Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Free Man of Color | 1997 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 2 | Fever Season | 1998 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 3 | Graveyard Dust | 1999 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 4 | Sold Down the River | 2000 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 5 | Die Upon a Kiss | 2001 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 6 | Wet Grave | 2002 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 7 | Days of the Dead | 2003 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 8 | Dead Water | 2004 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 9 | Dead and Buried | 2010 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 10 | The Shirt On His Back | 2011 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 11 | Ran Away | 2011 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 12 | Good Man Friday | 2013 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 13 | Crimson Angel | 2014 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 14 | Hagar | 2015 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 15 | Drinking Gourd | 2016 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 16 | Libre | 2015 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 17 | Murder in July | 2017 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 18 | There Shall Your Heart Be Also | 2015 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 19 | Cold Bayou | 2018 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 20 | A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven | 2015 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 21 | Death on the Moon | 2016 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 22 | Death and Hard Cider | 2022 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 23 | Lady of Perdition | 2019 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 24 | House of the Patriarch | 2020 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 25 | The Nubian’s Curse | 2024 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
| 26 | Murder in the Trembling Lands | 2025 | Barbara Hambly | Buy |
The Benjamin January series is Barbara Hambly’s longest-running work, with more than two dozen novels published since A Free Man of Color in 1997. Set in 1830s New Orleans, the books follow Benjamin January, a free man of color who trained as a surgeon in Paris and returned to a city where his legal status is precarious despite his education.
January solves murders that cross the lines between New Orleans’ French Creole aristocracy, its American newcomers, and its enslaved and free Black population. The series is praised for its detailed historical research and its unflinching portrayal of antebellum racial politics. Recent entries include The Nubian’s Curse (2024) and Murder in the Trembling Lands (2025).