Order of Rex Stout Books
Rex Stout (1886-1975) was an American author of detective fiction, most famous for his series featuring detective Nero Wolfe. Aside from his Nero Wolfe series (which fills up the lion’s share of his prolific bibliography), he wrote one other series called Tecumseh Fox, many standalone novels, several short story collections and even a Nero Wolfe cookbook. Rex’s narrative and dialogue were top-notch, giving his novels a certain re-readable quality.
Stout’s first novel was a standalone novel titled Her Forbidden Knight, published in 1913. He would continue writing standalones until he wrote the first Nero Wolfe novel, Fer-de-Lance, published in 1934. Below is a list of Rex Stout’s books in order of when they were originally published (and in chronological order):
Publication Order of Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout Books
| Fer-de-Lance / Meet Nero Wolfe | (1934) |    |
| The League of Frightened Men | (1935) | |
| The Rubber Band / To Kill Again | (1936) | |
| The Red Box / Case of the Red Box | (1937) | |
| Too Many Cooks | (1938) | |
| Some Buried Caesar / The Red Bull | (1939) | |
| Over My Dead Body | (1940) | |
| Where There's a Will | (1940) | |
| Black Orchids | (1942) | |
| Not Quite Dead Enough | (1944) | |
| The Silent Speaker | (1946) | |
| Too Many Women | (1947) | |
| And Be a Villain / More Deaths Than One | (1948) | |
| Trouble in Triplicate | (1949) | |
| The Second Confession | (1949) | |
| Even in the Best Families / In the Best Families | (1950) | |
| Three Doors to Death / Door to Death | (1950) | |
| Curtains for Three | (1951) | |
| Murder by the Book | (1951) | |
| Prisoner's Base / Out She Goes | (1952) | |
| Triple Jeopardy | (1952) | |
| The Golden Spiders | (1953) | |
| The Black Mountain | (1954) | |
| Three Men Out | (1954) | |
| Before Midnight | (1955) | |
| Might as Well Be Dead | (1956) | |
| Three Witnesses | (1956) | |
| If Death Ever Slept | (1957) | |
| Three for the Chair | (1957) | |
| And Four to Go / Crime and Again | (1958) | |
| Champagne for One | (1958) | |
| Plot it Yourself / Murder in Style | (1959) | |
| Three at Wolfe's Door | (1960) | |
| Too Many Clients | (1960) | |
| The Final Deduction | (1961) | |
| Homicide Trinity | (1962) | |
| Gambit | (1962) | |
| The Mother Hunt | (1963) | |
| Trio for Blunt Instruments | (1964) | |
| A Right to Die | (1964) | |
| The Doorbell Rang | (1965) | |
| Death of a Doxy | (1966) | |
| The Father Hunt | (1968) | |
| Death of a Dude | (1969) | |
| Please Pass The Guilt | (1973) | |
| A Family Affair | (1975) | |
| Death Times Three | (1985) | |
Publication Order of Nero Wolfe Short Stories/Novellas
| Bitter End | (1997) | |
| Disguise for Murder / The Twisted Scarf | (2000) | |
| Booby Trap | (2013) | |
| Cordially Invited to Meet Death | (2014) | |
| Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo, and FLO! / Eeny Meeny Murder Mo | (2015) | |
Publication Order of Tecumseh Fox Books
| Double for Death | (1939) | |
| Bad for Business | (1940) | |
| The Broken Vase | (1941) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Her Forbidden Knight | (1913) | |
| Under the Andes | (1914) | |
| A Prize for Princes | (1914) | |
| The Great Legend | (1916) | |
| How Like a God | (1929) | |
| Seed on the Wind | (1930) | |
| Golden Remedy | (1931) | |
| Forest Fire | (1933) | |
| The President Vanishes | (1934) | |
| O Careless Love! | (1935) | |
| The Hand in the Glove / Crime on Her Hands | (1937) | |
| Mr. Cinderella | (1939) | |
| The Mountain Cat Murders / The Mountain Cat | (1939) | |
| Red Threads | (1939) | |
| The Sound of Murder / Alphabet Hicks | (1941) | |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Corsage | (1977) | |
| Justice Ends At Home and Other Stories | (1977) | |
| Target Practice | (1997) | |
| An Officer and a Lady and Other Stories | (2000) | |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| The Nero Wolfe Cookbook | (1969) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Nero Wolfe Mystery Magazine Volume 1 Number 1, January 1954 | (1954) | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Be Read With the Door Locked - Book 2 | (1975) | |
| Hound Dunnit | (1989) | |
| The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories | (1996) | |
| A Century of Great Suspense Stories | (2001) | |
Notes: Fer-de-Lance was also published as Meet Nero Wolfe. The Rubber Band was also titled To Kill Again. The Red Box is also known as Case of the Red Box. Some Buried Caesar was also published as The Red Bull. And Be a Villain was also titled More Deaths Than One. Even in the Best Families was also titled In the Best Families. Three Doors to Death was also titled Door to Death. Prisoner’s Base was also titled Out She Goes. And Four to Go was also published as Crime And Again. Plot It Yourself is also known as Murder in Style. The Hand in the Glove is also known as Crime on Her Hands. Alphabet Hicks is also known as The Sound of Murder. The Mountain Cat was also titled The Mountain Cat Murders.
I do believe that “Even in the Best Families” (Rex Stout) is actually entitled “In the Best Families”.