The Travis McGee books in order follow a self-described salvage consultant who lives aboard the Busted Flush in Fort Lauderdale. When someone has lost money, property, security, or a good name and has nowhere else to turn, McGee may agree to recover it in exchange for half of what he salvages.
John D. MacDonald published 21 Travis McGee novels between 1964 and 1985. The series blends hard-boiled mysteries with sharp observations about Florida, unchecked development, corruption, consumerism, and the social changes unfolding around McGee.
Jump to:
- Travis McGee Books in Publication Order
- Travis McGee Companion Book
- Travis McGee Book-to-Screen Adaptations
- About John D. MacDonald
Travis McGee Books in Publication Order
There are 21 novels in the Travis McGee series. The first book is The Deep Blue Good-by, which introduces McGee, the Busted Flush, and his unusual work as a salvage consultant.
I recommend reading the series in publication order. Most of the central cases are resolved within a single novel, so you can understand many of the books on their own. However, McGee’s friendships, relationships, losses, and outlook develop across the series, and that continuity becomes more important in the later books.
- The Deep Blue Good-by (1964)
- Nightmare in Pink (1964)
- A Purple Place for Dying (1964)
- The Quick Red Fox (1964)
- A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965)
- Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965)
- Darker Than Amber (1966)
- One Fearful Yellow Eye (1966)
- Pale Gray for Guilt (1968)
- The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968)
- Dress Her in Indigo (1969)
- The Long Lavender Look (1970)
- A Tan and Sandy Silence (1972)
- The Scarlet Ruse (1973)
- The Turquoise Lament (1973)
- The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1974)
- The Empty Copper Sea (1978)
- The Green Ripper (1979)
- Free Fall in Crimson (1981)
- Cinnamon Skin (1982)
- The Lonely Silver Rain (1985)
Some editions use slightly different title styling. You may see The Deep Blue Good-By or The Deep Blue Goodbye, A Nightmare in Pink, and the British spelling Pale Grey for Guilt. These are alternate forms of the same novels, not additional books.
Travis McGee Companion Book
- Reading for Survival (1987)
Reading for Survival is a brief, posthumously published dialogue featuring Travis McGee and Meyer as they discuss reading, education, and critical thinking. It isn’t a novel, novella, or conventional short story, so it doesn’t belong in the numbered series.
I consider it an optional companion for readers who want a little more time with the characters after finishing The Lonely Silver Rain. It doesn’t affect the reading order.
Travis McGee Book-to-Screen Adaptations
Two Travis McGee novels have received screen adaptations. Neither production led to an ongoing film or television series.
Darker Than Amber (1970)
Darker Than Amber is a theatrical adaptation of the seventh Travis McGee novel. Rod Taylor plays McGee, while Theodore Bikel plays Meyer. The movie keeps the Florida setting and the book’s central story about a woman McGee and Meyer rescue after she is thrown from a bridge.
The film condenses the novel and heightens some of its violence, but it remains the more recognizable screen version of MacDonald’s Florida world. In my view, it’s the better place to start with the adaptations because the setting, characters, and main mystery remain close to the source material.
Travis McGee (1983)
Travis McGee is a television movie based primarily on The Empty Copper Sea, with Sam Elliott as McGee and Gene Evans as Meyer. It follows McGee’s effort to clear boat captain Van Harder after a suspicious disappearance at sea damages his reputation.
The movie makes major changes to the series. It moves McGee from Florida to California, replaces the Busted Flush houseboat with a sailboat, and incorporates material connected to The Green Ripper. The main mystery is still recognizable, but I think the loss of the Florida setting makes it a less faithful adaptation overall.
About John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald was an American novelist and short-story writer born in 1916. He graduated from Syracuse University and earned an MBA from Harvard before briefly working in insurance sales and automobile repossession. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army and the Office of Strategic Services in Asia.
MacDonald began selling short fiction after his wife submitted one of his stories to a magazine without telling him. He wrote crime, adventure, and science fiction before publishing his first novel, the hard-boiled mystery The Brass Cupcake, in 1950.
The Travis McGee series began with The Deep Blue Good-by in 1964 and ended with The Lonely Silver Rain in 1985. MacDonald used McGee’s cases to explore Florida’s rapid development, environmental damage, political corruption, real-estate schemes, and changing social values. I think that strong sense of place is one of the main reasons the novels remain distinctive.
The books also reflect the period in which they were written. Modern readers may find some portrayals of women and other social attitudes dated, even when the mysteries and MacDonald’s observations still feel sharp.
MacDonald died in 1986. Reading for Survival, his final Travis McGee-related work, was published posthumously in 1987.
Looking for similar books in order?
If you want more mystery authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Mystery Books in Order index.