Reading Order
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Start with The Borgias and continue through all 18 books in the listed reading order.
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Start with The Borgias
Book 1 by Alexandre Dumas • Published 1839
Dumas’s portrait of the Borgia family follows Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia through ruthless manoeuvres in Renaissance Italy. Poison, arranged marriages, and shifting alliances show how spiritual authority and raw amb...
Complete List
Celebrated Crimes reading order
Ends with Mary Stuart Queen of Scots
- 1
Book 1:The Borgias
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
Dumas’s portrait of the Borgia family follows Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia through ruthless manoeuvres in Renaissance Italy. Poison, arranged marriages, and shifting alliances show how spiritual authority and raw amb...
- 2
Book 2:Massacres of the South
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
This volume examines anti‑Protestant violence in southern France, tracing how propaganda, fear, and revenge produced waves of slaughter. Dumas balances scenes of mob fury with portraits of individuals caught between f...
- 3
Book 3:Karl-Ludwig Sand
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
Here Dumas recounts the story of student Karl‑Ludwig Sand, who assassinated writer August von Kotzebue and was executed. The narrative explores youthful idealism, political repression, and how martyrdom can be manufac...
- 4
Book 4:Urbain Grandier
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
A more focused version of the Loudun case, this piece follows priest Urbain Grandier from local quarrels to accusations of sorcery. Exorcisms, forged evidence, and public spectacle reveal how easily justice bends to p...
- 5
Book 5:The Countess of Saint Geran
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
Based on a seventeenth‑century cause célèbre, this story tells of a noble couple whose long‑awaited heir vanishes in infancy. Years later, a mysterious young man appears, and questions of identity, inheritance, and lo...
- 6
Book 6:Murat
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
Dumas sketches the life of Joachim Murat, dashing cavalry commander and king of Naples. Bold charges, risky politics, and his final, doomed attempt to reclaim a throne make for a tragic study in charisma and overreach.
- 7
Book 7:The Marquise de Ganges
Alexandre Dumas • 1839
A beautiful young marquise finds herself trapped in a household ruled by her husband’s sinister brothers. Flattery turns to threats, then poison plots, as Dumas traces how family greed can twist devotion into lethal h...
- 8
Book 8:The Cenci
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Retelling a notorious Italian case, this narrative follows Beatrice Cenci and her family under the cruel rule of her father. Abuse, a desperate plot to kill him, and a harsh papal justice system drive the story toward...
- 9
Book 9:Nisida
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Set around the island of Nisida near Naples, this dark tale unfolds as a confession of crime and misplaced love. Storms, prisons, and an ill‑fated relationship show how passion and revenge can entangle generations.
- 10
Book 10:Derues
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Dumas portrays Derues as a pious‑seeming shopkeeper whose greed leads him to forgery, fraud, and murder. Slowly tightening chapters follow his lies, the suspicions of neighbours, and the evidence that finally unmasks...
- 11
Book 11:La Constantin
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
This piece centres on Catherine Deshayes, known as La Voisin or La Constantin, implicated in fortune‑telling, abortions, and poisonings under Louis XIV. Dumas shows how superstition, fear, and high‑born clients fed a...
- 12
Book 12:Joan of Naples
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Queen Joanna I of Naples rules a turbulent kingdom where lovers, cousins, and political rivals all have claims. Accusations of murder and scandal swirl as Dumas explores how a woman on a medieval throne navigates powe...
- 13
Book 13:Martin Guerre
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Drawing on the famous case of the missing peasant, this story follows a man who returns to his village after years away—or so it seems. Dumas plays out the doubts of wife and neighbours as identity itself goes on trial.
- 14
Book 14:Ali Pacha
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
Set in the Balkans, this narrative traces the rise of Ali Pacha of Ioannina from provincial warlord to near‑independent ruler. Ruthless tactics, shifting alliances, and a bloody fall show how local power can defy, the...
- 16
Book 16:Vaninka
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
In tsarist Russia, proud noblewoman Vaninka falls in love with a guards officer beneath her station. Their secret affair, mixed with hints of conspiracy, ends in betrayal and harsh punishment from a state that trusts...
- 17
Book 17:The Marquise de Brinvilliers
Alexandre Dumas • 1840
A fuller version of the Brinvilliers story, this work follows the marchioness from her education in poisons to the long series of quiet murders in her family. Court gossip and police investigation finally bring her to...
- 18
Book 18:The Man in the Iron Mask
Alexandre Dumas
Use the reading order above to move through the series in the intended sequence.
- 19
Book 19:Mary Stuart Queen of Scots
Alexandre Dumas • 1896
Dumas condenses the dramatic life of Mary, Queen of Scots, from glittering French courts to Scottish rebellions and English imprisonment. Marriages, plots, and diplomatic betrayals lead inexorably toward her execution...
Quick Answers
Celebrated Crimes FAQ
What is the best order to read the Celebrated Crimes series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with The Borgias.
How many books are in the Celebrated Crimes series?
There are 18 books currently listed in the Celebrated Crimes series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Celebrated Crimes series?
New readers should start with The Borgias, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Celebrated Crimes series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears likely complete and spans releases from 1839 to 1896.