Reading order · 10 books · 2006 to 2016 · Set in the fictional Spilling, England
Culver Valley Books in Order
Sophie Hannah’s Culver Valley novels follow detectives Simon Waterhouse, brilliant and socially awkward, and Charlie Zailer, as they unravel crimes that begin with a seemingly impossible puzzle. Twisting psychological crime.
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Series facts
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 2006 to 2016
- First book
- Little Face
- Latest
- The Narrow Bed (2016)
- Setting
- Set in the fictional Spilling, England
The reading order
Every Culver Valley book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
10 books · Set in the fictional Spilling, England
- 1Little Face2006Alice leaves her two-week-old baby with her husband for the first time.Buy on Amazon
- 2Hurting Distance2007Naomi Jenkins’s married lover vanishes, and to make the police look for him, she accuses him of a terrible crime.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Point of Rescue2008Sally sees a news report about a woman and her daughter found dead, and realises that the husband shown on television is not the man she knew by the same name.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Other Half Lives2009Ruth’s boyfriend confesses to killing a woman years ago.Buy on Amazon
- 5A Room Swept White2010Television producer Fliss Benson is put in charge of a documentary about three mothers who were wrongly accused of killing their babies, just as one of them is found dead.Buy on Amazon
- 6Lasting Damage2011Late at night, Connie Bowskill sees a woman lying dead in a pool of blood on a house sale website’s virtual tour.Buy on Amazon
- 7Kind of Cruel2012Amber Hewerdine goes to a hypnotherapist for her insomnia, and finds herself saying words that link her to a murder.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Carrier2013Stranded at an airport, Gaby Struthers meets a frightened young woman, and learns that the man she once loved has confessed to murdering his wife.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Telling Error2014Nicki Clements tries to avoid a police car in a traffic jam, and becomes a suspect in the murder of a controversial newspaper columnist.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Narrow Bed2016A killer is murdering pairs of best friends, and each pair received a mysterious book before they died.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each book is a complete mystery, but Simon and Charlie’s relationship develops across the series, so read in order, starting with Little Face.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Simon Waterhouse | Charlie Zailer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Little Face | MMajor | MMajor |
| 2 Hurting Distance | MMajor | MMajor |
| 3 The Point of Rescue | MMajor | MMajor |
| 4 The Other Half Lives | MMajor | MMajor |
| 5 A Room Swept White | MMajor | MMajor |
| 6 Lasting Damage | MMajor | MMajor |
| 7 Kind of Cruel | MMajor | MMajor |
| 8 The Carrier | MMajor | MMajor |
| 9 The Telling Error | MMajor | MMajor |
| 10 The Narrow Bed | MMajor | MMajor |
Characters in the Culver Valley books
2 characters from Sophie Hannah’s chart, with the number of Culver Valley books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Simon WaterhouseBrilliant, awkward detective | 10 | Little Face 2006 |
| Charlie ZailerDetective sergeant, later Simon's wife | 10 | Little Face 2006 |