Spenser Books in Order
literary character
Publication order
In the order the books were originally released.
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Buy on Amazon1974 · Robert B. Parker
The Godwulf Manuscript is a 1973 novel by Robert B. Parker. Spenser, hired by a Boston university to recover a rare, stolen manuscript, finds his…
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Buy on Amazon1987 · Robert B. Parker
When Spenser accepts a job as a "bodyguard" for a beautiful young woman, he gets in way over his head. A 1980 novel by Robert B. Parker.
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert B. Parker
TV reporter Candy Sloan is threatened by someone who will rearrange her face if she keeps investigating charges of Hollywood racketeering. Spenser's…
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Buy on Amazon1992 · Robert B. Parker
The wife of a senatorial candidate appears to be the perfect political spouse, but has a problem with sex and drugs that someone has captured on…
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Buy on Amazon1986 · Robert B. Parker
In the detective business, Spenser sometimes has to bend the law and sometimes break it. His best friend Hawk faces a life sentence, and Susan is in…
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Buy on AmazonYear unknown · Robert B. Parker
An annoying, selfish, badly damaged and strikingly beautiful TV star is being harassed. Her studio hires Spenser, but she won't let him help her.…
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Companion & related books
Related titles and editions that sit outside the main numbered order.
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Buy on Amazon1981 · Robert B. Parker
During a bitter divorce, a father hires thugs to kidnap his son, and the mother hires Spenser to retrieve the boy. Spenser decides to kidnap the boy…
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Buy on Amazon1980 · Robert B. Parker
One of Robert B. Parker's "Spencer" crime fiction novels, in the tradition of authors like Chandler and JD MacDonald, featuring amusing dialog and…
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Buy on Amazon1985 · Robert B. Parker
Spenser loves only one woman, even though he has just lost her; when her desperate letter arrives, he does not think twice, needing to free his best…
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Buy on Amazon1987 · Robert B. Parker
Spenser is called in to investigate the murder of a reporter working on a story about the cocaine trade. Threats from the local police and a…
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Buy on Amazon1989 · Robert B. Parker
Spenser, a hard-boiled Boston private eye, investigates when the leading college basketball forward appears to be shaving points.
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Buy on Amazon1991 · Robert B. Parker
Paul Giacomin asks Spenser to help find his mother, who has disappeared. As Spenser investigates, he and Giacomin track her down, but the search…
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Buy on Amazon1976 · Robert B. Parker
Promised Land is the fourth novel in the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, published in 1976. The book received the Edgar Award for Best Novel in…
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Buy on Amazon1992 · Robert B. Parker
In this 1992 novel by Robert B. Parker, Spenser and Hawk must battle street gangs and lethal drug dealers to track down a killer after two people are…
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Buy on Amazon1993 · Robert B. Parker
A 1993 novel by Robert B. Parker. Loudon Tripp hires detective Spenser to investigate his wife's murder, and Spenser uncovers high-class scandals and…
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Buy on Amazon1978 · Robert B. Parker
Private eye Spenser returns to take on the terrorists who killed his client's wife and daughters in a London bombing, chasing them across Europe to…
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Buy on Amazon1995 · Robert B. Parker
A Boston police detective calls on Spenser to find his missing bride, Lisa St. Claire. Spenser investigates from a New England college campus to Los…
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Buy on Amazon1994 · Robert B. Parker
Hired by a Massachusetts waterfront theater company's board to investigate the director's claim of being followed, Spenser is pulled deeper in when…
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Buy on Amazon1997 · Robert B. Parker
Ellis Alves is a bad kid from the 'hood with a long record, but did he really murder Melissa Henderson, a white coed from ritzy Pemberton College?…
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Buy on Amazon2001 · Robert B. Parker
Boston P.I. Spenser travels to Potshot, Arizona, a former mining town now popular with Los Angeles millionaires. The town has improved its image but…
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Buy on Amazon2004 · Robert B. Parker
Bad Business is a detective novel by Robert B. Parker, published in 2004. It is the 31st book in the Spenser series, which follows the Boston-based…
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Buy on Amazon2005 · Robert B. Parker
Lily Ellsworth, the grand dame of Dowling, Massachusetts, hires Spenser to investigate her grandson, Jared Clark, who is accused of being involved in…
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2006 · Robert B. Parker
Spenser, a private investigator based in Boston, is hired by April Kyle, a former teenage runaway who turned to prostitution and now runs an upscale,…
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Buy on Amazon2009 · Robert B. Parker
Robert B. Parker's 2009 novel introduces a younger version of his famous character Spenser, focusing on his early life and experiences with his…
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Buy on Amazon1988 · Robert B. Parker
A 1988 novel by Robert B. Parker. A serial killer is on the loose in Boston and the police cannot catch him. When the killer leaves his red rose…
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Buy on Amazon1975 · Robert B. Parker
Marty Rabb is the Red Sox star pitcher and Linda his loving wife, who loves everyone except the blackmailer out to wreck her life. Spenser must…
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Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Spenser books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with “The Godwulf manuscript”. Start with “The Godwulf manuscript.”
How many books are in the Spenser series?
We list 42 books by Robert B. Parker , published between 1974–2012.
Where can I buy the Spenser books?
Each title above links to Amazon. See our affiliate disclosure.
Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.