The Big Stretch:
The Longest-Running Series, By Number of Novels
(not including short stories, collections or omnibus editions)

According to all the evidence I could gather, the Larry Kent series by "Larry Kent," a house name, is the longest-running P.I. series of all-time, while Le Manchot by Pierre Saurel is the longest-running series by a single author and the Spenser series by Robert Parker is the longest-running current series by a single author, although Bill Pronzini's Nameless series isn't very far behind.

Series Author(s) Number
of books		 Time Span Duration
LARRY KENT Larry Kent
(house name)		 431 (approximately) 1954-80's 26+ years
LE POULPE
(Gabriel Lecouvreur)		 Various 119, and counting.. 1995 -- 10+ years
MIKE SHAYNE Brett Halliday
(house name)		 77 (29 by Halliday) 1939-1976 37 years
LE MANCHOT
(Robert Dumont)		 Pierre Saurel 47 1980-1997 17 years
DANNY SPADE Danny Spade
(AKA Dail Ambler)		 42 1950-1954 4 years
MARK PRESTON Peter Chambers
(pseud. of Dennis Phillips)		 36 1961-1992 31 years
ED NOON  Michael Avallone  35? 1953-1988 33 years
SHELL SCOTT Richard S. Prather 35 1950-1987 37 years
SPENSER  Robert B. Parker 36 and counting 1973 - 35 years *
NAMELESS Bill Pronzini 32 and counting 1971- 37 years*
RICK HOLMAN Carter Brown  31 1961-76 15 years
DANNY BOYD Carter Brown 30? 1956-84 28 years
NESTOR BURMA Léo Malet 29 1943-1971 28 years
BERTHA COOL
& DONALD LAM 		 A.A. Fair
(Earle Stanley Gardner) 		 29 1939-1970 31 years
JOHNNY LIDDELL Frank Kane 29 1947-67 20 years
PETER CHAMBERS Henry Kane 29 1947-72 25 years
SHARON McCONE Marcia Muller 26 1977- 31 years*
TRAVIS McGEE John D. MacDonald  21  1964-1984  20 years
KINSEY MILLHONE Sue Grafton 19 of 26 proposed 1982- 26 years *
DAN FORTUNE Michael Collins 17 1967- 38 years
       
* Presumed to be an on-going series

| Home | Detectives A-L M-Z | Film | Radio | Television | Web Comics | Comics | FAQs |
| Trivia | Authors | Hall of Fame | Mystery Links | Bibliography | Glossary | Search |
| What's New: On The Site | On the Street | Non-Fiction | Fiction | Staff | The P.I. Poll |

Got a comment on this site? Drop me a line, and we'll talk.
"And I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk."


Associate Member