Order of Dana Girls Books
The Dana Girls is a series of YA mystery novels written under the house name of Carolyn Keene and created by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Jean and Louise Dana are teenage amateur sleuths who are attending a boarding school called the Starhurst School for Girls, where they solve mysteries.
Carolyn Keene began the Dana Girls series with the novel By the Light of the Study Lamp, which was published in 1934. The original series lasted 30 novels, concluding in 1968 with the novel The Phantom Surfer. The series was relaunched in 1972 starting with The Mystery of the Stone Tiger and concluding with the 17th (or 47th) novel, The Witch’s Omen, in 1979. There were two additional novels written, The Strange Identities and The Thousand Islands Mystery, both of which went unpublished. Below is a list of Carolyn Keene’s Dana Girls Mystery Stories books in order of when they were first published (which is also their chronological order):
Publication Order of Dana Girls Mystery Stories Books
| The Secret at the Hermitage | (1936) |    |
| The Circle of Footprints | (1937) | |
| Mystery of the Locked Room | (1938) | |
| The Clue in the Cobweb | (1939) | |
| The Secret at the Gatehouse | (1940) | |
| The Mysterious Fireplace | (1941) | |
| The Clue of the Rusty Key | (1942) | |
| The Portrait in the Sand | (1943) | |
| The Secret in the Old Well | (1944) | |
| The Clue in the Ivy | (1952) | |
| The Secret of the Jade Ring | (1953) | |
| Mystery at the Crossroads | (1954) | |
| The Ghost in the Gallery | (1955) | |
| The Clue of the Black flower | (1956) | |
| The Winking Ruby Mystery | (1957) | |
| The Secret of the Swiss Chalet | (1958) | |
| The Haunted Lagoon | (1959) | |
| Mystery of the Bamboo Bird | (1960) | |
| The Sierra Gold Mystery | (1961) | |
| The Secret of the Lost Lake | (1962) | |
| Mystery of the Stone Tiger | (1963) | |
| The Riddle of the Frozen Fountain | (1964) | |
| The Secret of the Silver Dolphin | (1965) | |
| Mystery of the Wax Queen | (1966) | |
| The Secret of the Minstrel’s Guitar | (1967) | |
| The Phantom Surfer | (1968) | |
| The Curious Coronation | (1976) | |
| The Hundred Year Mystery | (1977) | |
| Mountain-Peak Mystery | (1978) | |
| The Witch's Omen | (1979) | |
Note: The first four books in the series were written by Leslie McFarlane. Books 5-12 & 14-16 were written by Mildred A. Wirt. Books 13 & 17-30 as well as 44-47 were written by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams.
If You Like Dana Girls Books, You’ll Love…
Dana Girls Mystery Stories Synopsis: In By the Light of the Study Lamp by Carolyn Keene (book 1 of the series), Jean and Louise are given a study lamp by their Uncle Ned. Their idea is to use it in their study room at school, but before they leave for school, the lamp is gone!
Shop Worldwide: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca
I may be the only one to have noticed this; but the newer published ones (1972-74 or so) are out of order compared to the originals. This list was very helpful in putting them in the right order! (But now the mysteries noted in the books won’t match up, but I’d rather have them in the correct order!)