Order of Book Series
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Phantom Detective Books in Order

Phantom Detective contains 87 books, published between 1933 and 1966. The first book is The Emperor of Death (1933) and the newest is The Forty Thieves (1966). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
87
Published
1933–1966
Pages on record
500 in 4 of 87 books
See all 87 books in order Printable Phantom Detective checklist

Phantom Detective is a pulp mystery series that ran to 87 books between 1933 and 1966. The Emperor of Death (1933) opens the sequence and The Forty Thieves (1966) is the last entry. Titles follow the pulp pattern of the period, among them The Scarlet Menace, Sinister Hand of Satan, The Tick-Tack-Toe Murders and The Talking Dead. The median volume runs 128 pages, and the 1930s produced the bulk of the series.

How many Phantom Detective books are there?

Phantom Detective has 87 books, released between 1933 and 1966.

Phantom Detective Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 87 Phantom Detective 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 Master of The World, book 15 of the Phantom Detective series (1935)
  2. Cover of Murder Empire, book 17 of the Phantom Detective series (1935)
  1. 1
    The Emperor of Death1933 · confirmed 1/4
    1933–
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  2. 2
    The Scarlet Menace1933 · confirmed 1/4
    1933–
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  3. 3
    Sinister Hand of Satan1933 · confirmed 1/4
    1933–
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  4. 4
    The Yellow Murders1933 · confirmed 1/4
    1933–
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  5. 5
    Murder Makes The Bet1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
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  6. 6
    The Tick-Tack-Toe Murders1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
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  7. 7
    The Talking Dead1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
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  8. 8
    The Red Bishop Murders1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
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  9. 9
    The Crime Castle1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
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  10. 10
    Death on Swift Wings1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
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  11. 11
    The House of Murders1935 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1935112
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  12. 12
    The Diamond Killers1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
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  13. 13
    Master of The Damned1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
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  14. 14
    Notes of Doom1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
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  15. 15
    Master of The World1935 · 132 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1935132
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  16. 16
    The Pharoah's Mark1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
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  17. 17
    Murder Empire1935 · 132 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1935132
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  18. 18
    The Phantom's Phantom1935 · 124 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1935124
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  19. 19
    The Diamond Murders1936 · confirmed 1/4
    1936–
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  20. 20
    The Death Skull Murders1936 · confirmed 1/4
    1936–
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  21. 21
    Specter of Death1936 · confirmed 1/4
    1936–
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  22. 22
    Empire of Terror1936 · confirmed 1/4
    1936–
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  23. 23
    The Henchmen of Death1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  24. 24
    The Golden Killer1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  25. 25
    Harvest of Death1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  26. 26
    The Beast King Murders1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  27. 27
    Cavalcade of Death1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  28. 28
    Hammers of Doom1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  29. 29
    Big Cash Prizes and Double Stamped Doom1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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  30. 30
    Minions of Murder1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
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Do you have to read Phantom Detective books in order?

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

Where to start with Phantom Detective

Start with The Emperor of Death (1933), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Phantom Detective book?

The Forty Thieves (1966) is the newest Phantom Detective book released so far.

Is there a new Phantom Detective book coming?

No next Phantom Detective book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Phantom Detective at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Phantom Detective title on record dates from 1966, 60 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Phantom Detective books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length
500 pages across the 4 of 87 books with a recorded length, a median of 128 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Phantom Detective books, 39 of 87, were published in the 1930s.
Attribution
Of the 87 titles, 67 are credited to Robert Wallace, 30 to John P. Gunnison, 11 to Norman A. Daniels and 10 to RobertWallace. A further 17 writers are credited.

What the Phantom Detective books are about

2 of the 87 Phantom Detective books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. No subject is tagged on more than one of them, so each one below describes a single book. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.