Lord Peter Wimsey Books in Order
Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L. Sayers contains 15 books, published between 1923 and 1973. The first book is Whose Body? (1923) and the newest is Striding Folly (1973). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 15
- Published
- 1923–1973
- Confirmed
- 15 of 15 titles
- Pages on record
- 4,449 in 14 of 15 books
- Reading time
- 74–111 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,449 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 14 of 15 titles with a page count on record.
Lord Peter Wimsey is Dorothy L. Sayers's gentleman detective, introduced in Whose Body? (1923) and investigating murders across England through 15 volumes of novels and short stories. Harriet Vane enters the series with Strong Poison (1930). Clouds of Witness, Unnatural Death, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and Five Red Herrings follow, and the catalogue closes with Striding Folly. The 1930s were the series' densest decade.
How many Lord Peter Wimsey books are there?
Lord Peter Wimsey has 15 books, released between 1923 and 1973.
Lord Peter Wimsey Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 15 Lord Peter Wimsey 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.
- 1Whose Body?1923 · 212 pages · confirmed 3/419232123/4
- 2Clouds of Witness1926 · 279 pages · confirmed 3/419262793/4
- 3Unnatural Death1927 · 264 pages · confirmed 3/419272643/4
- 4Lord Peter Views the Body1928 · 336 pages · confirmed 3/419283363/4
- 5The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club1928 · 243 pages · confirmed 3/419282433/4
- 6Strong Poison1930 · confirmed 3/41930–3/4
- 7Five Red Herrings1931 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/419313683/4
- 8Have His Carcase1932 · 448 pages · confirmed 3/419324483/4
- 9Hangman's Holiday1933 · 191 pages · confirmed 3/419331913/4
- 10Murder Must Advertise1933 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/419333683/4
- 11The Nine Tailors1934 · 397 pages · confirmed 3/419343973/4
- 12Gaudy Night1935 · 512 pages · confirmed 3/419355123/4
- 13Busman's Honeymoon1937 · 403 pages · confirmed 3/419374033/4
- 14In the Teeth of the Evidence1939 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/419393043/4
- 15Striding Folly1973 · 124 pages · confirmed 3/419731243/4
Lord Peter Wimsey Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Lord Peter Wimsey books run from Whose Body? (1923) to Striding Folly (1973), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Lord Peter Wimsey in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Lord Peter Wimsey books in order?
You should read the Lord Peter Wimsey books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Lord Peter Wimsey book also stands alone.
What order should you read Lord Peter Wimsey books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with Whose Body? (1923), the earliest published title. After it come Clouds of Witness (1926), Unnatural Death (1927), Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928); the numbered table above continues from there.
What is the newest Lord Peter Wimsey book?
Striding Folly (1973) is the newest Lord Peter Wimsey book released so far.
Is there a new Lord Peter Wimsey book coming?
No next Lord Peter Wimsey book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Lord Peter Wimsey at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Lord Peter Wimsey title on record dates from 1973, 53 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Lord Peter Wimsey books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
- Length
- 4,449 pages across the 14 of 15 books with a recorded length, a median of 320 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Lord Peter Wimsey books, 9 of 15, were published in the 1930s.
What the Lord Peter Wimsey books are about
All 15 Lord Peter Wimsey books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: private investigators is tagged on 15 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Private investigators 15 of 15 books
- Lord Wimsey, Peter (Fictitious character) 14 of 15 books
- Wimsey, peter, lord (fictitious character) 10 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective 9 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective, traditional 4 of 15 books
- England 3 of 15 books
- Short stories 3 of 15 books
- Harriet Vane (Fictitious character) 3 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 3 of 15 books
- English fiction 2 of 15 books
More books by Dorothy L. Sayers
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Dorothy L. Sayers books in order 68 books
Characters in the Lord Peter Wimsey books
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Peter Wimsey books in order 19 books