Ann Cleeves is one of the most widely read British mystery and crime authors. Don’t miss out on all the suspense with Speechify.

How to read Ann Cleeves’ books in order

Ann Cleeves is not only one of the most prolific contemporary crime writers in Britain but also one of the most unique ones. Her novels are all rooted in the sense of space and present the author’s immediate, intimate experience with her home area of Northumberland, whose bleak landscapes yield themselves easily to Cleeves’ atmospheric writing style.

Exploring the literary world of Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves OBE was born in 1954 in Herefordshire, England. She started writing novels in the ’80s and quickly found that crime fiction was her calling. However, although her first novel, A Bird in the Hand, came out in 1984, it was not until the mid-2000s that she came into the public eye and found success, winning the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her 2006 novel Raven Black. Cleeves weaves a captivating narrative set in an unusual landscape, namely in the remote and desolate areas of Northern England, the Shetland Islands, and her home country in Northumberland, which are at the heart of her narratives, being felt on every page. Cleeves’ unique setting and being rooted in the place also allows her to explore themes of class and background differences from a different angle and bring less urban concerns to the forefront. Cleeves is also a birdwatcher and an appreciator of nature, and she’s written non-fiction works on Shetland and the Northumberland coast, the area where she lives with her daughters.

Book series by Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves has written several series of crime novels, a number of short stories, and a couple of non-fiction works, too. Having met with widespread commercial and critical success, some of her novels were adapted into TV series as well.

Palmer-Jones series

Also known as the George and Molly Palmer-Jones books, Palmer-Jones novels are Cleeves’ first series. The story centers on George Palmer-Jones and Molly Palmer-Jones, an elderly couple with a passion for birdwatching and traveling across England. The series features eight novels, and the plot kicks off when the couple’s relaxing holiday around the Norfolk Coast becomes way weirder than they expected when crime suddenly goes out of hand in the area. The series includes the following works:

• A Bird in the Hand (1986)
• Come Death and High Water (1987)
• Murder in Paradise (1988)
• A Prey to Murder (1989)
• Another Man’s Poison (1992)
• Sea fever (1993)
• The Mill on the Shore (1994)
• High Island Blues (1996)

Inspector Ramsay series

The Inspector Ramsey series consists of mystery tales set in close-knit communities of Northumberland, where detective Inspector Ramsey is charged with solving crimes that threaten to turn everything upside-down and shatter the rural idyll of Northern England. The series features six novels:

• A Lesson in Dying (1990)
• Murder in My Backyard (1991)
• A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy (1992)
• Killjoy (1993)
• The Healers (1995)
• The Baby Snatcher (1997)

Vera Stanhope series

Vera Stanhope is a police inspector in the City Police Department of northern England. She’s witty and brave, but she’s got a bad temper — and a lot of cases on her plate. Vera’s adventures became an instant classic upon publication and were adapted into a TV series starring Brenda Blethyn. The series currently features ten novels.

Shetland Island series

The six Shetland novels are probably Cleeves’ most suspenseful series. The story follows Inspector Jimmy Perez and his exploit on the windswept Shetland moors and the cozy villages whose tight-knit communities are shaken by murders, disappearances, and other horrifying events.

Two Rivers series

The brand-new Two Rivers series features two novels set in North Devon, right where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge. The protagonist is detective Matthew Venn, a detective who knows more than well enough that there is more to the area than just idyllic vistas. The series became popular not only thanks to its suspenseful narratives but also because it tackled LGBT issues by making the protagonist gay.

In what order should I read Ann Cleeves’ books?

While you perhaps could jump in wherever, the recommended way to enjoy the English author’s stories is to start from the beginning — with the first book in whichever series catches your eye.

Vera Stanhope books publication order

The Vera Stanhope series comprises ten novels published between 1999 and 2022. If you want to experience the story as intended, you should read them in the following order:

• The Crow Trap (1999)
• Telling Tales (2005)
• Hidden Depths (2007)
• Silent Voices (2011)
• The Glass Room (2012)
• Harbour Street (2014)
• The Moth Catcher (2015)
• The Seagull (2017)
• The Darkest Evening (2020)
• The Rising Tide (2022)

Shetland Island books publication order

Shetland books feature eight installments, usually divided into two quarters. You should read the first quarter first and then the second.

The Four Seasons Quartet

• Raven Black (2006)
• White Nights (2008)
• Red Bones (2009)
• Blue Lightning (2010)

The Four Elements Quartet

• Dead Water (2013)
• Thin Air (2014)

• Cold Earth (2016)
• Wild Fire (2018)

Cleeves also wrote Too Good to be True in 2016, and the novel is meant to be read before Cold Earth.

Shetland Island non-fiction books publication order

The Shetland series was adapted into a BBC TV series, sparking a lot of interest in the remote English area it describes. The Shetland archipelago, with more than one hundred islands, is breathtaking, with lush meadows, cliffs, and desolate yet beautiful vistas. In 2015, Cleeves released a guide to Shetland, which leads the reader through its history, culture, people, and nature.

• Shetland (2015)

Two Rivers books publication order

The Two Rivers series features only two novels published in 2019 and 2021.

• The Long Call (2019)
• The Heron’s Cry (2021)

Standalone novels publication order

If you want to check out Cleeves’ writing but can’t afford to tackle a large series, you can check out her standalone novels to get a good glimpse into her narrative style.

• The Sleeping and the Dead (2001)
• Burial of Ghosts (2003)

Short stories/novellas publication order

In addition to her novels, Cleeves has written numerous shorter works published sporadically in the past three decades. They can be read in any order, but if you want to see how Cleeves’ style evolved, you can read them in the order in which they came out.

• “A Winter’s Tale” (1992)
• “The Harmless Pursuits of Archibald Stamp” (1995)
• “Sad Girls” (2001)
• “The Plater” (2001)
• “A Rough Guide to Tanga” (2002)
• “Games for Winter” (2003)
• “Owl Wars” (2004)
• “The Midwife’s Assistant” (2005)
• “Basic Skills” (2006)
• “Going Back” (2007)
• “The Soothmoothers” (2010)
• “Beastly Pleasures” (2010)
• “Hector’s Other Woman” (2011)
• “Mud” (2011)
• “The Habit of Silence” (2011)
• “Drop Dead Gorgeous” (2012)
• “The Harmless Pursuits of Archibald Stamp” (2013)
• “Secrets of Soil” (2013)
• “The Spinster” (2014)
• “The Pirate” (2014)
• “Stranded” (2014)
• “The Writer-in-Residence” (2014)
• “The Starlings” (2015)
• “Dreaming of Rain and Peter Lovesey” (2016)
• “The Queen of Mystery” (2017)
• “The Return” (2017)
• “Moses and the Locked Tent Mystery” (2018)
• “Frozen” (2020)
• “Written in Blood” (2020)
• “Wild Swimming” (2021)
• “The Girls on the Shore” (2022)
• “The Woman on the Island” (2022)

Audiobooks collection of Ann Cleeves

Cleeves’ novels are read more than ever, and they’re available on every bookstore shelf, both digital and physical. Naturally, being bestsellers, most of them have been adapted into audiobook format, so you can listen to them if you don’t have the time to read paperbacks. Audiobooks are not only a convenient way to enjoy your favorite stories — they also help bring them to life and dramatize them. If you want to immerse yourself into the atmosphere of the fair isles of Shetland, check Cleeves’ books out Speechify.

Listen to Ann Cleeve’s work on Speechify

If you want to enjoy Cleeves’ Shetland stories to the fullest, check out Speechify, a new audiobook service with tens of thousands of titles available for download on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices, including countless mystery, espionage, and detective novels by authors such as Ann Cleeves, Daniel Silva and Ian Fleming. Speechify titles are narrated by top-of-the-class voice actors, and the first premium book is always free, so be sure to download Speechify Audiobooks and explore Northumberland with Venn, Stanhope, and other characters.