Joan Aiken books in order
English writer
- Lived
- 1924–2004
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Books
- 115
- Series
- 3
Joan Aiken published 38 novels, 6 novellas, 28 short story collections, 29 children's books, 2 plays and 12 other books, beginning with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962). The 3 series include Arabel and Mortimer (13 books, starting with Arabel's Raven), Main (12 books, starting with The Whispering Mountain (Wolves #0)) and Felix trilogy (3 books, starting with Go Saddle the Sea).
Updated September 2026
Arabel and Mortimer books in order (13)Series page
Reading order: 1 Arabel's Raven (1974) · 2 Escaped Black Mamba (1973) · 3 The Bread Bin (1990) · 4 Mortimer's Tie (1976) · 5 Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur (1979) · 6 The Spiral Stair (1979) · 7 The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi (1988) · 8 Mortimer's Portrait on Glass (1982) · 9 Mortimer's Cross (1983) · 10 Mortimer Says Nothing (1985) · … all 13 below
- 1.
Arabel's Raven (1974)
- 2.
Escaped Black Mamba (1973)
- 3.
The Bread Bin (1990)
- 4.
Mortimer's Tie (1976)
- 5.
Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur (1979)
- 6.
The Spiral Stair (1979)
- 7.
The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi (1988)
- 8.
Mortimer's Portrait on Glass (1982)
- 9.
Mortimer's Cross (1983)
- 10.
Mortimer Says Nothing (1985)
- 11.
Arabel and Mortimer (1980)
- 12.
Mortimer's Mine (1994)
- 13.
Mayhem in Rumbury (1995)
Main books in order (12)
Reading order: 1 The Whispering Mountain (Wolves #0) (1968) · 2 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) · 3 Black Hearts in Battersea (1964) · 4 Nightbirds on Nantucket (1966) · 5 The Stolen Lake (1981) · 6 Limbo Lodge (Wolves #5) (1999) · 7 The Cuckoo Tree (1971) · 8 Dido and Pa (Wolves #7) (1986) · 9 Is (1992) · 10 Cold Shoulder Road (Wolves #9) (1995) · … all 12 below
- 1.
The Whispering Mountain (Wolves #0) (1968)
- 2.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962)
- 3.
Black Hearts in Battersea (1964)
- 4.
Nightbirds on Nantucket (1966)
- 5.
The Stolen Lake (1981)
- 6.
Limbo Lodge (Wolves #5) (1999)
- 7.
The Cuckoo Tree (1971)
- 8.
Dido and Pa (Wolves #7) (1986)
- 9.
Is (1992)
- 10.
Cold Shoulder Road (Wolves #9) (1995)
- 11.
Midwinter Nightingale (Wolves of Willoughby Chase) (2003)
- 12.
The Witch of Clatteringshaws (Wolves #11) (2005)
Felix trilogy books in order (3)Series page
Reading order: 1 Go Saddle the Sea (1983) · 2 Bridle the Wind (1983) · 3 The Teeth of the Gale (1988)
- 1.
Go Saddle the Sea (1983)
- 2.
Bridle the Wind (1983)
- 3.
The Teeth of the Gale (1988)
Where to start with Joan Aiken
Start here
The Whispering Mountain (Wolves #0)
Book 1 of Main, the series that includes The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken's most-read book.
Shortest way in
The Five-Minute Marriage
One of the most-read, at about 304 pages.
Standalone novels in order
The Silence of Herondale (1964)
The Ribs of Death (1967)
The Embroidered Sunset (1970)
Dark Interval (1972)
The Buttefly Picnic (1972)
Castle Barebane (1976)
Last Movement (1977)
The Five-Minute Marriage (1977)
The Smile of the Stranger (1978)
The Weeping Ash (1980)
Trouble with Product X (1980)
The Girl from Paris (1982)
The Young Lady From Paris (1982)
Foul Matter (1983)
Mansfield Revisited (1984)
A Goose on Your Grave (1987)
Deception (1987)
Blackground (1989)
Going Wrong (1990)
Jane Fairfax (1990)
The Haunting of Lamb House (1991)
Morningquest (1992)
Eliza's Daughter (1994)
Emma Watson (1996)
The Youngest Miss Ward (1998)
Lady Catherine's Necklace (2000)
In Thunders Pocket (2012)
Novellas in order
Mice and Mendelson (1978)
A Foot in the Grave (1989)
The Erl King's Daughter (Jan 1989)
Return to Harken House (1990)
The Song Of Mat And Ben (2001)
Ghostly Beasts (2002)
Short story collections in order
Necklace of Raindrops (1968)
A Small Pinch of Weather (1969)
Smoke from Cromwell's Time (1970)
The Green Flash, and Other Tales of Horror, Suspense, and Fantasy (1971)
A Harp of Fishbones and Other Stories (1972)
All but a Few (1974)
Not What You Expected (1974)
The Faithless Lollybird (1977)
The Far Forests (1977)
A Touch of Chill (1979)
A Whisper in the Night (1981)
The Kitchen Warriors (1983)
Up the Chimney Down and Other Stories (1984)
Past Eight O'Clock (1986)
Tale of a One-Way Street (1986)
Give Yourself a Fright (1989)
A Fit of Shivers (1990)
Chilling Christmas Tales (1992)
A Creepy Company (1993)
Haunting Christmas Tales (1993)
The Winter Sleepwalker and Other Stories (1994)
Shadows & Moonshine (2001)
Snow Horse and Other Stories (2004)
The Serial Garden (2008)
The Monkey's Wedding, and Other Stories (2011)
Children's books in order
Died on a Rainy Sunday (1972)
The Kingdom and the Cave (1973)
Midnight Is a Place (1974)
The Cat-flap and the Apple Pie, and Other Funny Stories (1979)
The Shadow Guests (1980)
Fog Hounds; Wind Cat; Sea Mice (1984)
The Moon's Revenge (1987)
Arabel, Mortimer and the Escaped Black Mamba (1989)
The Shoemaker's Boy (1991)
Mortimer and Arabel (1992)
Is Underground (Wolves #8) (1993)
The Cockatrice Boys (1996)
The Jewel Seed (1998)
Dangerous Games (Wolves #5) (1999)
Bone and Dream (A St. Boan Mystery) (2002)
The Scream (2002)
The Wooden Dragon (2004)
Plays in order
Winterthing; a Play for Children (1972)
Winterthing, and the Mooncusser's Daughter: Two Plays for Children (1973)
Other books in order
Beware of the Bouquet (1966)
Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home (1968)
Night Fall (1968)
The Crystal Crow (1968)
The Kingdom Under the Sea and Other Stories (1971)
A Cluster of Separate Sparks (1972)
Voices in an Empty House (1975)
If I Were You (1987)
The Way to Write for Children (1998)
Is and Cold Shoulder Road (Wolves of Willoughby Chase) (2005)
About Joan Aiken
Joan Delano Aiken was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For The Whispering Mountain, published by Jonathan Cape in 1968, she won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers, and she was a commended runner-up for the Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British writer. She won an Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972) for Night Fall.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Joan Aiken FAQ
- How many books has Joan Aiken written?
- Joan Aiken published 38 novels, 6 novellas, 28 short story collections, 29 children's books, 2 plays and 12 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Joan Aiken's books in?
- Read each series in its own order: start Arabel and Mortimer with Arabel's Raven, Main with The Whispering Mountain (Wolves #0) and Felix trilogy with Go Saddle the Sea. The other books stand alone and can be read in any order.
- What is Joan Aiken's last book?
- Snow Horse and Other Stories (2004).
- What is Joan Aiken's most famous book?
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) is Joan Aiken's most widely read book.
- Are Joan Aiken's books connected?
- 28 books belong to 3 series (Arabel and Mortimer, Main and Felix trilogy); the other 87 books stand alone.
Authors like Joan Aiken
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.