Ann Cleeves Books in Order
Ann Cleeves has written 52 books, published between 1986 and 2026. The first book is A Bird in the Hand (1986) and the newest is The Dying Light (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 52
- Published
- 1986–2026
- Confirmed
- 48 of 52 titles
- Pages on record
- 8,194 in 26 of 52 books
- Reading time
- 137–205 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,194 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 26 of 52 titles with a page count on record.
Ann Cleeves is a British crime writer, born in 1954, with 52 catalogued books spanning 1986 to 2026. The run opens with A Bird in the Hand (1986) and reaches The Dying Light in 2026. Cleeves wrote the Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn series, and all three have been adapted for television. Raven Black, the first Jimmy Perez novel, won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006. Other series listings include Palmer-Jones, Inspector Ramsay, Matthew Venn / Two Rivers and Willow Reeves & Jimmy Perez. Subjects include police procedurals, women detectives, England and Scotland.
The Vera Stanhope series follows Vera Stanhope, a detective inspector working in Northumberland, England, who investigates crimes in close-knit communities along the North Sea coast. Within the books she is portrayed as blunt and unconventional, with a gruff exterior that does not preclude empathy for victims and their families.
How many Ann Cleeves books are there?
Ann Cleeves has 52 books, released between 1986 and 2026. They include 7 series and 3 titles listed outside any series.
Ann Cleeves Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 52 Ann Cleeves books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11986104/4
- 219882134/4
- 319881813/4
- 41989–4/4
- 519901654/4
- 619912514/4
- 719922154/4
- 819922244/4
- 91993–3/4
- 101993–4/4
- 111994–4/4
- 121995–3/4
- 1319964233/4
- 1419972683/4
- 1519993524/4
- 1620013364/4
- 1720034004/4
- 1820054004/4
- 192006–3/4
- 212008–4/4
- 2220093404/4
- 2320103684/4
- 2420103144/4
- 2520123734/4
- 2620134004/4
- 272014–3/4
- 282014–4/4
- 2920143884/4
- 3020152243/4
- 312015–4/4
- 322016–3/4
- 332016–4/4
- 3420163864/4
- 3520173974/4
- 3620183984/4
- 372019–4/4
- 382020–4/4
- 3920203844/4
- 402021–4/4
- 41Heron's Cry, The2022 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/420224001/4
- 422022–4/4
- 432022–4/4
- 442022–4/4
- 452023–4/4
- 462023–3/4
- 47Rising Tide2023 · 384 pages · confirmed 1/420233841/4
- 48The Raging Storm2024 · confirmed 1/42024–1/4
- 492024–4/4
- 502025–2/4
- 512025–3/4
- 522026–4/4
Ann Cleeves series and characters in order
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Vera Stanhope books in order 13 books
- Inspector Ramsay books in order 6 books
- Shetland Island books in order 11 books
Ann Cleeves books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
Shetland Island books in order
10 books by Ann Cleeves- 1. Raven Black
- 2. White Nights
- 3. Red Bones
- 4. Blue Lightning
- 5. Dead Water
- 6. Thin Air
- 7. Too Good To Be True
- 8. Cold Earth
- 9. Wild Fire
- 10. Missing in the Snow
Palmer-Jones in order
8 booksMatthew Venn / Two Rivers in order
5 booksWillow Reeves & Jimmy Perez in order
2 booksAnn Cleeves Standalone Novels
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Ann Cleeves in order
1 book- 1. Offshore
Shetland Island Non-Fiction
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Ann Cleeves Short Stories/Novellas
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
3 books3 Ann Cleeves titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Ann Cleeves Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Ann Cleeves books run from A Bird in the Hand (1986) to The Dying Light (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Ann Cleeves in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Ann Cleeves books in order?
You only need to read Ann Cleeves books in order within each series: the books listed here span 7 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
What order should you read Ann Cleeves books in?
Read Ann Cleeves one series at a time, each in its own publication order: Vera Stanhope starts with The Crow Trap (1999), Inspector Ramsay starts with A Lesson In Dying (1990) and Shetland Island starts with Raven Black (2006). The earliest catalogued title overall is A Bird in the Hand (1986).
What is the newest Ann Cleeves book?
The Dying Light (2026) is the newest Ann Cleeves book released so far.
Is there a new Ann Cleeves book coming?
No next Ann Cleeves book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Ann Cleeves has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Ann Cleeves. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Cartier Diamond Dagger2017Won
- Gold Dagger2006Wonfor Raven Black
Printable Ann Cleeves Books in Order Checklist
A printable checklist of all 52 books in publication order is on the Ann Cleeves reading checklist, with a tick box beside each title.
Ann Cleeves at a glance
- Still publishing
- Ann Cleeves published a book as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Ann Cleeves books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 8,194 pages across the 26 of 52 books with a recorded length, a median of 360 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ann Cleeves books, 15 of 52, were published in the 2020s.
- Corroboration
- 37 of the 52 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 48 in at least three.
What the Ann Cleeves books are about
40 of the 52 Ann Cleeves books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: england is tagged on 19 of 40. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- England 19 of 40 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 18 of 40 books
- Mystery & detective 17 of 40 books
- Murder 15 of 40 books
- Investigation 13 of 40 books
- English literature 11 of 40 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 9 of 40 books
- Scotland 9 of 40 books
- Crime 5 of 40 books
- Police 5 of 40 books
- Thrillers 4 of 40 books
Other Mystery authors
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Mystery authors and series in order
- Freida McFadden books in order 35 books
- J.D. Robb books in order 41 books
- Agatha Christie books in order 290 books
- Janet Evanovich books in order 79 books
- Richard Osman books in order 14 books
- Elly Griffiths books in order 49 books
- Elizabeth George books in order 36 books
- Joanne Fluke books in order 64 books