Affiliate Disclosure: Links on this page may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Read our affiliate policy
Standalone Books in Order
Below you'll find the complete list of Standalone books in publication order. This is generally the recommended reading order for the series.
Reading order verified: March 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the Standalone series? Start with "The Flesh of the Orchid" (1940) and follow publication order through all 67 books.
The complete Standalone reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order
The Flesh of the Orchid
1940
Lady -- Here's Your Wreath (As: Raymond Marshall)
1940
The Dead Stay Dumb / Kiss My Fist!
1941
Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief
1941
Get a Load of This
1942
You Never Know with Women
1942
1942
Just the Way It Is (As: Raymond Marshall)
1944
Miss Shumway Waves a Wand
1944
Make the Corpse Walk (As: Raymond Marshall)
1946
I'll Get You for This
1946
Blonde's Requiem (As: Raymond Marshall)
1946
More Deadly Than the Male
1946
Trusted Like the Fox (As: Raymond Marshall)
1948
The Paw in the Bottle (As: Raymond Marshall)
1949
Why Pick On Me? (As: Raymond Marshall)
1950
In a Vain Shadow (As: Raymond Marshall)
1951
But a Short Time to Live (As: Raymond Marshall)
1951
Strictly for Cash
1951
The Fast Buck
1952
The Wary Transgressor (As: Raymond Marshall)
1952
I'll Bury My Dead
1953
The Things Men Do (As: Raymond Marshall)
1953
Safer Dead / Dead Ringer
1954
Mission to Venice (As: Raymond Marshall)
1954
Tiger by the Tail
1954
The Sucker Punch (As: Raymond Marshall)
1954
This Way for a Shroud
1954
You've Got It Coming
1955
The Pickup (As: Raymond Marshall)
1955
Ruthless (As:Raymond Marshall)
1955
You Find Him, I'll Fix Him
1956
The Guilty Are Afraid
1957
Never Trust a Woman (As:Raymond Marshall)
1957
Hit and Run
1958
The Case of the Strangled Starlet / Not So Safe to Be Free
1958
The World in My Pocket
1959
Just Another Sucker
1960
Come Easy, Go Easy
1960
What's Better Than Money?
1960
A Lotus for Miss Quon
1961
I Would Rather Stay Poor
1962
A Coffin from Hong Kong
1962
One Bright Summer Morning
1963
Cade
1966
The Vulture is a Patient Bird
1969
Mallory (As: Raymond Marshall)
1969
He Won't Need It Now
1972
Just a Matter of Time
1972
Want to Stay Alive?
1972
You're Dead Without Money
1972
Knock, Knock! Who's There?
1973
So What Happens to Me?
1973
Three of Spades
1974
Believe This... You'll Believe Anything
1975
Goldfish Have No Hiding Place
1975
So Soon to Die
1975
Do Me a Favour - Drop Dead
1976
My Laugh Comes Last
1976
Meet Mark Girland
1977
You Must Be Kidding
1978
A Can of Worms
1979
You Can Say That Again
1979
Have a Nice Night
1981
Hand Me a Fig Leaf
1981
We'll Share a Double Funeral
1982
Not My Thing
1983
Affiliate Disclosure
As an Amazon Associate, Reading Order Books earns from qualifying purchases. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. This helps us maintain the site and continue providing reading order guides. Read our full disclosure