The Southern Vampire Mysteries reading order

A plan for the whole series

13 volumes, 4,314 pages, about 80 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 3 months.

• Readers scored volume 5, “Dead as a Doornail”, below its predecessor (7.5 after 7.7). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

5 stages, with 4 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around March 5, 2027, about 3 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 117 habout 3 weeksby November 20, 2026

   • 1. Dead Until Dark2001 · 326 pages · 6 h
   • 2. Living Dead in Dallas2002 · 291 pages · 5 h
   • 3. Club Dead2003 · 297 pages · 5 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 24, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 218 habout 3 weeksby December 18, 2026

   • 4. Dead to the World2004 · 320 pages · 6 h
   • 5. Dead as a Doornail2005 · 310 pages · 6 h
   • 6. Definitely Dead2006 · 352 pages · 6 h
4. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 22, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 319 habout 4 weeksby January 16, 2027

   • 7. All Together Dead2007 · 338 pages · 6 h
   • 8. From Dead to Worse2008 · 359 pages · 7 h
   • 9. Dead and Gone2009 · 320 pages · 6 h
6. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by January 20, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 419 habout 4 weeksby February 15, 2027

   • 10. Dead in the Family2010 · 320 pages · 6 h
   • 11. Dead Reckoning2011 · 368 pages · 7 h
   • 12. Deadlocked2012 · 368 pages · 7 h
8. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by February 24, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 56 h8 daysby March 5, 2027

   • 13. Dead Ever After2013 · 345 pages · 6 h
10. The end of the series

    March 5, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: uneven. Scores jump by 0.6 points with no clear direction.

Best volume: Dead to the World (7.7, 356 ratings). Weakest: Dead Ever After (7.1). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.1) scores close to the series average or above it.