Reading order · Mystery & thriller
Philip Marlowe Reading Order
Philip Marlowe by Raymond Chandler has 7 main books (1939–1958). Start with The Big Sleep (1939) and read the numbered books in order.
Philip Marlowe books in order
Your reading speed
- 4 h 1 min
- 4 h 39 min
- 4 h 3 min
- Track your Philip Marlowe reading in Bookwisp — it shows the next book you’re missing.
- 4 h 11 min
- 4 h 26 min
- 5 h 36 min
- 3 h 38 min
Main books together: 1,746 pages, about 30 h 34 min at 238 words per minute.
Page counts: median across editions on Open Library. Times assume about 250 words per page. How we calculate.
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Philip Marlowe: common questions
- How many books are in the Philip Marlowe series?
- There are 7 main books in Philip Marlowe. The most recent main book listed here is Playback (1958).
- What order should I read Philip Marlowe in?
- Read Philip Marlowe in its numbered order: The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady in the Lake, and so on. Lists the seven novels Chandler completed.
- What is the first Philip Marlowe book?
- The first book is The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, published in 1939.
- How long does it take to read the whole Philip Marlowe series?
- The 7 main books add up to about 1,746 pages (median edition lengths). At 238 words per minute that is about 30½ hours of reading, or about 62 days at 30 minutes a day.