Order of Book Series
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Matthew Scudder Books in Order

Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block contains 29 books, published between 1976 and 2023. The first book is The Sins of the Fathers (1976) and the newest is The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
29
Published
1976–2023
Confirmed
27 of 29 titles
Pages on record
4,655 in 17 of 29 books
Reading time
78–116 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,655 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 29 titles with a page count on record.

See all 29 books in order Printable Matthew Scudder checklist

Matthew Scudder is a private investigator working New York in Lawrence Block's hard-boiled series. The Sins of the Fathers (1976) opens a run of 29 catalogued titles that ends with The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder in 2023, taking in Eight Million Ways to Die (1982) and When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (1986). Police corruption and detection are the recurring subjects, and nothing new has appeared since 2023.

How many Matthew Scudder books are there?

Matthew Scudder has 29 books, released between 1976 and 2023.

Matthew Scudder Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 29 Matthew Scudder 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 The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block, book 1 of the Matthew Scudder series (1976)
  2. Cover of In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block, book 3 of the Matthew Scudder series (1976)
  3. Cover of Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block, book 6 of the Matthew Scudder series (1982)
  4. Cover of When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block, book 8 of the Matthew Scudder series (1986)
  5. Cover of A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block, book 10 of the Matthew Scudder series (1990)
  6. Cover of A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block, book 12 of the Matthew Scudder series (1991)
  7. Cover of A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block, book 13 of the Matthew Scudder series (1992)
  8. Cover of The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block, book 14 of the Matthew Scudder series (1993)
  9. Cover of The Merciful Angel of Death by Lawrence Block, book 15 of the Matthew Scudder series (1993)
  10. Cover of Even the Wicked by Lawrence Block, book 17 of the Matthew Scudder series (1996)
  11. Cover of Everybody Dies by Lawrence Block, book 20 of the Matthew Scudder series (1998)
  12. Cover of Hope to Die by Lawrence Block, book 22 of the Matthew Scudder series (2001)
  13. Cover of All the Flowers are Dying by Lawrence Block, book 24 of the Matthew Scudder series (2005)
  14. Cover of A Time to Scatter Stones by Lawrence Block, book 28 of the Matthew Scudder series (2018)
  1. 1
    The Sins of the Fathers1976 · 186 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1976186
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Time to Murder and Create1976 · 185 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1976185
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    In the Midst of Death1976 · 184 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1976184
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    A Candle for the Bag Lady1977 · confirmed 3/4
    1977–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    A Stab in the Dark1981 · 180 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1981180
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Eight Million Ways to Die1982 · 319 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1982319
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    By the Dawn's Early Light1984 · confirmed 3/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    When the Sacred Ginmill Closes1986 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1986384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Out on the Cutting Edge1989 · 242 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1989242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    A Ticket to the Boneyard1990 · 10 pages · confirmed 3/4
    199010
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Batman’s Helpers1990 · confirmed 2/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    A Dance at the Slaughterhouse1991 · confirmed 3/4
    1991–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    A Walk Among the Tombstones1992 · 320 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1992320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Devil Knows You're Dead1993 · 337 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1993337
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Merciful Angel of Death1993 · 387 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1993387
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    A Long Line of Dead Men1994 · confirmed 3/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Even the Wicked1996 · 373 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1996373
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Out the Window1997 · confirmed 3/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Looking for David1997 · confirmed 3/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Everybody Dies1998 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1998384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Let's Get Lost2000 · confirmed 3/4
    2000–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Hope to Die2001 · 364 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2001364
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    A Moment of Wrong Thinking2002 · confirmed 3/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    All the Flowers are Dying2005 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen2011 · confirmed 3/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    A Drop of the Hard Stuff2011 · 352 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2011352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    One Last Night at Grogan’s2011 · confirmed 2/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    A Time to Scatter Stones2018 · 160 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2018160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder2023 · confirmed 3/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Matthew Scudder Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Matthew Scudder books run from The Sins of the Fathers (1976) to The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder (2023), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Matthew Scudder in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Matthew Scudder books in order?

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

Where to start with Matthew Scudder

Start with The Sins of the Fathers (1976), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Matthew Scudder book?

The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder (2023) is the newest Matthew Scudder book released so far.

Is there a new Matthew Scudder book coming?

No next Matthew Scudder 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 Matthew Scudder has won

Wikidata records 2 awards for Matthew Scudder. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Matthew Scudder at a glance

Paused
No new Matthew Scudder title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Matthew Scudder books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
4,655 pages across the 17 of 29 books with a recorded length, a median of 319 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Matthew Scudder books, 11 of 29, were published in the 1990s.

What the Matthew Scudder books are about

17 of the 29 Matthew Scudder 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 16 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Lawrence Block

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

Other series by Lawrence Block

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