So, one of my readers recently—and reasonably—asked the following question: “Is Joe getting older?” I realized I hadn’t made clear certain elements of the Joe Davis timeline (such as “Where do the short stories fit into it? Do they?”) Let’s correct that and clean up a few things, shall we? 

JUST HOW OLD IS JOE?

Sharp-eyed readers will notice that, depending on the book, Joe refers to himself as being 33, 34 or 35 at various times. That is completely consistent with the timeline I’ve set up for the books.

AND HOW DOES THIS TIMELINE WORK?

So glad you asked. The books don’t take place in any specific year or years, just Some Recent Year. I’m not sure if anyone has noticed this, but each book takes place in a different season and is set just a few months after the previous. The first book, DEATH IS A CLINGY EX, takes place in the summer of Some Recent Year (let’s call it Year One for purposes of this explanation). The second book, DEATH LIVES ACROSS THE HALL, is set in the fall, just a month or so after the events of the first book. The third book, DEATH WEARS A BIG HAT, is set in the winter (January, specifically), just a few months after the events of the second book. And so on, down the line. The result is that while eight years have passed in the publishing history of Joe Davis, we’ve only advanced about two years in storyline time.

SO, HOW DOES THIS AFFECT JOE’S AGE?

I’ve decided Joe’s birthday is in February (shockingly, he and I have the same birthday). Joe is 33 when the series opens. Because the first three books take place before February of Year Two, Joe is 33 in those books. In books four through six (DEATH IS SLEEPING WITH MY WIFE, DEATH STOLE MY RIDE, and DEATH AND THE FANBOY), Joe is 34. The seventh book, DEATH IS A REAL KILLER, is set in February of Year Three, just after Joe’s 35^th birthday. With DEATH STALKS THE RETIREMENT PARTY, we are in the summer of Year Three, and Joe is still 35.

SO, WHERE DO THE SHORT STORIES FIT INTO ALL THIS? ARE THEY PART OF THE JOE DAVIS CANON?

Yeah, that’s a good question. The Joe Davis Continuity Committee is hard at work on this very subject. So far, they’ve reached the following conclusions:

1. Almost all of the short stories to date ARE canon. It’s just a matter of figuring out where they fit into the overall timeline.
2. The only story that isn’t canon is DEATH IS IN QUARANTINE, which is set in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because it is set at a specific point in time, the Committee chooses not to recognize it as canon.
3. Most of the short stories can be put into the timeline. Please see the Timeline listed at the end of this article. It should be noted that both of the “flashback” stories involving Joe’s high school days (DEATH IS OLD SCHOOL and DEATH IS ON SUMMER VACATION) have a wraparound section that’s set in the “present” day. As a result, those stories take up two spaces in the timeline.

IF “DEATH IS IN QUARANTINE” ISN’T CONSIDERED CANON, THEN WHAT IS IT?

Okay, let me put it this way: back in the Sixties, DC Comics would occasionally print “Imaginary Stories.” These were, in essence, What If stories that existed outside of established DC continuity, such as, “What if Bruce Wayne was Superman and Clark Kent was Batman?!” (This practice was revived in the Nineties, under the snazzier title Elseworlds.) I had a friend who chuckled at the memory of those stories, saying, “These are imaginary stories? They’re all imaginary!”

The point is, whether something is declared canon or not, it still contains the same characters and situations, so just enjoy it as-is. The distinction of “canon” is ultimately pretty meaningless. (And this is coming from the guy who wrote the stories and decides what is canon.)

ISN’T “CANON” A PRETTY GRANDIOSE WORD TO APPLY TO A BUNCH OF MYSTERY STORIES WITH GLORIFIED DICK JOKES?

Okay, now you’re just getting insulting. I can’t be a party to this discussion.

THE JOE DAVIS TIMELINE

Committee Note #1: Novels are in bold. Short stories are in italics.

Committee Note #2: Some of the short stories listed have appeared briefly on randalljfunk.com, but have not been otherwise published. That will be corrected with the release of Death will be Brief, Volume 2 later this year.

THE PAST

JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL

December- Death is Old School (main story)

SUMMER VACATION

July- Death is on Summer Vacation (main story)

THE PRESENT

YEAR ONE

August- Death is a Clingy Ex

September-October- Death Lives Across the Hall

November- A Death in the (Extended) Family

December- Death is Old School (wraparound)

YEAR TWO

January- Death Wears a Big Hat

February- Death Plays Broomball

March- Death, You Magnificent Bastard

April- Death and the One Percent

May- Death is Sleeping with my Wife

June- Death is on Summer Vacation (wraparound)

July- Death Stole my Ride

September- Death and the Fanboy and Death is Hard-Boiled

October- Death will Kill You

YEAR THREE

January- Death is my Little Brother

February- Death is a Real Killer

April- Death, You Jabroni

May- Death Goes Missing

June- Death Stalks the Retirement Party

October- Joe Davis #10 (In Progress)

YET TO BE PLACED

Death is Out to Get Me

Death at Intermission

Death and the Gentleman’s Gentleman

Death Stole my Stuff

Death cannot be Trusted

Death is Quite a Mother (Originally supposed to be set in April of Year Three, but the Continuity Committee has spotted certain errors that must be corrected before it can be placed in the timeline.)

Death Goes Camping (In Progress)

NOT CANON

Death is in Quarantine

At least two future Joe Davis novellas (Is that a tease or what?)