James Hadley Chase Books in Order

A collection of short pieces and stories linked to Royal Air Force life, drawn from the wartime RAF Journal that Chase helped edit. Expect a mix of tension, humour, and day-to-day details from the period.

When Dirk Wallace is hired to find a blackmailer targeting a teenager, the case widens into organized crime and a dangerous cover-up. Every lead hurts someone, and the people who paid for silence will kill to keep it.

A wealthy man obsessed with securing an heir tries to control everyone around him, and the pressure turns lethal. As loyalties fracture and secrets surface, the chase for family and fortune becomes a setup for betrayal and death.

An escaped killer on the run talks a struggling writer into a late-night drive toward an isolated fishing lodge. The trip becomes a claustrophobic game of fear and control, where one mistake could mean two funerals.

Detective Tom Lepski expects a quiet night after a dramatic shooting, but Paradise City has other plans. Two criminal crews, a honeymoon couple, and a trail of violence collide, and Lepski has to keep up until morning.

When a young man vanishes and the police are not interested, his family hires private investigators to dig. What begins as a missing-person search turns into a tangle of secrets, lies, and a threat aimed at anyone who asks questions.

Mark Girland is offered a job that looks like quick money, a simple deal tied to intelligence work. In Europe, every contact has an angle, and the bargain turns into a chase where trust is the first casualty.

An art dealer in Paradise City is tempted by a plan to fence a priceless icon, and the offer is too big to ignore. The job pulls him into an art-thief network, double-crosses, and a situation where the buyer may be the real danger.

A broke actor is paid a fortune to impersonate a powerful man, and the role comes with strict rules. As reporters, enemies, and hidden deals close in, he realizes the performance is cover for a crime that could get him killed.

Private detective Bart Anderson is hired to shadow a millionaire's wife after a poison-pen campaign turns nasty. The surveillance opens a can of worms, adultery, blackmail, and a killer who does not want the truth on paper.

A string of killings shakes Paradise City, and a tiny clue points to a much bigger story. As the investigation tightens, Detective Tom Lepski finds himself up against money, influence, and a murderer who is playing for time.

Mark Girland, a secret agent with expensive tastes, takes on an assignment that mixes easy money with lethal politics. Double-crosses stack up fast, and he has to outthink both criminals and colleagues to stay alive.

Helga Rolfe thinks she is holding the winning hand in a high-stakes scheme, but every ace has a cost. As blackmail and suspicion build, she discovers that in her world the game ends when someone runs out of luck.

In Italy, a billionaire keeps his daughter behind walls and alarms, and then she is taken anyway. An investigator is pulled into the search, where ransom demands hide a darker plan and the safest assumption is that everyone is lying.

A respected bank president builds a new, modern institution meant to be untouchable, and that promise attracts the wrong attention. As criminals circle and pressure mounts, pride, fear, and greed set the stage for a devastating strike.

A man with a troubled past drifts into a quiet coastal town looking for a fresh start. He finds a wealthy family with secrets, and a seemingly simple favour turns into a trap that points straight toward murder.

Helga Rolfe heads to Nassau to join her rich, suspicious husband, and their marriage becomes a battleground. Surrounded by people who want her money or her downfall, she has to play every angle before the joker turns deadly.

A magazine publisher who built his business on exposing corruption discovers he cannot afford the attention he attracts. In a town full of secrets, one slip can be fatal, and the people he angered are ready to strike back.

A man tries to recapture a love he thought was lost, even though both of them now have spouses and obligations. What starts as an emotional gamble becomes a dangerous spiral of manipulation, broken trust, and consequences no one planned.

A risky plan built on money and blackmail spins out of control, and the wrong people think someone is holding the winning card. In the scramble that follows, every alliance is temporary and every mistake has a body count.

Two men plan an airline hijacking as a way to cash in and disappear. Once the plan is in motion, control slips away, and the question becomes not how to get rich, but who survives the landing.

Desperate for cash, a man steals from his employer and tries to run before anyone notices. But the people he crossed do notice, and a simple flight becomes a tense countdown as danger keeps knocking at his door.

A stressed diamond expert takes advice to change his life and starts work far from his usual world. The new setting should be peaceful, but the past follows him, and the change of scene becomes the backdrop for crime and danger.

A father and daughter on the run latch onto a bigger criminal's plan, hoping for one last score. The job spirals into kidnapping and murder, and their survival starts to depend on choices they cannot take back.

A small-time racket built on fear works until greed changes the rules. When two ruthless newcomers get involved, the scheme turns violent, and the people who thought they were hunters learn what it feels like to be prey.

A fortune hanging on an old woman's will draws in a forger, a nurse, a delinquent, a banker, and a professional killer. Each thinks they can wait it out and win, until the clock starts ticking toward murder.

A carefully planned life is upended by an untimely death, and the aftermath exposes motives nobody wanted seen. As strangers circle for money and secrets, the survivors discover the dead man left traps for everyone still breathing.

A wealthy woman, an international lawyer, and a young American each think they have an advantage in a lucrative scheme. Their uneasy partnership turns into a deadly contest of leverage and lies, where the ace up a sleeve is often a gun.

Running a shooting school is not enough to pay the bills, so a desperate couple takes an offer that feels wrong. The quick money comes with strings, and the deal draws them into a brutal setup they never trained for.

Paradise City police pick up a hitchhiking hippie and realize he is tangled in something darker than a road trip. As Frank Terrell's team pulls the thread, the case opens onto money, violence, and a cover-up no one wants found.

A slick operator assembles a specialist crew to steal a priceless ring from a guarded collector. The heist depends on patience and perfect timing, but ego and betrayal eat at the team, and the vulture waits for someone to fall.

A mysterious operator named Mallory leaves a trail of fear and sudden killings, then vanishes. As others try to pin down who he is and what he wants, alliances crack, and betrayal becomes the quickest route to survival.

A revolutionary metal formula worth millions becomes the target of a covert buying war. Intelligence services, criminals, and frightened scientists collide as everyone tries to control the secret, and the people closest to it become expendable.

A legendary necklace worth a fortune brings out old grudges and new predators. A beachcomber who knows more than he should is pulled into the hunt, and the story behind the jewels proves as dangerous as the jewels themselves.

A career criminal decides to aim big and targets a supposedly secure Paradise City bank. His plan depends on bribery and perfect timing, but greed and nerves turn the job into a bloody mess that draws the police in fast.

Mark Girland heads to Prague for a job that should pay well and end quickly. Instead he meets a ruthless opponent and a maze of traps, where every step costs cash, trust, or blood.

A drifting photographer in Acapulco becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman who promises escape and excitement. The relationship turns into a dangerous addiction, and Cade learns that desire can be just another way to get trapped.

In Paris, a woman offers to sell information to the CIA, and a simple pickup becomes an international chase. As rival forces move in, the mission shifts across borders, and the price of failure keeps rising.

Paradise City braces for a bank robbery that looks impossible to stop, and every hour brings new twists. With criminals closing in and the department under pressure, Frank Terrell and Tom Lepski race to break the plan before it pays out.

In sunlit Paradise City, a seemingly solid man is pulled into blackmail tied to an old crime. As the situation spirals, bodies pile up and Detective Tom Lepski closes in, forcing everyone involved to choose between confession and catastrophe.

A clerk takes out a large life insurance policy, then dies days later, and the company smells fraud. An investigator follows the paper trail into a plot built on timing, deception, and murder meant to look like bad luck.

A perfect morning turns sour when a simple plan meets the wrong people and the wrong timing. What starts as a chance at a better life spirals into blackmail and violence, and the sunlit day ends in shadows.

A bank manager with a charming smile and a cold mind believes he can plan the perfect crime and live free. Waiting patiently has made him careful, but one unpredictable factor threatens to ruin everything.

Nelson Ryan thinks he has earned an easy $3,000, until a late-night call ties him to the death of a Hong Kong call-girl. Trying to walk away only pulls him deeper into blackmail and a ruthless criminal web.

In Saigon, a man discovers a fortune in hidden diamonds and thinks he has found his way out. Without the right papers he cannot leave, and the people who learn his secret are willing to kill to claim it.

A respectable man has built his life on secrets, until someone from his past resurfaces with leverage. The blackmail threat forces him into reckless choices, and he learns that protecting his reputation may cost far more than cash.

A rich, beautiful woman offers a man $50,000 for what sounds like an easy job, one phone call. The offer is bait for a larger swindle, and he becomes the perfect sucker in a kidnapping-and-extortion setup.

An escaped convict hides at a lonely filling station and stumbles onto a safe and a fortune. Trapped with an elderly owner and a dangerous young wife, he has to choose between running and risking everything for the money.

Five people with different skills sign on to steal a million-dollar payroll from an armored truck. The plan is tight, but personalities and panic loosen the bolts, and the heist turns into a desperate fight to get away clean.

A TV salesman falls for a woman married to a wheelchair-bound bully, and their attraction turns into an escape plan. Her story of the accident that changed everything may be true or may be a setup, and either way someone is in danger.

Secret agent Mark Kirkland is ordered to recover compromising films that could wreck a powerful American political future. The job looks like a simple retrieval, but greed and blackmail turn it into a dangerous hunt across borders.

At Cannes during the film festival, a glamorous starlet becomes the spark for a scheme involving money, sex, and murder. Also published as Not So Safe to Be Free, it turns celebrity heat into real danger.

A pampered young woman suddenly insists on learning to drive, and the change sets off alarms for the men around her. A mysterious crash, a Cadillac, and too many lies turn a flirtation into a deadly problem.

A man is found dead in a beach hut, and the obvious explanation does not hold up. A former partner starts digging, and the search exposes blackmail and fear, with someone determined to make sure the guilty stay afraid.

A fixer is asked to track down a missing man, and the promise is simple: find him, then make the problem disappear. The search exposes a web of greed and violence where solving the case may be more dangerous than leaving it alone.

Steve Harmas takes a job that seems like routine digging, until he learns every clue has a cost and someone is keeping the receipts. Chasing the truth pulls him into blackmail, crooked deals, and a very personal threat.

A small act of revenge sets off a chain reaction, and the target turns out to have friends in very dark places. As the debt comes due, the question is not whether punishment is coming, but who it will hit.

Millionaire Don Micklem expects comfort and quiet, but an extortionist known as the Tortoise has other plans. Dragged into a scheme in Italy, Micklem has to outmaneuver criminals who treat fear as a business model.

One reckless night seems harmless, until it tangles a respectable man in politics, blackmail, and a threat he cannot talk his way out of. The more he struggles to keep his life intact, the tighter the tiger clamps down.

When an actress is murdered, suspicion points toward a powerful racketeer, but proving it is another matter. A determined prosecutor and a special investigator push the case toward court, where witnesses, alibis, and threats can be bought.

A man thinks he is throwing the first punch in a clean little con, but the blow comes back twice as hard. What starts as easy money turns into a brutal lesson in leverage, where the next sucker punch could be fatal.

A case of mistaken identity turns lethal when someone decides a man is worth more dead than alive. Also published as Dead Ringer, it follows a desperate scramble to escape a plan built on substitution and murder.

Don Micklem plans a lazy run of pleasure in Venice, until a sudden death pulls him into a dangerous plot. With strangers watching and motives hidden, he has to act fast before the city turns into a trap.

An exotic dancer becomes the key to a million-dollar insurance policy, and the payout depends on how she dies. As fraud and desire mix, the men chasing the money find themselves trapped in a deadly double shuffle.

A seemingly respectable man crosses a line for love or money and discovers he cannot step back. The choices he makes to protect himself only deepen the trap, turning everyday weakness into betrayal and sudden violence.

Nick English is determined to find who murdered his brother, even if the police will not. His search uncovers organized blackmail and a string of vicious killings, and the closer he gets to the truth, the closer he comes to dying.

One wrong move lands an ordinary man in the sights of criminals who do not forgive mistakes. Trying to stay wary only draws him deeper into a spiral of threats, betrayals, and dangerous bargains.

International jewel thief Paul Hater is caught with a stolen necklace and learns the police want more than a confession. As pressure mounts for him to reveal a hidden secret, he fights to stay alive long enough to bargain.

A down-on-his-luck fighter is lured into a boxing fix that promises easy money. The setup turns lethal as gamblers and gangsters tighten control, and he learns the hard way that in this game the house collects in blood.

A man haunted by the past thinks he can hide in the shadows, until a new crime drags him into the light. With the police and the underworld closing in, his secrets become a liability he cannot outrun.

With a deadline closing in and enemies on all sides, survival becomes a race against time. Every attempt to fix the situation makes it worse, and the next mistake could be the one that ends everything.

A man who cannot catch a break finds himself in a rigged game where survival can be bought, for a price. Every attempt to dodge trouble only makes him a better target, and the next roll could be his last.

A forgotten letter resurfaces and drags Vic Malloy into a case that should have died long ago. As he follows the thread through Orchid City, secrets turn violent and the past proves too dangerous to stay buried.

A rich woman's husband disappears and the official story does not add up, so she turns to Vic Malloy of Universal Services. The investigation pulls him into kidnapping, murder, and dangerous women. Also published as The Marijuana Mob.

Vic Malloy is hired to watch a millionaire's wife who is suspected of stealing, and the job feels routine. It is not. As the surveillance turns up stranger facts, Malloy is drawn into a dangerous case where loneliness is the least of the risks.

A cheap crook, a jealous mistress, and a woman with too much to lose collide in a scheme that cannot stay quiet. As suspicion grows and bodies appear, a single clue, the paw in a bottle, becomes the key to who is lying.

A man who seems harmless proves as hard to pin down as a fox. When trust becomes the currency in a criminal deal, everyone pays too much, and the only way out is to outsmart people who live by lies.

American foreign correspondent Steve Harmas returns to postwar London to visit an old flame, only to learn she is dead. The official verdict is suicide, but Harmas keeps digging, and the questions pull him into murder and blackmail.

A timid man who daydreams about gangsters tries to reinvent himself as tough, and he talks too much about the fantasy. When real criminals notice, the bluff becomes a death sentence and he discovers how deadly his new image can be.

Journalist Kester Weidmann stumbles into a case that starts with a crash and ends in superstition, murder, and cover-ups. When a body refuses to stay buried, he has to separate tricks from real danger before he becomes the next victim.

A city boss frames a vacationing drifter for murder and expects the story to stick. Instead, a woman he used as bait switches sides, and the man marked for death fights back against a plan built on lies and power.

A blonde with secrets pulls a man into a dangerous game of money and deception. What looks like romance or a lucky break turns into a grim countdown, where the wrong choice can cost a life.

Miss Shumway looks like a harmless do-gooder, but the wand she waves changes other people's lives fast. A chance encounter turns into a crooked chain of favors, secrets, and payoffs that ends badly for someone.

A seemingly simple plan collides with greed and bad timing, and the fallout is immediate. As characters accept one compromise after another, they keep telling themselves this is just the way it is, until the consequences turn violent.

Stripper Veda Rux steals a priceless dagger, and her agent hires blackmailer Floyd Jackson to get it back before the theft is exposed. Blinded by money and desire, Jackson walks into a scheme that turns him into a pawn for murder.

A man lands a job that seems too good to be true, and it is. Asked to get a load of something that is not his, he walks into a setup built on blackmail and violence, and discovers he is the expendable part of the plan.

Clive Thurston has cheated and charmed his way to success, and then he meets Eve, a woman whose life has taught her to survive at any cost. Their connection becomes a dark study of power, dependency, and self-destruction.

Private eye Dave Fenner takes a case that looks like routine recovery work, until a woman with a dangerous past makes him the target. The deeper he digs, the more bodies appear, and the bad news keeps getting worse.

A man down on his luck grabs at a small chance to get ahead, and someone stronger decides to take it from him. Also published as Kiss My Fist!, this is a hardboiled tale of scams, violence, and payback.

When an investigation uncovers a trafficking ring, the people closest to the truth start disappearing. Miss Callaghan steps into a world of exploitation and corruption, and learns how quickly curiosity can turn into a death sentence.

Carol Blandish grows up as an heiress with a violent family legacy, and money cannot protect her from the past. When new danger arrives, old crimes echo in fresh ways, and the Blandish fortune becomes a magnet for predators.

Journalist Nick Mason revisits a murder case that ended with a man executed, and finds a clue that does not fit. Digging into the past brings him face to face with a cover-up, and the people who buried the truth want it to stay buried.

A millionaire's daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang, and her father hires private eye Dave Fenner to get her back. The rescue attempt becomes a brutal power struggle inside the criminal world. Also published as The Villain and the Virgin.