Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Philosophical Investigation | 1992 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 2 | Dead Meat | 1993 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 3 | Gridiron / The Grid | 1995 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 4 | Esau | 1996 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 5 | A Five-Year Plan | 1998 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 6 | The Second Angel | 1999 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 7 | The Shot | 1999 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 8 | Dark Matter | 2002 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 9 | Hitler’s Peace | 2005 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 10 | Prayer | 2013 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 11 | The Winter Horses | 2014 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 12 | Research | 2014 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
| 13 | The Most Frightening Story Ever Told | 2016 | Philip Kerr | Buy |
Philip Kerr wrote thirteen standalone novels across his career, and they cover far more ground than his series work might suggest. His debut standalone, A Philosophical Investigation (1992), imagines a near-future London where potential serial killers can be identified through brain scans. Gridiron (published in the US as The Grid) is an early techno-thriller about a computerized building that turns lethal. Esau follows an expedition into the Himalayas in search of a lost hominid species.
Several of the standalones draw on historical settings. Hitler’s Peace reimagines the 1943 Tehran Conference with an assassination plot at its center, while Dark Matter blends historical fiction with detective work as it follows Isaac Newton’s real-life investigations at the Royal Mint. Kerr also wrote for younger audiences outside his P.B. Kerr pen name, including The Winter Horses, a children’s novel set during World War II. The range of these books, from science fiction to horror to historical adventure, reflects a writer with broad interests and the skill to work convincingly across them.