Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Supreme Adventure of Inspector Lestrade | 1985 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 2 | Brigade | 1986 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 3 | Lestrade and the Hallowed House | 1987 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 4 | Lestrade and the Leviathan | 1987 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 5 | Lestrade and the Brother of Death / Lestrade and the Brigade | 1988 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 6 | Lestrade and the Ripper | 1988 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 7 | Lestrade and the Deadly Game | 1990 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 8 | Lestrade and the Guardian Angel | 1990 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 9 | Lestrade and the Gift of the Prince | 1991 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 10 | Lestrade and the Magpie | 1991 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 11 | Lestrade and the Dead Man’s Hand | 1992 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 12 | Lestrade and the Sign of Nine | 1992 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 13 | Lestrade and the Sawdust Ring | 1993 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 14 | Lestrade and the Mirror of Murder | 1993 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 15 | Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus | 1995 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 16 | Lestrade and the Devil’s Own | 1996 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 17 | Lestrade and the Giant Rat of Sumatra | 2014 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 18 | The World of Inspector Lestrade | 2019 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
The Lestrade series began in 1985 with The Supreme Adventure of Inspector Lestrade, and Trow has returned to the character repeatedly across four decades. The premise is a gentle inversion of Conan Doyle’s hierarchy: Lestrade, routinely dismissed as a plodder in the original stories, turns out to be a thorough and often perceptive detective who solves crimes Holmes doesn’t always notice. The joke never becomes mean-spirited — Trow’s Lestrade is fond of Holmes even as he quietly gets on with the actual work.
The series covers the Victorian and Edwardian eras across eighteen books, giving Trow room to move through the major events and anxieties of the period — Jack the Ripper appears in Lestrade and the Ripper (1988), and the Olympic Games feature in Lestrade and the Deadly Game (1990). The historical texture is consistent with Trow’s non-fiction background, and the period detail feels earned rather than decorative.
After a long gap, Lestrade and the Giant Rat of Sumatra appeared in 2014 — a title borrowed from a famous “untold case” mentioned by Watson — and the series concluded in 2019 with The World of Inspector Lestrade. The gap between the 1996 and 2014 entries is notable, and the two later books have a slightly different feel, but the character’s voice remains recognizable throughout.