Order of Book Series
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Philip Marlowe Books in Order

Philip Marlowe contains 13 books, published between 1939 and 2023. The first book is The Big Sleep (1939) and the newest is The Second Murderer (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
13
Published
1939–2023
Confirmed
13 of 13 titles
Pages on record
2,638 in 11 of 13 books
Reading time
44–66 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,638 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 11 of 13 titles with a page count on record.

See all 13 books in order Printable Philip Marlowe checklist

Philip Marlowe is a private investigator in Los Angeles, and the hard-boiled detective novels built around Marlowe run to 13 catalogued books. The Big Sleep (1939) opens the sequence, followed by Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943) and The Long Goodbye (1953), the 1940s being the densest decade. Later titles, Poodle Springs (1989), Perchance to Dream (1991), The Black-Eyed Blonde (2014) and The Second Murderer (2023), extend the run.

How many Philip Marlowe books are there?

Philip Marlowe has 13 books, released between 1939 and 2023.

Philip Marlowe Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 13 Philip Marlowe 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 Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, book 1 of the Philip Marlowe series (1939)
  2. Cover of Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler, book 2 of the Philip Marlowe series (1940)
  3. Cover of The High Window by Raymond Chandler, book 3 of the Philip Marlowe series (1942)
  4. Cover of The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler, book 4 of the Philip Marlowe series (1943)
  5. Cover of The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler, book 5 of the Philip Marlowe series (1949)
  6. Cover of The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, book 6 of the Philip Marlowe series (1953)
  7. Cover of Playback by Raymond Chandler, book 7 of the Philip Marlowe series (1958)
  8. Cover of Perchance to Dream by Robert B. Parker, book 9 of the Philip Marlowe series (1991)
  9. Cover of The Black-Eyed Blonde / Marlowe, book 10 of the Philip Marlowe series (2014)
  10. Cover of The Goodbye Coast by Joe Ide, book 12 of the Philip Marlowe series (2022)
  11. Cover of The Second Murderer by Denise Mina, book 13 of the Philip Marlowe series (2023)
  1. 1
    The Big Sleep1939 · 231 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1939231
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  2. 2
    Farewell, My Lovely1940 · 230 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1940230
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  3. 3
    The High Window1942 · 265 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1942265
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  4. 4
    The Lady in the Lake1943 · 266 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1943266
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Little Sister1949 · 250 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1949250
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  6. 6
    The Long Goodbye1953 · 379 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1953379
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Playback1958 · 166 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1958166
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Poodle Springs1989 · confirmed 3/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Perchance to Dream1991 · 1 pages · confirmed 3/4
    19911
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Black-Eyed Blonde / Marlowe2014 · 290 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2014290
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Only to Sleep2018 · 256 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2018256
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  12. 12
    The Goodbye Coast2022 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2022304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Second Murderer2023 · confirmed 3/4
    2023–
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Philip Marlowe Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Philip Marlowe books run from The Big Sleep (1939) to The Second Murderer (2023), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Philip Marlowe in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Philip Marlowe books in order?

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

Where to start with Philip Marlowe

Start with The Big Sleep (1939), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Philip Marlowe book?

The Second Murderer (2023) is the newest Philip Marlowe book released so far.

Is there a new Philip Marlowe book coming?

No next Philip Marlowe 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 Philip Marlowe has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Philip Marlowe. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Philip Marlowe at a glance

Paused
No new Philip Marlowe title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Philip Marlowe books have appeared about one every 7 years on average.
Length
2,638 pages across the 11 of 13 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Philip Marlowe books, 4 of 13, were published in the 1940s.
Attribution
Of the 13 titles, 8 are credited to Raymond Chandler, 1 to Robert B. Parker, 1 to Lawrence Osborne and 1 to Joe Ide. One further writer is credited. One title carries no credit.

What the Philip Marlowe books are about

10 of the 13 Philip Marlowe 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 9 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.