Wales book series in reading order

by Elizabeth J. Duncan

Elizabeth J. Duncan

14 books• 2 series

Elizabeth J. Duncan is a Canadian writer of cozy mysteries. Penny Brannigan, the series set in North Wales, is her main work: its opening book, The Cold Light of Mourning (2009), drew nominations for both the Agatha Award and the Arthur Ellis Award; A Small Hill to Die On took the Bony Blithe Award in 2013; and Never Laugh As a Hearse Goes By was shortlisted for that award in 2014. Shakespeare in the Catskills is the second series, and 14 books are catalogued through On Deadly Tides (2020).

Malcolm Pryce, a British author born in 1960, writes humorous noir detective fiction set in Wales. The Aberystwyth Noir series features the private investigator Louie Knight and opens with Aberystwyth Mon Amour (2001). Last Tango in Aberystwyth (2003) and From Aberystwyth with Love (2009) followed. Pryce also writes Jack Wenlock, Railway Detective, and catalogue subjects include the Great Western Railway and historical mystery. The 11 listed books run to A Streetcar Named Aberystwyth (2024), and Pryce is still publishing.

Jenny Nimmo is a British children's author, born in England on 15 January 1944, who has lived mostly in Wales for four decades. Jenny Nimmo's output covers fantasy and adventure novels, chapter books and picture books. The Magician Trilogy (1986-1989) draws on Welsh myth, and Children of the Red King (2002-2010) follows schoolchildren with magical powers. The Snow Spider, first of the Magician books, took the Nestle Smarties Book Prize and the 1987 Tir na n-Og Award. The catalogue lists 65 books from The Bronze Trumpeter (1974) to Secret Creatures (2020).

Rhys Bowen is the name Janet Quin-Harkin publishes adult mystery novels under; Quin-Harkin was born in Bath, Somerset, in September 1941. The catalogue gathers 171 books, opening with Peter Penny's Dance (1976) and reaching Vanished in the Crowd (2026), with A Whiff of Scandal dated 2027. Molly Murphy, Her Royal Spyness and Constable Evans are the mystery series listed, alongside teen series carrying the Janet Quin-Harkin byline such as Heartbreak Cafe, Sugar and Spice and The Boyfriend Club. Catalogue subjects run to detective and mystery stories, women private investigators, historical mystery, aristocracy and children's fiction.

Sian Ann Bessey has 26 books in the catalogue, from Forgotten Notes (2001) to When You Rescued Me (2026). Cover of Darkness followed in 2002, and Within the Dark Hills appeared in 2012. Series include Georgian Gentlemen, Kids on a Mission and McQuivey's Costume Shop Romance, and 2013 titles include Ambushed in Africa, Escape from Germany and Uprising in Samoa. Subjects include Wales, Utah, Mormons and Mormon converts, time travel, nurses, women teachers and mystery.

Cathy Ace writes crime fiction. The Cait Morgan Mysteries are her main sequence, running on titles of the form The Corpse with the Silver Tongue (2012), The Corpse with the Golden Nose (2013) and The Corpse with the Platinum Hair (2014), and the WISE Enquiries Agency books form a second series, catalogued under Wales, villages and nobility. Ace has 32 books published between 2008 and 2026, from Murder Knows No Season (2008) to The Corpse with the Steely Gaze (2026).

Bernard Knight's catalogue holds 31 books from The Lately Deceased (1963) to Mistress Murder (2015). Russian Roulette (1968), Policeman's Progress (1969), Tiger at Bay (1970), Lion Rampant (1972), The Expert (1976) and Madoc (1977) are among the early titles, and The Poisoned Chalice and The Sanctuary Seeker both date from 1998. Crowner John Mystery, Dr. Richard Pryor Mystery, Sixties Mysteries and Tom Howden are the series. Sir John de Wolfe, forensic pathologists, Wales and historical crime appear in the subjects.

Katie Flynn and Judith Saxton are both pen names of Judy Turner, whose books sold more than eight million copies before her death in January 2019 at the age of 82. The catalogue holds 98 titles from 1972 onward, the earliest carrying the Saxton name: Cousin to the Queen (1972), My Master Mariner (1974) and Princess In Waiting (1976). Family sagas set in wartime England and Liverpool dominate, through series such as Liverpool Sisters, the Neyler Quartet and the Rose Queen Trilogy. New titles keep appearing, with The Secret Child scheduled for 2027.

Lisa Jackson

189 books• 27 series

Lisa Jackson, born Susan Lisa Jackson in 1952, is an American author of romance and romantic suspense novels, with more than 75 to that name. The catalogue holds 189 Lisa Jackson books, from A Twist of Fate (1983) to Not What It Seems (2026). Subjects across the list include serial murders, women detectives, Montana and contemporary romance. Jackson's series include Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli, McCaffertys, Cahills / San Francisco, Savannah and the Dark Jewels Trilogy, plus a historical trilogy issued as Susan Lynn Crose. New Jackson titles continue to appear.

Claire Douglas is an English author and former journalist whose thrillers, Sunday Times bestsellers, give women the key roles. The catalogue lists The Sisters (2015), Local Girl Missing (2017), Last Seen Alive (2017) and The Text (2017). Later titles include Do Not Disturb (2018), Then She Vanishes (2019), The Couple at No. 9 (2021) and The Girls Who Disappeared (2022). Subjects include secrecy, sisters, twins, home exchanging and stalking victims. The Family Friend (2026) is the newest title.

Bertrice Small

58 books• 9 series

Bertrice Small wrote historical romance on a large scale, much of it around the O'Malley family in the Skye O'Malley Saga and Skye's Legacy. The Border Chronicles, the Friarsgate Inheritance, the Silk Merchant's Daughters, the Wyndham Saga and the World of Hetar, where magic enters, fill out a catalogue of 58 books. Publication runs from Love Wild and Fair and The Kadin (1978) to Serena in 2014.

Sarah Woodbury's catalogue lists 61 books, with Wales, historical fiction, fantasy, mystery and time travel among the recorded subjects. The Last Pendragon (2010) is the first title, and Mantle of Time (2026) is the newest. Series include After Cilmeri, the Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries, the Last Pendragon Saga, Welsh Guard Mysteries and Lion of Wales. Titles from 2011 include Daughter of Time, Footsteps in Time, Prince of Time and The Good Knight.

Stephen R. Lawhead, born 1950, is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction, with Celtic historical fiction the strand the name is most attached to. In the Hall of the Dragon King (1982) opens the Dragon King books and a catalogue of 44 titles that reaches Aurelia (2025). The Pendragon Cycle and King Raven take up Arthurian material and knighthood; the Song of Albion, Celtic Crusades, Eirlandia, Empyrion and Bright Empires follow. Children's books, among them the Howard and Riverbank Stories, sit alongside the novels.

Phil Rickman wrote supernatural and mystery novels, publishing under the pen names Will Kingdom and Thom Madley as well as his own. Merrily Watkins, a woman priest in England, is the recurring figure, and exorcism, ghosts and the occult run through those books. 30 catalogued titles span Candlenight (1991) to The Echo of Crows (2026), among them The Wine of Angels (1998), Midwinter of the Spirit (1999) and A Crown of Lights (2001). The John Dee Papers and the Grayle Underhill and Bobby Maiden novels sit alongside. Rickman, born in 1950, died in 2024.

Jane Willan's catalogue holds 7 books, from Jump Start This Church! (2014) to The Beekeeper's Last Confession and Widow's Walk (both 2025). Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn Mystery is the series listed, and subjects include abbeys, nuns, murder, investigation, Wales and cheese. The Hour of Death and The Shadow of Death appeared in 2018, Abide With Me in 2020 and The Christmas Camel Caper in 2024.

Iris Gower is the pen name of Iris Davies (1935-2010), a British novelist from Swansea, Wales. The seaport and the neighbouring Gower Peninsula, the source of the pseudonym, give the historical romances their setting. Social conditions and the lives of women recur as subjects, and three sagas carry the Gower name: Sweyn's Eye Saga, Cordwainers and Potter's. The 40 catalogued books run from Burn Bright Shadow (1975) to House of Shadows (2010), taking in Copper Kingdom and Proud Mary, both 1984.

Owen Sheers

18 books• 2 series

Owen Sheers, born 20 September 1974, is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter, and the first writer-in-residence appointed by any national rugby union team. The catalogue lists 18 titles published between 2002 and 2019, beginning at The Blue Book (2002) and ending at The Green Hollow (2019). Poetry, drama, history, English literature and Wales run through the recorded subjects, with Skirrid Hill (2006), Resistance (2007) and The Dust Diaries (2004) among the books. Ceri Wyn Jones shares the credit on one title.

Glenna McReynolds, born March 25, 1953, in Lewiston, Idaho, writes medieval and contemporary romances and also publishes as Tara Janzen. McReynolds studied at Colorado Mountain College and belongs to Colorado Romance Writers Association, Colorado Authors League, Romance Writers of America and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Honours include a RITA from Romance Writers of America and a 1994 career achievement award from Romantic Times. The catalogue lists 15 books from 1987 to River of Eden (2002), with the Celtic Saga and Dragon Daniels series, and Wales and Loveswept among the tags.