151/4
- 13Top Banana1996 · 284 pages · confirmed 1/419962841/4
- 14Panicking Ralph1998 · 282 pages · confirmed 1/419982821/4
- 15Lovely Mover1998 · 343 pages · confirmed 1/419983431/4
- 16Eton Crop1999 · 284 pages · confirmed 1/419992841/4
- 17Kill Me2000 · 267 pages · confirmed 1/420002671/4
- 18Pay Days2001 · 254 pages · confirmed 1/420012541/4
- 19Naked at the Window2002 · 236 pages · confirmed 1/420022361/4
- 20The Girl with the Long Back2003 · 239 pages · confirmed 1/420032391/4
- 21Easy Streets2004 · 191 pages · confirmed 1/420041911/4
- 22Wolves of Memory2005 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/420052401/4
- 23The Sixth Man and Other Stories2006 · 334 pages · confirmed 1/420063341/4
- 24Girls2006 · confirmed 1/42006–1/4
- 25Pix2007 · confirmed 1/42007–1/4
- 26In the Absence of Iles2008 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/420082241/4
- 27Hotbed2009 · confirmed 1/42009–1/4
- 28I Am Gold2010 · 236 pages · confirmed 1/420102361/4
- 29Vacuum2011 · confirmed 1/42011–1/4
- 30Undercover2012 · 204 pages · confirmed 1/420122041/4
- 31Play Dead2013 · 220 pages · confirmed 1/420132201/4
- 32Disclosures2014 · 198 pages · confirmed 1/420141981/4
- 33Blaze Away2015 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/420152031/4
- 34First Fix Your Alibi2016 · 188 pages · confirmed 1/420161881/4
- 35Close2017 · 184 pages · confirmed 1/420171841/4
- 36Hitmen I Have Known2019 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/420191921/4
- 37Low Pastures2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
Is there a chronological order for Harpur & Iles?
No separate chronological order is on record for Harpur & Iles, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.
Do you have to read Harpur & Iles books in order?
You should read the Harpur & Iles books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Harpur & Iles book also stands alone.
Where to start with Harpur & Iles
Start with You'd Better Believe It (1985), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Harpur & Iles book?
Low Pastures (2022) is the newest Harpur & Iles book released so far.
Is there a new Harpur & Iles book coming?
No next Harpur & Iles book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Harpur & Iles at a glance
- Paused
- No new Harpur & Iles title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
- Release pace
- Harpur & Iles books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 7,243 pages across the 32 of 37 books with a recorded length, a median of 218 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Harpur & Iles books, 11 of 37, were published in the 2000s.
What the Harpur & Iles books are about
All 37 Harpur & Iles books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: colin harpur (fictitious character) is tagged on 35 of 37. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Colin Harpur (Fictitious character) 35 of 37 books
- Desmond Iles (Fictitious character) 35 of 37 books
- Police 34 of 37 books
- Harpur, colin (fictitious character) 23 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 22 of 37 books
- England 14 of 37 books
- Drug traffic 13 of 37 books
- Iles, desmond (fictitious character) 12 of 37 books
- Mystery & detective 8 of 37 books
- Great Britain 6 of 37 books
- Police corruption 4 of 37 books
- Colin Harpur (Fictional character) 3 of 37 books
More books by Bill James
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Bill James books in order 73 books