Reading order · 11 books · 1999 to 2024 · Set in Newcastle upon Tyne
Vera Stanhope Books in Order
Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope works in Northumberland: scruffy, overweight, lonely and brilliant, with a sharp tongue and a gift for seeing what people are hiding. Her sergeant, Joe Ashworth, is a family man who finds her infuriating and admires her. The books inspired the television series Vera.
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Series facts
- Books
- 11
- Published
- 1999 to 2024
- First book
- The Crow Trap
- Latest
- The Dark Wives (2024)
- Setting
- Set in Newcastle upon Tyne
The reading order
Every Vera Stanhope book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
11 books · Set in Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1The Crow Trap1999Rachael Lambert, an environmental surveyor, arrives at a remote cottage in the North Pennines and finds her friend Bella dead.Buy on Amazon
- 2Telling Tales2005With Vera StanhopeTen years after Jeanie Long was convicted of murdering a teenage girl in the coastal village of Elvet, new evidence shows she was innocent.Buy on Amazon
- 3Hidden Depths2007With Vera StanhopeA young man is found drowned in his bath, strewn with flowers, and soon afterwards a young woman is found in a rock pool on the Northumberland coast, also surrounded by flowers.Buy on Amazon
- 4Silent Voices2011With Vera StanhopeVera Stanhope finds a woman dead in the steam room at her gym, and the victim turns out to be a social worker involved in a notorious child abuse case.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Glass Room2012With Vera StanhopeVera’s neighbour has gone missing, and Vera finds her at a country house writers’ retreat, where a man has been found dead.Buy on Amazon
- 6Harbour Street2014With Vera StanhopeJust before Christmas, an elderly woman is stabbed on a crowded Metro train in Newcastle, and Vera Stanhope finds a lonely woman with secrets on Harbour Street in Mardle.Buy on Amazon
- 7The Moth Catcher2015With Vera StanhopeA young house-sitter is found dead in a valley in Northumberland, and then a second body, a moth enthusiast, is found nearby.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Seagull2017With Vera StanhopeVera Stanhope visits a former police officer in prison, who tells her about a murder linked to her own late father and a nightclub called the Seagull.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Darkest Evening2020With Vera StanhopeDriving home through a snowstorm, Vera Stanhope finds an abandoned car with a baby inside, and follows the footprints to Brockburn, the grand house where her own father’s family once lived.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Rising Tide2022With Vera StanhopeA group of friends meet every five years on Holy Island, cut off by the tides, and this time one of them is found hanged.Buy on Amazon
- 11The Dark Wives2024With Vera StanhopeA teenage girl disappears from a children’s home and a care worker is found dead.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each case stands alone, but Vera’s team and her past develop through the series, so publication order is best.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Vera Stanhope | Joe Ashworth | Holly Jackman | Hector Stanhope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Crow Trap | MMajor | ·Minor | ·Minor | |
| 2 Telling Tales | LLead | MMajor | ||
| 3 Hidden Depths | LLead | MMajor | ||
| 4 Silent Voices | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 5 The Glass Room | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 6 Harbour Street | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 7 The Moth Catcher | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 8 The Seagull | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | MMajor |
| 9 The Darkest Evening | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 10 The Rising Tide | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 11 The Dark Wives | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor |
Characters in the Vera Stanhope books
4 characters from Ann Cleeves’s chart, with the number of Vera Stanhope books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Vera StanhopeDetective Inspector in Northumberland | 11 | The Crow Trap 1999 |
| Joe AshworthVera’s detective sergeant | 11 | The Crow Trap 1999 |
| Holly JackmanDetective constable on Vera’s team | 8 | Silent Voices 2011 |
| Hector StanhopeVera’s late father, a collector of birds’ eggs | 2 | The Crow Trap 1999 |