Reading order · 22 books · 1988 to 2025 · Set in London
Inspector Lynley Books in Order
Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth Earl of Asherton, and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, a prickly, working-class Londoner, are an unlikely partnership at New Scotland Yard. Their cases range across England, and their friends, the forensic scientist Simon St James and his wife Deborah, are often involved.
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Series facts
- Books
- 22
- Published
- 1988 to 2025
- First book
- A Great Deliverance
- Latest
- A Slowly Dying Cause (2025)
- Setting
- Set in London
The reading order
Every Inspector Lynley book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
22 books · Set in London
- 1A Great Deliverance1988With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversIn a Yorkshire village, a farmer is found beheaded in his barn, and his daughter sits beside the body saying she did it.Buy on Amazon
- 2Payment in Blood1989With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA playwright is found murdered at a Scottish country house during a read-through of her new play, and Lynley finds that Helen Clyde, the woman he loves, may be involved.Buy on Amazon
- 3Well-Schooled in Murder1990With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA boy disappears from an exclusive boarding school and is found dead, and Lynley and Havers investigate the school’s secrets.Buy on Amazon
- 4A Suitable Vengeance1991With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversLynley takes his fiancée to his family estate in Cornwall, where a local journalist is found murdered.Buy on Amazon
- 5For the Sake of Elena1992With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversElena Weaver, a deaf student at Cambridge, is found murdered while running by the river, and Lynley and Havers investigate the university and her family.Buy on Amazon
- 6Missing Joseph1993With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversDeborah and Simon St James travel to a Lancashire village to visit a vicar, only to find he has died of poisoning.Buy on Amazon
- 7Playing for the Ashes1994With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA famous England cricketer dies in a fire at a cottage in Kent, and Lynley and Havers investigate his complicated private life.Buy on Amazon
- 8In the Presence of the Enemy1996With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversThe daughter of a government minister is kidnapped, and the kidnapper demands that her father publicly admit he is her father.Buy on Amazon
- 9Deception on His Mind1997With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversBarbara Havers, on leave, follows her neighbour Taymullah Azhar to an Essex seaside town, where a young Pakistani man has been murdered and racial tensions are rising.Buy on Amazon
- 10In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner1999With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversTwo young people are found murdered at a stone circle in the Derbyshire Peak District, and one is the daughter of a former police officer.Buy on Amazon
- 11A Traitor to Memory2001With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA famous young violinist suddenly cannot play, and as he seeks help, his mother is killed in a hit-and-run accident in London.Buy on Amazon
- 12A Place of Hiding2003With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversDeborah St James’s friend is accused of murdering a wealthy man on the island of Guernsey, and Deborah and Simon go to help.Buy on Amazon
- 13With No One as Witness2005With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA serial killer is murdering teenage boys in London, and Lynley and Havers lead the investigation as the pressure mounts.Buy on Amazon
- 14What Came Before He Shot Her2006With Joel CampbellTwelve-year-old Joel Campbell and his siblings are abandoned by their grandmother in a run-down part of west London.Buy on Amazon
- 15Careless in Red2008With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversLynley, walking the Cornish coast to escape his grief, finds the body of a young climber at the foot of a cliff.Buy on Amazon
- 16This Body of Death2010With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversThe body of a young woman is found in a London cemetery, and the new acting superintendent, Isabelle Ardery, asks Lynley to help.Buy on Amazon
- 17Believing the Lie2012With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversLynley is asked to look quietly into the drowning of a man in a boathouse in Cumbria, whose family is wealthy and secretive.Buy on Amazon
- 18Just One Evil Act2013With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversBarbara Havers’s young friend Hadiyyah disappears with her mother, and the trail leads to Italy.Buy on Amazon
- 19A Banquet of Consequences2015With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA feminist writer dies suddenly in Cambridge, and Barbara Havers investigates a link to a young man’s suicide.Buy on Amazon
- 20The Punishment She Deserves2018With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA deacon dies in police custody in the Shropshire market town of Ludlow, and Havers and Isabelle Ardery are sent to investigate.Buy on Amazon
- 21Something to Hide2022With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversA Metropolitan Police detective investigating female genital mutilation is found dead, and Lynley and Havers take the case.Buy on Amazon
- 22A Slowly Dying Cause2025With Thomas Lynley and Barbara HaversMichael Lobb is found dead in his family’s tin and pewter workshop on the Cornish coast, where he stood between a mining company and the land it wanted, and Lynley and Havers join the hunt for his killer.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read the books in order, starting with A Great Deliverance. The lives of Lynley, Havers and their friends develop across the series, and the later books depend on the earlier ones.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Thomas Lynley | Barbara Havers | Deborah St James | Simon St James | Joel Campbell | Winston Nkata | Helen Clyde | Isabelle Ardery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 A Great Deliverance | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 2 Payment in Blood | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 3 Well-Schooled in Murder | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 4 A Suitable Vengeance | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 5 For the Sake of Elena | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 6 Missing Joseph | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 7 Playing for the Ashes | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 8 In the Presence of the Enemy | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 9 Deception on His Mind | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 10 In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 11 A Traitor to Memory | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 12 A Place of Hiding | LLead | LLead | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 13 With No One as Witness | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 14 What Came Before He Shot Her | LLead | |||||||
| 15 Careless in Red | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ||||
| 16 This Body of Death | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 17 Believing the Lie | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 18 Just One Evil Act | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 19 A Banquet of Consequences | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 20 The Punishment She Deserves | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 21 Something to Hide | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ||||
| 22 A Slowly Dying Cause | LLead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor |
Characters in the Inspector Lynley books
10 characters from Elizabeth George’s chart, with the number of Inspector Lynley books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas LynleyDetective Inspector and eighth Earl of Asherton | 21 | A Great Deliverance 1988 |
| Barbara HaversDetective Sergeant and Lynley’s partner | 21 | A Great Deliverance 1988 |
| Deborah St JamesPhotographer, Simon’s wife and Lynley’s former love | 19 | A Great Deliverance 1988 |
| Simon St JamesForensic scientist and Lynley’s old friend | 13 | A Great Deliverance 1988 |
| Joel CampbellTwelve-year-old boy in North Kensington | 1 | What Came Before He Shot Her 2006 |
| Winston NkataDetective Constable, later Sergeant | 15 | Playing for the Ashes 1994 |
| Helen ClydeLynley’s love, later his wife | 13 | A Great Deliverance 1988 |
| Isabelle ArderyDetective Superintendent | 7 | This Body of Death 2010 |
| Taymullah AzharBarbara’s neighbour | 3 | Deception on His Mind 1997 |
| HadiyyahAzhar’s daughter and Barbara’s young friend | 3 | Deception on His Mind 1997 |