Ann Cleeves Reading Order

13 books (2011–2025)

Ann Cleeves is featured across 13 anthology collections spanning from 2011 to 2025, with the series remaining ongoing. These mystery and thriller anthologies should be read in publication order, beginning with Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories: A Murder Squad Anthology. The series includes contributions to various crime writing collections and showcases short fiction from Cleeves alongside other mystery authors.

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

1 book (2014–2014)

6 books (1990–1997)

Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series comprises six mystery novels published between 1990 and 1997, following the detective through cases in northern England. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with A Lesson In Dying and concluding with The Baby Snatcher. Each book stands as a self-contained mystery while contributing to the arc of the detective's career across the decade-long span of the series.

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

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

5 books (2019–2026)

Ann Cleeves's Matthew Venn / Two Rivers mystery series comprises five books published between 2019 and 2026, with the final installment, The Dying Light, completing the sequence. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with The Long Call and continuing through The Heron's Cry, The Girls on the Shore, and The Raging Storm. This ongoing series follows detective Matthew Venn as he investigates crimes in the Two Rivers region of Devon, with each book building on the character's development and the interconnected mysteries of the close-knit community.

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

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

8 books (1986–1996)

Ann Cleeves' Palmer-Jones series comprises eight complete mystery novels published between 1986 and 1996, featuring detectives George and Molly Palmer-Jones. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with A Bird in the Hand and concluding with High Island Blues. This closed series follows the husband-and-wife investigation team through various cases spanning a decade of crime fiction.

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

10 books (2006–2023)

Ann Cleeves' Shetland Island series comprises nine mystery novels published between 2006 and 2018, following detective Jimmy Perez as he investigates crimes in Scotland's remote Shetland Islands. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with Raven Black. Each novel builds on the detective's character development and the atmospheric setting while delivering standalone mystery plots. The series concludes with Wild Fire, the ninth and final book.

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

#	Title
1	Raven Black 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	White Nights 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Red Bones 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Blue Lightning 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Dead Water 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Thin Air 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Cold Earth 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Too Good To Be True 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Wild Fire 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Missing in the Snow 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2015–2015)

#	Title
1	Shetland 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2016–2016)

2 books (2001–2003)

Ann Cleeves wrote two standalone mystery novels published between 2001 and 2003. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with The Sleeping and the Dead followed by Burial of Ghosts. The series is complete and each novel stands alone as an independent mystery.

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

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

14 books (1999–2027)

The Vera Stanhope series consists of 13 mystery novels following the investigations of a distinctive detective in northern England. Published between 1999 and 2024, the series remains ongoing with new installments continuing to be released. Readers should follow the books in publication order, beginning with The Crow Trap and progressing through to the most recent entry, The Dark Wives. Each novel presents a self-contained mystery while allowing the detective's character to develop across the series arc.

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

#	Title
1	The Crow Trap 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Telling Tales 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Hidden Depths 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Silent Voices 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Glass Room 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Harbour Street 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Moth Catcher 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Seagull 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Frozen 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Darkest Evening 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Rising Tide 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Woman on the Island 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Dark Wives 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Final Vera 2027Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2025–2025)

Ann Cleeves launches this two-book mystery series with The Killing Stones and The Lonely Man, both published in 2025. The series follows investigators Willow Reeves and Jimmy Perez as they work through complex cases. With new books planned, readers should begin with The Killing Stones and continue in publication order to follow the unfolding narrative.

Start with The Killing Stones and read in order.

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