Robert B. Parker

An established don in the field of English literature, Parker was in his element when he wrote his first novel in 1971. He has been credited as having revamped the genre of detective writing by his formidable stories. To that effect he received a number of awards and commendations; Two Edgar Awards courtesy of Mystery Writer's of America, The Grand Master Award and The Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

The best place to start is the Philip Marlowe series, the earliest of Robert B. Parker's multi-book series: it opens with The Big Sleep (1939) and runs to 13 books across 1939–2023, ending with The Second Murderer (2023). Robert B. Parker's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Robert B. Parker has 286 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1939 and 2027. 270 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the Spenser series with 54 books — and 16 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Robert B. Parker's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Philip Marlowe (1939–2023, 13 books), Spenser (1973–2026, 54 books) and Jesse Stone (1997–2027, 24 books), plus 3 more.

This guide splits Robert B. Parker's 286 books into 8 named series and 16 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Spenser (54 books, 1973–2026); Jesse Stone (24 books, 1997–2027); Sunny Randall (13 books, 1999–2026); Philip Marlowe (13 books, 1939–2023); Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch (11 books, 2005–2027), plus 3 further series.