Bill Kennedy Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| X Esquire | 1927 | Buy |
| The White Rider | 1928 | Buy |
Simon Templar Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Saint Meets the Tiger / Meet the Tiger! | 1928 | Buy |
| Enter the Saint | 1930 | Buy |
| The Avenging Saint / Knight Templar | 1930 | Buy |
| The Saint Closes the Case / The Last Hero | 1930 | Buy |
| Alias the Saint | 1931 | Buy |
| Featuring the Saint | 1931 | Buy |
| The Saint Meets His Match / She Was a Lady / Angels of Doom | 1931 | Buy |
| The Saint Meets his Match | 1931 | Buy |
| The Saint versus Scotland Yard / The Holy Terror | 1932 | Buy |
| The Saint’s Getaway / The Getaway | 1932 | Buy |
| The Brighter Buccaneer | 1933 | Buy |
| The Saint and Mr. Teal / Once More the Saint | 1933 | Buy |
| The Saint Goes On | 1934 | Buy |
| The Saint Intervenes / Boodle | 1934 | Buy |
| The Saint in London / The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal | 1934 | Buy |
| The Saint in New York | 1935 | Buy |
| Saint Overboard | 1936 | Buy |
| The Saint Bids Diamonds / The Saint at the Thieves’ Picnic / Thieves’ Picnic | 1937 | Buy |
| The Saint in Action / Ace of Knaves | 1937 | Buy |
| The Saint Plays with Fire / Prelude for War | 1938 | Buy |
| Follow the Saint | 1939 | Buy |
| The Happy Highwayman | 1939 | Buy |
| The Saint in Miami | 1940 | Buy |
| The Saint Goes West | 1942 | Buy |
| The Saint Steps In | 1943 | Buy |
| The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur | 1944 | Buy |
| The Saint on Guard | 1944 | Buy |
| The Saint Sees it Through | 1946 | Buy |
| Call for the Saint | 1948 | Buy |
| Saint Errant | 1948 | Buy |
| The Saint in Europe | 1953 | Buy |
| The Saint on the Spanish Main | 1955 | Buy |
| The Saint Around the World | 1956 | Buy |
| Thanks to the Saint | 1957 | Buy |
| Señor Saint | 1958 | Buy |
| The Saint to the Rescue | 1959 | Buy |
| Trust the Saint | 1962 | Buy |
| The Saint in the Sun | 1963 | Buy |
| Vendetta for the Saint | 1964 | Buy |
| The Saint on TV | 1967 | Buy |
| The Saint Returns | 1968 | Buy |
| The Saint and the Fiction Makers | 1968 | Buy |
| The Saint Abroad | 1969 | Buy |
| The Saint in Pursuit | 1970 | Buy |
| The Saint and the People Importers | 1971 | Buy |
| Catch the Saint | 1975 | Buy |
| The Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace | 1975 | Buy |
| Send for the Saint | 1977 | Buy |
| The Saint in Trouble | 1978 | Buy |
| The Saint and the Templar Treasure | 1979 | Buy |
| Count on the Saint | 1980 | Buy |
| Salvage for the Saint | 1983 | Buy |
| Capture the Saint | 1997 | Buy |
Simon Templar Collections
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Fantastic Saint | 1982 | Buy |
Leslie Charteris was born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin in Singapore in 1907 to a Chinese father and English mother. He legally changed his name to Leslie Charteris in his twenties, borrowing the surname from a character in a novel. After studying at Cambridge, he abandoned his academic pursuits to become a full-time writer, producing his first novel at age twenty.
Charteris created Simon Templar, “The Saint,” in 1928, and the character quickly became his defining creation. The Saint was a modern Robin Hood figure—a handsome, witty adventurer who operated outside the law but maintained his own moral code, often targeting criminals and corrupt businessmen. The books blended action, humor, and romance in a style that influenced generations of thriller writers.
Beyond his writing, Charteris led an adventurous life that rivaled his fictional hero. He worked as a gold prospector, professional bridge player, and Hollywood screenwriter. He became an American citizen in 1946 and continued writing Saint stories until the early 1980s, eventually collaborating with other authors to keep the series going. He died in 1993, leaving behind one of the longest-running character series in popular fiction.