Inspector Lynley Books in Order
Inspector Lynley by Elizabeth George contains 22 books, published between 1988 and 2025. The first book is A Great Deliverance (1988) and the newest is A Slowly Dying Cause (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 22
- Published
- 1988–2025
- Confirmed
- 22 of 22 titles
- Pages on record
- 11,632 in 18 of 22 books
- Reading time
- 194–291 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 11,632 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 18 of 22 titles with a page count on record.
Inspector Lynley is a British detective series by Elizabeth George, pairing Thomas Lynley with Sergeant Barbara Havers on murder investigations. A Great Deliverance (1988) opens the run, followed by Payment in Blood, Well-Schooled in Murder and A Suitable Vengeance. Twenty-two books reach A Slowly Dying Cause in 2025, and the novels are long, at a median of 690 pages.
How many Inspector Lynley books are there?
Inspector Lynley has 22 books, released between 1988 and 2025.
Inspector Lynley Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 22 Inspector Lynley books in the order they were released, 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.
- 1A Great Deliverance1988 · 432 pages · confirmed 4/419884324/4
- 2Payment in Blood1989 · 432 pages · confirmed 4/419894324/4
- 3Well-Schooled in Murder1989 · 432 pages · confirmed 4/419894324/4
- 4A Suitable Vengeance1991 · confirmed 4/41991–4/4
- 5For the Sake of Elena1992 · 442 pages · confirmed 4/419924424/4
- 6Missing Joseph1992 · 567 pages · confirmed 4/419925674/4
- 7Playing for the Ashes1994 · 675 pages · confirmed 4/419946754/4
- 8In the Presence of the Enemy1996 · 623 pages · confirmed 4/419966234/4
- 9Deception on His Mind1997 · 716 pages · confirmed 4/419977164/4
- 10In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner1999 · 718 pages · confirmed 4/419997184/4
- 11A Traitor to Memory2001 · 1006 pages · confirmed 4/4200110064/4
- 12A Place of Hiding2003 · 782 pages · confirmed 4/420037824/4
- 13With No One as Witness2005 · 630 pages · confirmed 4/420056304/4
- 14What Came Before He Shot Her2006 · 722 pages · confirmed 4/420067224/4
- 15Careless in Red2008 · 752 pages · confirmed 4/420087524/4
- 16This Body of Death2010 · confirmed 4/42010–4/4
- 17Believing the Lie2012 · confirmed 4/42012–4/4
- 18Just One Evil Act2013 · 719 pages · confirmed 4/420137194/4
- 19A Banquet of Consequences2015 · 576 pages · confirmed 4/420155764/4
- 20The Punishment She Deserves2018 · 704 pages · confirmed 4/420187044/4
- 21Something to Hide2022 · 704 pages · confirmed 4/420227044/4
- 22A Slowly Dying Cause2025 · confirmed 4/42025–4/4
Inspector Lynley Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Inspector Lynley books run from A Great Deliverance (1988) to A Slowly Dying Cause (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Inspector Lynley in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Inspector Lynley books in order?
You should read the Inspector Lynley books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Inspector Lynley book also stands alone.
What order should you read Inspector Lynley books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with A Great Deliverance (1988), the earliest published title. After it come Payment in Blood (1989), Well-Schooled in Murder (1989), A Suitable Vengeance (1991) and For the Sake of Elena (1992); the numbered table above continues from there.
What is the newest Inspector Lynley book?
A Slowly Dying Cause (2025) is the newest Inspector Lynley book released so far.
Is there a new Inspector Lynley book coming?
No next Inspector Lynley 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 Inspector Lynley has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Inspector Lynley. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1990Wonfor A Great Deliverance
- Anthony Award for Best First Novel1989Wonfor A Great Deliverance
Inspector Lynley at a glance
- Still running
- Inspector Lynley is still running, with a title published as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Inspector Lynley books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 11,632 pages across the 18 of 22 books with a recorded length, a median of 690 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Inspector Lynley books, 7 of 22, were published in the 1990s.
- Corroboration
- 22 of the 22 titles appear in all four independent book listings.
What the Inspector Lynley books are about
19 of the 22 Inspector Lynley books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: barbara havers (fictitious character) is tagged on 15 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Barbara Havers (Fictitious character) 15 of 19 books
- Thomas Lynley (Fictitious character) 12 of 19 books
- Police 11 of 19 books
- Mystery & detective 5 of 19 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 5 of 19 books
- Great Britain 4 of 19 books
- Investigation 4 of 19 books
- Murder 4 of 19 books
- Crimes against 3 of 19 books
- Lynley, thomas (fictitious character) 3 of 19 books
- Suspense 3 of 19 books
- Amerikanisches Englisch 2 of 19 books
More books by Elizabeth George
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Elizabeth George books in order 36 books