Order of Shell Scott Books
Shell Scott is the protagonist in a series of hardboiled detective fiction novels by American novelist Richard S. Prather. Shell Scott works as a private eye. He’s an ex-Marine, standing 6’2″ tall. But unlike other masculine P.I.’s, he is more about enjoying life than beating up bad guys, or searching for vengeance or justice. This usually includes having his way with women whenever possible. The novels are humourous in a way that wouldn’t be considered politically correct in this day in age.
Richard S. Prather began his Shell Scott series in 1950 with the novel The Case of the Vanishing Beauty. The series lasted over 40 books, concluding with the posthumously published The Death Gods in 2011, which was the first book to be published in over two decades. The books can be read in any order. Below is a list of Richard S. Prather’s Shell Scott books in order of when they were originally published:
Publication Order of Shell Scott Books
| The Case of the Vanishing Beauty | (1950) |    |
| Bodies in Bedlam | (1951) | |
| Everybody Had a Gun | (1951) | |
| Find This Woman | (1951) | |
| Dagger of Flesh | (1952) | |
| Darling, It's Death | (1952) | |
| Way of a Wanton | (1952) | |
| Pattern for Murder / The Scrambled Yeggs | (1952) | |
| Always Leave 'em Dying | (1953) | |
| Ride a High Horse / Too Many Crooks | (1953) | |
| Pattern for Panic | (1954) | |
| Strip for Murder | (1956) | |
| The Wailing Frail | (1956) | |
| Have Gat - Will Travel | (1957) | |
| Three's a Shroud | (1957) | |
| Slab Happy | (1958) | |
| Take a Murder, Darling | (1958) | |
| Over Her Dear Body | (1959) | |
| Double in Trouble | (1959) | |
| Dance with the Dead | (1960) | |
| Dig That Crazy Grave | (1961) | |
| Shell Scott's Seven Slaughters | (1961) | |
| Kill the Clown | (1962) | |
| Dead Heat | (1963) | |
| Joker in the Deck | (1964) | |
| The Cockeyed Corpse | (1964) | |
| The Trojan Hearse | (1964) | |
| Dead Man's Walk | (1965) | |
| Kill Him Twice | (1965) | |
| The Meandering Corpse | (1965) | |
| The Kubla Khan Caper | (1966) | |
| Gat Heat | (1967) | |
| The Cheim Manuscript | (1969) | |
| Kill Me Tomorrow | (1969) | |
| The Shell Scott Sampler | (1969) | |
| Dead-Bang | (1971) | |
| The Sweet Ride | (1972) | |
| The Sure Thing | (1975) | |
| The Amber Effect | (1986) | |
| Shellshock | (1987) | |
| The Death Gods | (2011) | |
Publication Order of Shell Scott Collections
| Hot Rock Rumble & The Double Take | (1994) | |
Notes: Ride a High Horse is also known as Too Many Crooks. Pattern for Murder is alternately titled The Scrambled Yeggs (and written as David Knight).
If You Like Shell Scott Books, You’ll Love…
Shell Scott Synopsis: Case of the Vanishing Beauty is the first book in the Shell Scott mysteries series by Richard S. Prather. Lovely Lina is a dame who is hot to the touch, but somebody wants to cool her off. When her sister disappears and another woman is gunned down, Lina suspects she is next to go. Shell Scott, an infamous private dick who leaves a trail of gorgeous gals in his wake, is just the man for the case. Shell Scott, he’s a guy with a pistol in his pocket and murder on his mind. The crime world’s public enemy number one, this Casanova is a sucker for a damsel in distress. When a pair of lovely legs saunters into his office, he can’t help but take the job, even when the case is a killer.