Ann Cleeves Reading Order

13 books (2011–2025)

Start with Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories: A Murder Squad Anthology, the first of 13 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories: A Murder Squad Anthology 2011Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Library Book 2012Buy 🇺🇸
3	Deadly Pleasures 2013Buy 🇺🇸
4	The Starlings & Other Stories 2015Buy 🇺🇸
5	Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime 2016Buy 🇺🇸
6	CWA Anthology of Short Stories: Mystery Tour 2017Buy 🇺🇸
7	Ten Year Stretch 2018Buy 🇺🇸
8	Bloody Scotland 2019Buy 🇺🇸
9	Many Deadly Returns 2021Buy 🇺🇸
10	An Unnecessary Assassin 2023Buy 🇺🇸
11	Ink and Daggers 2023Buy 🇺🇸
12	Killin’ Time in San Diego: Bouchercon Anthology 2023 2023Buy 🇺🇸
13	Playing Dead: Short Stories by Members of the Detection Club 2025Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2014–2014)

6 books (1990–1997)

Start with A Lesson In Dying, the first of 6 books in the Inspector Ramsay series.

#	Title
1	A Lesson In Dying 1990Buy 🇺🇸
2	Murder In My Backyard 1991Buy 🇺🇸
3	A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy 1992Buy 🇺🇸
4	Killjoy 1993Buy 🇺🇸
5	The Healers 1995Buy 🇺🇸
6	The Baby Snatcher 1997Buy 🇺🇸

5 books (2019–2026)

Start with The Long Call, the first of 5 books in the Matthew Venn / Two Rivers series.

#	Title
1	The Long Call 2019Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Heron's Cry 2021Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Girls on the Shore 2022Buy 🇺🇸
4	The Raging Storm 2023Buy 🇺🇸
5	The Dying Light 2026Buy 🇺🇸

8 books (1986–1996)

Start with A Bird in the Hand, the first of 8 books in the Palmer-Jones series.

#	Title
1	A Bird in the Hand 1986Buy 🇺🇸
2	Come Death And High Water 1988Buy 🇺🇸
3	Murder In Paradise 1988Buy 🇺🇸
4	A Prey To Murder 1989Buy 🇺🇸
5	Another Man's Poison 1992Buy 🇺🇸
6	Sea Fever 1993Buy 🇺🇸
7	The Mill On The Shore 1994Buy 🇺🇸
8	High Island Blues 1996Buy 🇺🇸

9 books (2006–2018)

Start with Raven Black, the first of 9 books in the Shetland Island series.

#	Title
1	Raven Black 2006Buy 🇺🇸
2	White Nights 2008Buy 🇺🇸
3	Red Bones 2009Buy 🇺🇸
4	Blue Lightning 2010Buy 🇺🇸
5	Dead Water 2013Buy 🇺🇸
6	Thin Air 2014Buy 🇺🇸
7	Cold Earth 2016Buy 🇺🇸
8	Too Good To Be True 2016Buy 🇺🇸
9	Wild Fire 2018Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2015–2015)

#	Title
1	Shetland 2015Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2016–2016)

2 books (2001–2003)

Start with The Sleeping and the Dead and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Sleeping and the Dead 2001Buy 🇺🇸
2	Burial of Ghosts 2003Buy 🇺🇸

13 books (1999–2024)

Start with The Crow Trap, the first of 13 books in the Vera Stanhope series.

#	Title
1	The Crow Trap 1999Buy 🇺🇸
2	Telling Tales 2005Buy 🇺🇸
3	Hidden Depths 2007Buy 🇺🇸
4	Silent Voices 2010Buy 🇺🇸
5	The Glass Room 2012Buy 🇺🇸
6	Harbour Street 2014Buy 🇺🇸
7	The Moth Catcher 2015Buy 🇺🇸
8	The Seagull 2017Buy 🇺🇸
9	Frozen 2020Buy 🇺🇸
10	The Darkest Evening 2020Buy 🇺🇸
11	The Rising Tide 2022Buy 🇺🇸
12	The Woman on the Island 2022Buy 🇺🇸
13	The Dark Wives 2024Buy 🇺🇸

2 books (2025–2025)

Start with The Killing Stones and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Killing Stones 2025Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Lonely Man 2025Buy 🇺🇸