Peninsula (Challis and Destry) Books in Order
Inspector Hal Challis and Sergeant Ellen Destry run criminal investigations on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a patch of holiday towns, farms and new estates south-east of Melbourne. The books follow a whole police station, its cases and its private lives.
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Series facts
- Books
- 7
- Published
- 1999 to 2016
- First book
- The Dragon Man
- Latest
- Signal Loss (2016)
- Setting
- Set in Mornington Peninsula
The reading order
Every Peninsula (Challis and Destry) book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
- 1The Dragon Man1999With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryA killer is abducting women from the roadside on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, and Inspector Hal Challis has a young sergeant, Ellen Destry, at his side.Buy on Amazon
- 2Kittyhawk Down2003With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryHal Challis has an unidentifiable body, a broken marriage and a stalled romance, while Ellen Destry hunts a serial attacker and a shotgun killer strikes.Buy on Amazon
- 3Snapshot2005With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryA woman is shot dead on a country lane while her young daughter watches, and the case is complicated by her father-in-law, Challis and Destry’s own boss.Buy on Amazon
- 4Chain of Evidence2007With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryA nine-year-old girl disappears, and with Challis away at his father’s deathbed, Ellen Destry must lead the search alone.Buy on Amazon
- 5Blood Moon2009With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryDuring schoolies week on the Peninsula, a school chaplain is badly beaten, and a fatal attack follows.Buy on Amazon
- 6Whispering Death2012With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryA man posing as a police officer is preying on women on the Peninsula, while a skilled cat burglar also turns up on Challis’s patch.Buy on Amazon
- 7Signal Loss2016With Hal Challis and Ellen DestryTwo Sydney hit men are found dead in a burnt-out car after a bushfire, as Challis investigates the local methamphetamine trade and Destry hunts a serial attacker.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read the Peninsula books in order, starting with The Dragon Man. The crimes are solved within each book, but Challis and Destry’s careers and private lives develop across the series.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Hal Challis | Ellen Destry | Scobie Sutton | Pam Murphy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Dragon Man | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 2 Kittyhawk Down | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 3 Snapshot | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 4 Chain of Evidence | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 5 Blood Moon | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 6 Whispering Death | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 7 Signal Loss | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
Characters in the Peninsula (Challis and Destry) books
4 characters from Garry Disher’s chart, with the number of Peninsula (Challis and Destry) books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Hal ChallisInspector on the Mornington Peninsula | 7 | The Dragon Man 1999 |
| Ellen DestryDetective sergeant, later head of the sexual crimes unit | 7 | The Dragon Man 1999 |
| Scobie SuttonDetective constable | 7 | The Dragon Man 1999 |
| Pam MurphyConstable, later detective | 7 | The Dragon Man 1999 |