Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxwell’s House | 1994 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 2 | Maxwell’s Flame | 1995 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 3 | Maxwell’s Movie | 1998 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 4 | Maxwell’s War | 1999 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 5 | Maxwell’s Curse | 2000 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 6 | Maxwell’s Ride | 2000 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 7 | Maxwell’s Reunion | 2001 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 8 | Maxwell’s Match | 2002 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 9 | Maxwell’s Inspection | 2003 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 10 | Maxwell’s Grave | 2005 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 11 | Maxwell’s Mask | 2005 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 12 | Maxwell’s Point | 2007 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 13 | Maxwell’s Chain | 2008 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 14 | Maxwell’s Revenge | 2009 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 15 | Maxwell’s Retirement | 2010 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 16 | Maxwell’s Island | 2011 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 17 | Maxwell’s Crossing | 2012 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 18 | Maxwell’s Return | 2014 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 19 | Maxwell’s Academy | 2015 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
| 20 | Maxwell’s Summer | 2020 | M.J. Trow | Buy |
Peter Maxwell is a secondary school history teacher with a black cat called Metternich, a battered bike, and an unfortunate tendency to find himself near dead bodies. Trow created the character in 1994 and wrote him across twenty books spanning more than two decades, giving Maxwell a settled voice — dry, historically literate, and fond of theatrical references — that anchors even the most outlandish plots.
The books follow a consistent pattern: a murder occurs in or near Maxwell’s fictional south coast school, local police prove uncertain of their ground, and Maxwell’s combination of local knowledge, historical reasoning, and sheer bloody-mindedness eventually untangles the case. Trow’s experience as a teacher gives the school sequences particular texture — the staff room politics, the bureaucratic language of inspections, and the rhythms of the academic year all feel accurate.
The series covers Maxwell’s professional and personal life across twenty books, including his relationship with police sergeant Jacquie Carpenter, who becomes an increasingly important figure. Maxwell’s Summer (2020) brought the original run of the series to a close, though a second series grouping under the Schoolmaster Murder Mysteries banner continued with new entries in 2025.