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Travis McGee Books in Order

Part ofJohn D MacDonald Books in Order

See the Travis McGee books in order by John D MacDonald, with short summaries, reading order, series background, and help on where to start.

Last updated: June 11, 2026

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This series has 2 recommenders.

Publication Order

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21 books

1

A Purple Place for Dying

by John D MacDonald

1964

A rich woman summons Travis McGee to Arizona for help, then dies before she can explain everything. He stays on anyway, chasing a killer through money trouble, small-town secrets, and betrayal.

2

Nightmare in Pink

by John D MacDonald

1964

Called to New York after the husband of a dead friend's sister is killed in an apparent mugging, Travis McGee finds a pile of cash and a deeper scandal. The case pulls him into embezzlement, corruption, and dangerous city politics.

3

The Deep Blue Good-By

by John D MacDonald

1964

Travis McGee lives on his houseboat and works only when his money runs low. When a woman asks him to recover a stolen fortune, he takes the job and meets a thief far more vicious than he expected.

4

The Quick Red Fox

by John D MacDonald

1964

Hollywood star Lysa Dean hires Travis McGee to stop a blackmail scheme built on stolen photographs. The job looks tawdry at first, but fame, money, and jealousy make it far more dangerous.

5

A Deadly Shade of Gold

by John D MacDonald

1965

When a man from Travis McGee's past turns up murdered, the trail leads to a stolen Aztec idol and a woman hungry for revenge. The chase runs from Florida to Mexico and the California jet set.

6

Bright Orange for the Shroud

by John D MacDonald

1965

When an old friend is ruined by a crooked land deal, Travis McGee goes after the swindlers. The hunt leads him into greed, betrayal, and the ugly price of trying to beat professionals at their own game.

7

Darker Than Amber

by John D MacDonald

1966

A bound woman is thrown from a bridge right in front of Travis McGee and Meyer. Saving her only drags them into a vicious racket where the con artists are as dangerous as the killers behind them.

8

One Fearful Yellow Eye

by John D MacDonald

1966

An old flame asks Travis McGee to untangle a quiet extortion scheme around her dying husband. As he digs, one family secret turns into a threat that could ruin everyone involved.

9

Pale Gray for Guilt

by John D MacDonald

1968

Travis McGee investigates the killing of his friend Tush Bannon, a marina owner standing in the way of a development scheme. What follows is a hard, angry fight for a widow, her children, and the truth.

10

The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper

by John D MacDonald

1968

A dying former lover asks Travis McGee to watch over her troubled daughter, who seems to be losing her mind. In a small Florida town, he finds a dead doctor, buried resentments, and financial fraud.

11

Dress Her in Indigo

by John D MacDonald

1969

Travis McGee and Meyer head to Oaxaca to learn what happened to a young woman named Bix Bowie. The search moves through expat bars, drugs, missing friends, and the sad wreckage of people chasing freedom.

12

The Long Lavender Look

by John D MacDonald

1970

A barefoot girl in a nightgown runs into Travis McGee's headlights on a dark Florida road. Minutes later he is dodging bullets and getting arrested for murder in a town full of bad lies.

13

A Tan and Sandy Silence

by John D MacDonald

1971

News that a former lover has vanished sends Travis McGee to Grenada. What starts as a missing-person search turns into a knot of false identities, shady financing, and island double-crosses.

14

The Scarlet Ruse

by John D MacDonald

1972

A stolen stamp collection worth a fortune sounds tame until Travis McGee takes the case. Soon he and Meyer are facing rare collectibles, organized crime, and a killer who knows exactly where to strike.

15

The Turquoise Lament

by John D MacDonald

1973

An old acquaintance fears her husband wants her inheritance badly enough to kill for it, and Travis McGee steps in. The case carries him across the Pacific into money, suspicion, and island deceit.

16

The Dreadful Lemon Sky

by John D MacDonald

1974

A woman from Travis McGee's past leaves him a package of cash and a promise to return. When she dies in a suspicious crash, he goes looking for the life she was hiding and the people who wanted her gone.

17

The Empty Copper Sea

by John D MacDonald

1978

When Hub Lawless goes overboard off the Florida coast, everyone calls it drowning, but nobody quite believes it. Travis McGee digs into the contradictions and finds money, suspicion, and a staged death.

18

The Green Ripper

by John D MacDonald

1979

After a woman he loves is killed, Travis McGee turns from investigator to avenger. His search leads to a secretive terrorist cult, and the case hits harder than almost anything else in the series.

19

Free Fall in Crimson

by John D MacDonald

1981

Travis McGee agrees to find the killers of an ailing millionaire and lands in a mess of old Hollywood glamour and very modern ugliness. The trail runs through biker gangs, dirty movies, and people who kill easily.

20

Cinnamon Skin

by John D MacDonald

1982

A boat explosion kills Meyer's niece, or so it seems, and Travis McGee smells murder. His search through the Florida Keys and beyond becomes a bitter case of lies, drugs, and stolen identities.

21

The Lonely Silver Rain

by John D MacDonald

1984

Searching for a wealthy friend's missing yacht, Travis McGee is pulled into the international cocaine trade. The danger is brutal, and the case brings a personal revelation he never saw coming.

Series background & context

Travis McGee is not a cop and not quite a private eye. He calls himself a salvage consultant, which means people come to him after something valuable has been taken and the usual channels have failed. If he gets it back, he keeps half. That bargain tells you a lot about the series. These books live in the space between law, revenge, and rough personal justice.

He takes his retirement in installments.

McGee lives aboard the houseboat Busted Flush at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale, and the Florida setting is part of the point. Marinas, bars, condos, canals, tourist money, and land booms keep feeding the trouble. Some books stay close to South Florida. Others head to the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, or beyond. Even then, the series keeps returning to the same question, what happens when greed and self-invention hit a place built on sunshine and salesmanship?

Most cases begin small. A woman wants money stolen by a con man. A friend dies under suspicious circumstances. A missing person case lands in McGee's lap because nobody else will touch it. Then the story widens. Scams turn into murder, blackmail opens onto corruption, and personal damage proves deeper than the missing cash. McGee is good with fists and boats, but what makes the series stick is how often the crimes feel tied to ordinary weakness.

Meyer helps with that. He is McGee's closest friend, an economist with a dry brain and a calm voice, and he gives the books their best conversations. Around them drift grifters, developers, lonely rich people, frightened clients, and women who are sometimes in trouble and sometimes trouble themselves. The books are narrated by McGee, so everything comes through his mix of wisecracks, bruised idealism, and clear-eyed suspicion.

The tone shifts as the series goes on.

The early novels are fast, sharp, and full of midcentury pulp energy. The later ones get more reflective, and sometimes a lot darker, as McGee ages and the world around him grows meaner and more commercial. Across all 21 books, each with a color in the title, MacDonald keeps the action moving while also writing about bad development, dirty money, and the slow spoiling of Florida. If you want crime novels with sun, sweat, conscience, and a hero who never fully trusts the system, Travis McGee is a very good place to settle in.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 21 Travis McGee Books in Order (Complete List 2026)