Detective Conan vs Van Gulik's Judge Dee series
Two detective fiction series side by side, straight from the catalog data: Detective Conan is the longer series (24 books vs 13 books); Detective Conan is the more recent one, starting in 1994. There's no wrong answer — pick the shape that fits your reading appetite, and Shelfmark will keep your place in either (no account needed).
| Statistic | Detective Conan | Van Gulik's Judge Dee series |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Gosho Aoyama | Robert van Gulik |
| Books | 24 | 13 |
| Published | 1994–2025 | 1951–1968 |
| Books per year | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Start with | Case Closed, vol.1 (1994) | The Chinese Maze Murders (1951) |
| Reading order | Full Detective Conan order → | Full Van Gulik's Judge Dee series order → |
Numbers come from the Shelfmark catalog (Wikidata + Open Library). "Books per year" is catalogued books divided by the publication span — a rough cadence, not a quality score.