Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fool’s Errand | 1999 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 2 | Endangered Species | 2001 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 3 | Mr. Timothy | 2002 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 4 | The Pale Blue Eye | 2006 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 5 | The Black Tower | 2008 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 6 | The School of Night | 2010 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 7 | Roosevelt’s Beast / The Beast in the Jungle | 2014 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 8 | Lucky Strikes | 2016 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 9 | Courting Mr. Lincoln | 2019 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 10 | Jackie and Me | 2022 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
| 11 | The Wildes | 2024 | Louis Bayard | Buy |
Louis Bayard’s standalone novels span contemporary fiction and historical mystery. His early books Fool’s Errand (1999) and Endangered Species (2001) are contemporary novels, while everything from Mr. Timothy (2002) onward is set in the past.
The historical novels share a common approach: each is built around a real person or period, reimagined through Bayard’s blend of research and invention. The Pale Blue Eye and The Black Tower are mysteries, Lucky Strikes is set during the Depression, and Courting Mr. Lincoln imagines the future president’s early romantic life. His most recent, The Wildes (2024), turns to the family of Oscar Wilde.