Lawrence Block Books in Order
See all the crime novels by Lawrence Block in order, with reading guides, series checklists and brief summaries to help you explore his New York set mysteries and thrillers.
Last updated: 9 new books added
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Lawrence Block books in publication order
234 books
Keller the Dogkiller
by Lawrence Block
2016
Keller receives an unusual assignment: kill a dog in Manhattan rather than a human target. For a hit man who once owned a dog himself, the job raises concerns unlike those of his usual contracts.
Keller's Designated Hitter
by Lawrence Block
2016
Keller attends a baseball game with more than sporting interest in designated hitter Floyd Turnbull. An assignment from Dot makes a player he has watched for years the subject of a very different kind of attention.
Keller's Fedora
by Lawrence Block
2016
Living under a new name with his wife and daughter, Keller accepts an assignment involving a client's unfaithful wife. Identifying her lover requires investigation, putting the retired hit man into the unfamiliar role of detective.
Keller's Homecoming
by Lawrence Block
2016
An assignment to kill the abbot of a Murray Hill monastery brings Keller back to New York. Now living in New Orleans with a family, he must revisit a city tied closely to his former life.
Mostly Murder
by Lawrence Block
2016
Eleven mystery stories by different writers bring together varied approaches to crime and murder. Edited by Patrice Fitzgerald, the collection includes Lawrence Block among its contributors and moves between distinct characters, situations, and criminal puzzles.
Passport to Peril
by Lawrence Block
2016
Folksinger Ellen Cameron welcomes a sponsored trip to West Berlin and a tour of Ireland. Friendly fellow travelers promise an exciting break, but concealed motives draw her journey into international intrigue and uncertain romantic possibilities.
Resume Speed
by Lawrence Block
2016
A bus journey brings Bill to Cross Creek, Montana, where a help-wanted sign leads to work as a short-order cook. A budding relationship with a librarian offers another reason to settle into this new life.
Shadows
by Lawrence Block
2016
A young college graduate leaves the Midwest for Greenwich Village and explores her attraction to women. The novel follows her search for an identity and a place within a world unfamiliar to her.
Sinner Man
by Lawrence Block
2016
Insurance salesman Don Barshter flees after killing his wife and assumes the identity of Nathaniel Crowley. Building a new life draws him into organized crime, where escaping his original offense means taking increasingly dangerous chances.
The Trouble with Eden
by Lawrence Block
2016
Set in the artists’ community of New Hope, Pennsylvania, this novel follows an ensemble of characters through their private lives and sexual entanglements. Multiple viewpoints create a candid portrait of the people behind a picturesque Bucks County setting.
Thirty
by Lawrence Block
2016
Approaching thirty, suburban housewife Janet Kurland begins keeping a diary of her comfortable but unsatisfying life. An affair leads her toward Greenwich Village, where new relationships and experiences challenge the boundaries of her marriage and identity.
Threesome
by Lawrence Block
2016
Harry, his wife Rhoda, and the divorced Priss share a relationship and decide to write a novel about it. Their separate contributions reveal things they hadn't understood about one another, changing the arrangement they hoped to describe.
Warm and Willing
by Lawrence Block
2016
After her divorce, Rhoda explores relationships with women in Greenwich Village and becomes involved with Megan. Questions about what she wants from love mingle with jealousy, complicating her effort to build a satisfying new life.
Alive in Shape and Color
by Lawrence Block
2017
Seventeen stories take inspiration from works of art spanning cave paintings to modern images. Accompanying reproductions let readers compare each artwork with the fictional lives, conflicts, and possibilities that different writers imagine around it.
Quotidian Keller
by Lawrence Block
2017
Keller's assignment to kill a Detroit man overlaps with a San Francisco stamp auction both men plan to attend. Discovering a fellow collector in his target introduces an uncomfortable connection into the hit man's work.
A Time to Scatter Stones
by Lawrence Block
2018
A woman trying to leave sex work faces a client who refuses to let her go. Through Elaine, retired investigator Matthew Scudder becomes involved, confronting the man's threats while managing his own aging and sobriety.
Broadway Can Be Murder
by Lawrence Block
2018
Broadway producer Johnny Lane finds his leading lady murdered shortly before his new play begins previews. With his cast under threat, he investigates a collection of suspects whose secrets could endanger both the production and himself.
Resume Speed
by Lawrence Block
2018
This collection brings together seven works written across sixty years, including the novella Resume Speed. Other stories feature lawyer John J. Malone, a forgotten tale of a husband's death, and a district attorney's ambitions.
April North
by Lawrence Block
2019
In Antrim, Ohio, April North becomes the subject of gossip after Danny Duncan boasts about their relationship. As other men pursue her, she must navigate the expectations and attention that his claims have brought.
At Home in the Dark
by Lawrence Block
2019
Seventeen stories explore darkness across crime fiction, westerns, dystopian settings, and other genres. Contributors including Joe Hill, Joe R. Lansdale, and James Reasoner place characters in unsettling situations that extend beyond a single kind of mystery.
From Sea to Stormy Sea
by Lawrence Block
2019
Seventeen American paintings provide the starting points for seventeen stories by different writers. Reproductions accompany fiction inspired by artists including Winslow Homer, Andy Warhol, and Grant Wood, linking imagined events to scenes on canvas.
Hunting Buffalo With Bent Nails
by Lawrence Block
2019
Lawrence Block gathers nonfiction about travel, family, New York, and the oddities of a writer’s life. A quest to visit places named Buffalo anchors essays that range from personal remembrance to pen names, book tours, and unexpected collecting interests.
Dead Girl Blues
by Lawrence Block
2020
A man's account begins with the murder and sexual assault of a woman near Bakersfield. Rather than centering on a detective's investigation, the novel follows the killer's subsequent life and his relationship with what he did.
The Burglar in Short Order
by Lawrence Block
2020
Bookseller and burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr appears in this collection of short fiction and related pieces. The volume gathers his shorter adventures with excerpts, articles, and background material exploring how Lawrence Block developed the character.
The Darkling Halls of Ivy
by Lawrence Block
2020
This anthology explores crime and unease in colleges and universities, with stories about rivalries, old murders, plagiarism, and secret societies. Different writers reveal how academic ambitions and hidden resentments can turn familiar campuses into dangerous places.
A Writer Prepares
by Lawrence Block
2021
Lawrence Block recalls his determination to become a writer and the prolific, often pseudonymous work that launched his career. Revisiting his early adulthood decades later, he traces the relationships, publishing experiences, and decisions behind his first novels.
Afterthoughts
by Lawrence Block
2021
Block gathers afterwords and introductions to his earlier books, recalling how they were written and what his life was like at the time. The pieces form a memoir of his developing career, including work published under pseudonyms.
Collectibles
by Lawrence Block & Dennis Lehane
2021
This crime-fiction anthology explores the urge to collect and the extreme behavior it can inspire. Its stories range from coveted celebrity artifacts and private letters to lost television shows, with collectors whose desire to possess the perfect object turns perilous.
The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown
by Lawrence Block
2022
Bernie Rhodenbarr's bookstore and burglary career seem defeated by modern technology. Then he wakes in a slightly different world where both professions flourish, offering a tempting opportunity to steal a famous diamond and discover what else has changed.
The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder
by Lawrence Block
2023
Matthew Scudder recounts the life behind his detective cases, from childhood and family influences to his years in the NYPD. His memories explore police work, formative relationships, and alcoholism, revealing how he became the investigator familiar from his later adventures.
Writing Drunk, Writing Sober
by Lawrence Block
2025
Lawrence Block revisits an essay about writing and sobriety that he originally published under a pseudonym after giving up alcohol. His new introduction restores its place in his work, reflecting on a personal transition once kept separate from his public identity.
College for Sinners
by Lawrence Block
Freshman David enters a Manhattan university eager for sexual experience and finds an upperclassman willing to guide him. His initiation into a club of libertines introduces a new world of encounters, turning college life into an education beyond the classroom.
Of Shame and Joy
by Lawrence Block
In the summer resort town of Provincetown, Sheila and Madelaine repeatedly cross paths while navigating desire and their sense of identity. Their relationships unfold amid parties, personal crises, and the difficulty of accepting what they want from love.
Trailer Trollop
by Lawrence Block
Several sex workers share a mobile home near an army base, using it as both their residence and workplace. Their moving establishment forms the premise of an early erotic novel about the unconventional lives of women living and working together.

































