Commissaire Adamsberg books in order

Q: "How many books are in the Commissaire Adamsberg series?"

"There are twenty books in the Commissaire Adamsberg series, published between 1991 and 2023."

Q: "What is the first book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series?"

"The first book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series is Sinisten ympyröiden mies, published in 1991."

Q: "What makes Commissaire Adamsberg different from other detective series protagonists?"

"Adamsberg works almost entirely on instinct and atmosphere rather than logic or evidence, which puts him at constant odds with his more methodical colleagues. He drifts through cases in a way that looks like distraction until he suddenly knows something, and that odd rhythm is central to the appeal of the series."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	Sinisten ympyröiden mies	1991	Fred Vargas	N/A
2	The Chalk Circle Man	1991	Fred Vargas	Buy
3	Kuriton mies nurin	1999	Fred Vargas	N/A
4	Seeking Whom He May Devour	1999	Fred Vargas	Buy
5	Les quatre fleuves	2000	Fred Vargas	N/A
6	Have Mercy on Us All	2001	Fred Vargas	Buy
7	This Night’s Foul Work	2006	Fred Vargas	Buy
8	Coule la Seine	2002	Fred Vargas	N/A
9	Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand	2007	Fred Vargas	Buy
10	Sous les vents de Neptune	2004	Fred Vargas	N/A
11	An Uncertain Place	2008	Fred Vargas	Buy
12	La tercera verge	2006	Fred Vargas	N/A
13	The Ghost Riders of Ordebec	2011	Fred Vargas	Buy
14	Заповедное место	2008	Fred Vargas	N/A
15	A Climate of Fear	2015	Fred Vargas	Buy
16	L’Armée furieuse	2011	Fred Vargas	N/A
17	This Poison Will Remain	2017	Fred Vargas	Buy
18	Tempi glaciali	2015	Fred Vargas	N/A
19	Quand sort la recluse	2017	Fred Vargas	N/A
20	Sur la Dalle	2023	Fred Vargas	N/A

Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is a French detective who is hard to explain to anyone who has not met him on the page. He does not construct logical arguments or follow procedures with any enthusiasm. He wanders, he stares at things, he pays attention to details that seem irrelevant, and then he solves the case with a certainty that irritates everyone around him. Fred Vargas built this character in the early 1990s and has spent three decades finding new situations to put him in.

The Chalk Circle Man, the first English-translated entry, established the essential strangeness of the series: there is genuine mystery here, but it arrives wrapped in atmosphere and character rather than puzzle mechanics. Books like Have Mercy on Us All invoke bubonic plague panic in modern Paris, while The Ghost Riders of Ordebec draws on Norman folklore about spectral armies. Vargas uses historical and folkloric material not as decoration but as the actual substance of what her cases are about.

The series has been published across many languages, and a number of the entries listed here are the original French or foreign-language editions rather than English translations. English-language readers will find the translated titles (The Chalk Circle Man, Seeking Whom He May Devour, Have Mercy on Us All, and onward) are the accessible entry points. The series rewards starting from the beginning, though the books are self-contained enough that later entries can be approached without the full context.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Commissaire Adamsberg series?

There are twenty books in the Commissaire Adamsberg series, published between 1991 and 2023.

What is the first book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series?

The first book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series is Sinisten ympyröiden mies, published in 1991.

What makes Commissaire Adamsberg different from other detective series protagonists?

Adamsberg works almost entirely on instinct and atmosphere rather than logic or evidence, which puts him at constant odds with his more methodical colleagues. He drifts through cases in a way that looks like distraction until he suddenly knows something, and that odd rhythm is central to the appeal of the series.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order