Garrett P.I.
#3014.05 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 14 books Status Ongoing 1987–present Reading commitment High Glen Cook Last reviewed 2026-08-30
Overview
Garrett P.I. follows a private investigator working the streets of TunFaire, capital of the kingdom of Karenta, a sprawling, magic-soaked port city populated by humans, elves, dwarves, ogres, and numerous other races, set against the backdrop of a generations-long war with the rival kingdom Venageta over silver mines needed to fuel magic. Glen Cook, already in this canon for The Black Company, began the sequence in 1987 and continued it, one novel at a time, through 2013, following Garrett as he moves from barely scraping by to accumulating wealth, property, and romantic entanglements while solving increasingly complex, often politically dangerous cases. Cook deliberately crafted the series as an homage to classic hard-boiled detective writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, transplanting noir investigative conventions and dialogue-driven humor into a richly detailed fantasy city rife with corruption and crime.
Sword & sorcery, Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (14 works) counts toward ranking
Garrett P.I. Glen Cook
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sweet Silver Blues | 1987 | 1 | core | 3.88 (6,328 ratings) |
 | Bitter Gold Hearts | 1988 | 2 | core | 4.07 (3,977 ratings) |
 | Cold Copper Tears | 1988 | 3 | core | 4.11 (3,748 ratings) |
 | Old Tin Sorrows | 1989 | 4 | core | 4.15 (3,034 ratings) |
 | Dread Brass Shadows | 1990 | 5 | core | 4.09 (2,901 ratings) |
 | Red Iron Nights | 1991 | 6 | core | 4.13 (2,555 ratings) |
 | Deadly Quicksilver Lies | 1994 | 7 | core | 4.06 (2,437 ratings) |
 | Petty Pewter Gods | 1995 | 8 | core | 3.94 (2,423 ratings) |
 | Faded Steel Heat | 1999 | 9 | core | 4.08 (2,221 ratings) |
 | Angry Lead Skies | 2002 | 10 | core | 4.00 (2,153 ratings) |
 | Whispering Nickel Idols | 2005 | 11 | core | 4.09 (2,093 ratings) |
 | Cruel Zinc Melodies | 2008 | 12 | core | 4.12 (1,933 ratings) |
 | Gilded Latten Bones | 2010 | 13 | core | 4.15 (1,787 ratings) |
 | Wicked Bronze Ambition | 2013 | 14 | core | 4.12 (1,397 ratings) |
Core Canon = the 14-novel main sequence. Fourteen books were originally published one at a time from 1987 to 2013; omnibus reissues of groups of three exist but add no new content and are not catalogued separately.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Garrett P.I.? Garrett P.I.'s Core Canon is 14 books.
- What is the reading order for Garrett P.I.? Publication order, starting with Sweet Silver Blues. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Garrett P.I. finished? Ongoing (1987–present).
- How much reading does Garrett P.I. take? High reading commitment (estimated from 14 Core Canon books · ~4,692 pages).
- How is Garrett P.I. ranked? #301 in this site's official ranking, based on 38,987 reader ratings across 14 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #301?
Ranked #301 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.05 across 14 core books.
- A smaller readership (38,987 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #300, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 14 books · Ongoing · 39k ratings · Ranks #301 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running sword-and-sorcery universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (14 Core Canon books)
- Sweet Silver Blues (1987)
- Bitter Gold Hearts (1988)
- Cold Copper Tears (1988)
- Old Tin Sorrows (1989)
- Dread Brass Shadows (1990)
- Red Iron Nights (1991)
- Deadly Quicksilver Lies (1994)
- Petty Pewter Gods (1995)
- Faded Steel Heat (1999)
- Angry Lead Skies (2002)
- Whispering Nickel Idols (2005)
- Cruel Zinc Melodies (2008)
- Gilded Latten Bones (2010)
- Wicked Bronze Ambition (2013)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No verified awards found for this series.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.05 across 38,987 ratings on 14 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Garrett P.I. (Glen Cook), The Corean Chronicles (L.E. Modesitt Jr.), Lives of the Mayfair Witches (Anne Rice) accepted 2026-08-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Garrett P.I. Tier 2
- OrderOfBooks.com: Garrett P.I. Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-08-31
Rule: Core Canon = the complete 14-novel main sequence (1987-2013), a single continuous narrative. No Expanded tier: no companion short fiction or reference material exists in this setting.