The Recommended Ripley Reading Order
If you want to experience the progression of Tom Ripley’s dark career, the best path is simple: follow the publication order. The series of five novels, collectively known as the "Ripliad," flows in a single chronological line, with each book building upon the crimes, relationships, and fragile security established in the previous stories.
Here is the recommended reading order for the Ripley books:
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
- Ripley Under Ground (1970)
- Ripley's Game (1974)
- The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
- Ripley Under Water (1991)
Where to Start Reading
You should absolutely start with the first book, The Talented Mr. Ripley. While Patricia Highsmith writes each novel to stand reasonably well on its own—often summarizing past crimes to catch the reader up—starting anywhere else will spoil the major twists of the earlier books. Furthermore, the pleasure of the series lies in watching Tom evolve from a desperate, penniless young con artist in New York into a wealthy, cultured country gentleman living in France, whose refined life is constantly threatened by his past misdeeds.
Publication vs. Chronological Order: The Aging Antihero
Unlike some crime series with complex prequels or parallel timelines, the Ripliad has a straightforward chronological order that perfectly mirrors its publication order. However, readers should be prepared for a fascinating temporal anomaly regarding Tom Ripley's age and the world around him.
Patricia Highsmith wrote the five books over a span of 36 years, from 1955 to 1991. In the real world, Europe underwent massive cultural, political, and technological transformations during this period. In Ripley’s world, however, the timeline is highly compressed. Tom is about 25 years old in the first book, and by the final novel, he is only in his early-to-mid 40s.
This compression creates some amusing timeline inconsistencies. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, characters rely on transatlantic ocean liners, postal mail, and telegrams. By the time we reach Ripley Under Water, the setting feels distinctly like the late 1980s or early 1990s, featuring modern conveniences, yet Tom has aged less than two decades. Highsmith prioritizes psychological atmosphere and contemporary settings over strict mathematical continuity, meaning readers should just sit back and enjoy the ride without trying to map out a precise calendar.
A Deep Dive into the Ripliad Novels
1. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
We meet Tom Ripley as a young man scraping by in New York City, running minor mail fraud schemes. When wealthy shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf mistakes Tom for a friend of his spoiled, expatriate son Dickie, Tom is sent to Italy to convince Dickie to return home. Once in the sunny coastal village of Mongibello, Tom becomes obsessed with Dickie's wealthy lifestyle, leading to a desperate, murderous plot to usurp his identity.
2. Ripley Under Ground (1970)
Set six years after the events of the first book, Tom is now married to Heloise, a wealthy French heiress, and lives in a beautiful estate called Belle Ombre outside Paris. His comfortable life is financed in part by an art forgery ring he runs. When an American collector begins to suspect that the paintings of a dead artist named Derwatt are fakes, Tom must travel to London and adopt a series of disguises to protect his cover, resulting in another spiral of cover-ups.
3. Ripley's Game (1974)
Perhaps the most tightly plotted book in the series, this installment shows Tom at his most manipulative. Offended by a snub from a local English picture framer named Jonathan Trevanny, who is terminally ill with leukemia, Tom decides to play a sinister game. He orchestrates a scenario where Trevanny is offered a massive sum of money to commit a contract killing in Germany, drawing an innocent family man into his own dark orbit.
4. The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
This novel displays a softer, almost paternal side of Tom. He is approached in France by Frank Smith, a runaway American teenager who is harboring a dark secret: he murdered his own wheelchair-bound millionaire father. Sensing a kindred spirit, Tom takes the boy under his wing, traveling with him to Berlin’s underworld. When Frank is kidnapped by criminals looking for a ransom, Tom uses all his cunning to rescue him.
5. Ripley Under Water (1991)
In the final novel of the series, Tom's peaceful life at Belle Ombre is disrupted by the arrival of a bizarre, intrusive American couple, Janice and David Pritchard. David is obsessed with Tom's past and begins searching the local canals for the body of an art collector who went missing in Ripley Under Ground. The book plays out as a tense, psychological game of cat-and-mouse, culminating in a dramatic confrontation on the water.
Screen Adaptations: How They Compare
The Ripley books have inspired multiple high-profile screen adaptations, each offering a unique take on Highsmith's antihero:
- Purple Noon (Plein Soleil) (1960): Directed by René Clément and starring Alain Delon as Tom, this French adaptation of the first book is famous for its gorgeous, sun-drenched visuals and Delon’s charismatic but cold portrayal, though it alters the novel’s ending.
- The American Friend (1977): Wim Wenders adapted Ripley's Game (while pulling elements from Ripley Under Ground), starring Dennis Hopper as an unconventional, cowboy-hat-wearing Tom Ripley in Hamburg.
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999): Anthony Minghella's famous film stars Matt Damon as a more sympathetic, emotionally vulnerable Tom, alongside Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Ripley's Game (2002): John Malkovich delivers a chilly, older, and highly sophisticated version of Ripley in this faithful adaptation of the third book.
- Ripley Under Ground (2005): Starring Barry Pepper, this film leans more into the black comedy aspects of the art forgery plot.
- Ripley (2024): A stylish, black-and-white Netflix limited series written and directed by Steven Zaillian, starring Andrew Scott. This adaptation is highly praised for capturing the slow-burn tension and noir-like atmosphere of the original 1955 novel.