Order of Jon Cleary Books
Jon Cleary was a highly successful Australian author who had numerous books adapted for film and television. His first book was You Can’t See ‘Round Corners which he published in 1947. He is considered one of the most popular Australian authors of all-time.
Cleary was born in Erskineville, Sydney where his family struggled through childhood, at one point seeing most of their belongings repossessed. Cleary attended some school, but left at the age of 14 to help support his family financially. Cleary would then join the Army, but he would write while in there and sold his first story in 1940. After finishing his service, he wrote his first novel.
Publication Order of Scobie Malone Books
| The High Commissioner | (1966) |    |
| Helga's Web | (1970) | |
| Ransom | (1973) | |
| Dragons at the Party | (1987) | |
| Now and Then, Amen | (1988) | |
| Babylon South | (1989) | |
| Murder Song | (1990) | |
| Pride's Harvest | (1991) | |
| Dark Summer | (1992) | |
| Bleak Spring | (1993) | |
| Autumn Maze | (1994) | |
| Winter Chill | (1995) | |
| A Different Turf | (1996) | |
| Endpeace | (1997) | |
| Five Ring Circus | (1998) | |
| Dilemma | (1999) | |
| Yesterday's Shadow | (2001) | |
| The Bear Pit | (2001) | |
| The Easy Sin | (2003) | |
| Degrees of Connection | (2004) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| You Can't See Around Corners | (1947) | |
| The Long Shadow | (1949) | |
| You, the Jury / Just Let Me Be | (1950) | |
| The Sundowners | (1952) | |
| The Climate of Courage / Naked in the Night | (1954) | |
| Justin Bayard / Dust in the Sun | (1955) | |
| The Green Helmet | (1959) | |
| North From Thursday | (1960) | |
| Forests of the Night | (1963) | |
| A Flight of Chariots | (1964) | |
| The Fall of an Eagle | (1965) | |
| Season of Doubt | (1968) | |
| Remember Jack Hoxie | (1969) | |
| Mask of the Andes / The Liberators | (1971) | |
| Man's Estate / The Ninth Marquess | (1972) | |
| Peter's Pence | (1974) | |
| The Safe House | (1975) | |
| A Sound of Lightning | (1976) | |
| Vortex | (1977) | |
| Pulse of Danger | (1977) | |
| Back of Sunset | (1978) | |
| High Road to China | (1978) | |
| The Beaufort Sisters | (1979) | |
| A Very Private War | (1980) | |
| The Faraway Drums | (1981) | |
| The Golden Sabre | (1981) | |
| Spearfield's Daughter | (1982) | |
| The Phoenix Tree | (1984) | |
| The City of Fading Light | (1985) | |
| The Long Pursuit | (1988) | |
| Miss Ambar Regrets | (2005) | |
| Four-Cornered Circle | (2007) | |
| Morning's Gone | (2007) | |
If You Like Jon Cleary Books, You’ll Love…
You Can’t See ‘Round Corners is Cleary’s first novel and follows a bookie named Frankie McCoy who is drafted into the Australian Army during World War II. Cleary based the character on a number of people he met during his time in the military and he did most of his writing while still in the service. The book sees McCoy decide to desert the Army and go on the run. His girlfriend doesn’t like this and he ends up with a far more experienced woman named Myra.
Cleary authored a number of books in his own Scobie Malone series. The High Commissioner is the title and it follows the story of a High Commissioner who is accused of murder. Scobie Malone is set to go get him from London and return him for trial. Malone’s job becomes complicated when there are outside forces looking to murder the High Commissioner in order to cause anarchy at an upcoming peace summit in Saigon. This started a long series of books and was actually made into a film called Nobody Runs Forever.