Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strangers on a Train | 1950 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 2 | The Price of Salt / Carol | 1952 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 3 | The Blunderer | 1954 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 4 | Deep Water | 1957 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 5 | A Game for the Living | 1958 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 6 | This Sweet Sickness | 1960 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 7 | The Cry of the Owl | 1962 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 8 | The Two Faces of January | 1964 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 9 | The Glass Cell | 1964 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 10 | A Suspension of Mercy / The Story-Teller | 1965 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 11 | Those Who Walk Away | 1967 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 12 | The Tremor of Forgery | 1969 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 13 | A Dog’s Ransom | 1972 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 14 | Edith’s Diary | 1977 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 15 | People Who Knock on the Door | 1983 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 16 | Found in the Street | 1986 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 17 | Small g | 1994 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
Patricia Highsmith’s standalone novels cover the full range of her career, from Strangers on a Train in 1950 to Small g in 1994. Many of them explore the same themes as the Ripley books: identity, deception, and the thin line between ordinary life and violence. The Blunderer, Deep Water, and A Suspension of Mercy all feature protagonists whose dark impulses gradually overtake their normal lives.
The Price of Salt (1952), later republished as Carol, is a special case in Highsmith’s catalog. Written under a pseudonym initially, it tells the story of a love affair between two women and was unusual for its time in giving the relationship a hopeful ending. The 2015 film adaptation brought the novel back into the spotlight. Highsmith’s other standalones are less well-known but consistently praised by readers who appreciate crime fiction with a literary edge and a willingness to inhabit morally uncomfortable territory.