Ann Cleeves Books in Order – Complete List

Ann Cleeves is the British bestselling author of Vera Stanhope, Inspector Ramsay, the new Jimmy Perez series, and the Two Rivers series, some of which have been turned into successful TV shows. She has also written two standalone novels and numerous short stories.

Here are the Ann Cleeves books in order for her book list in chronological and publication order.

Latest Ann Cleeves Books

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George and Molly Palmer-Jones Books in Publication Order

1. A Bird In The Hand, 1986
2. Come Death and High Water, 1987
3. Murder In Paradise, 1988
4. A Prey To Murder, 1989
5. Another Man’s Poison, 1992
6. Sea Fever, 1991
7. The Mill On The Shore, 1994
8. High Island Blues, 1996

Inspector Ramsay Books in Publication Order

1. A Lesson In Dying, 1990
2. Murder In My Backyard, 1991
3. A Day In The Death Of Dorothea Cassidy, 1992
4. Killjoy, 1993
5. The Healers, 1995
6. The Baby Snatcher, 1997

Vera Stanhope Books in Publication Order

1. The Crow Trap, 1999
2. Telling Tales, 2005
3. Hidden Depths, 2007
4. Silent Voices, 2011
5. The Glass Room, 2012
6. Harbour Street, 2014
7. The Moth Catcher, 2015
8. The Seagull, 2017
   8.5. Frozen, 2020
9. The Darkest Evening, 2020
   9.5. The Woman on the Island, 2022
10. The Rising Tide, 2022
11. The Dark Wives, 2024

Shetland Books in Publication Order

Books 1-4 are also called The Four Seasons Quartet, and books 5-8 are called The Four Elements Quartet

1. Raven Black, 2006
2. White Nights, 2008
3. Red Bones, 2009
4. Blue Lightning, 2010
5. Dead Water, 2013
6. Thin Air, 2014
   6.5. Shetland, 2015 (non-fiction book)
   7.5. Too Good To Be True, 2016
7. Cold Earth, 2016
8. Wild Fire, 2018
   8.5. Missing in the Snow, 2023

Two Rivers Books in Publication Order

also called the Detective Matthew Venn series

1. The Long Call, 2019
2. The Heron’s Cry, 2021
   2.5. The Girls on the Shore, 2022
3. The Raging Storm, 2023

Jimmy Perez Books in Publication Order

1. The Killing Stones, 2025

Standalone Novels in Publication Order

• The Sleeping and the Dead, 2001
• Burial of Ghosts, 2003

Short Story Collections and Anthologies

Short Stories in Publication Order

Ann Cleeves Biography

British author Ann Cleeves was born in Herefordshire, England on October 24, 1954. Her family moved to North Devon, where she grew up and attended Barnstaple Grammar School.

Initially, she went to university to study English at the University of Sussex, but she left before completing her degree. Next, she took on several temporary jobs, such as child care officer, women’s refuge leader, bird observatory cook at the Fair Isle bird observatory, and auxiliary coastguard. During her time as a cook at the observatory, she met her husband, Tim, an ornithologist.

When Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, which is a small island, Ann moved there with him, where she also started writing her first books in the George Palmer-Jones series.

In 1987, the family moved to Northumberland, which is where she wrote her next novels. In 2006, they moved back to the North East, where they lived until Tim passed away in 2017. Ann Cleeves currently lives in Whitley Bay.

While not based on a book, Ann Cleeves also wrote a short film titled Catching Birds for Border Television, which earned a Royal Television Society Award.

In 2016, Ann Cleeves was named a National Libraries Day ambassador.

The Ann Cleeves books have been translated into over 20 languages, achieving bestseller status in Germany and Scandinavia.

Ann Cleeves Books Adaptations

Over the years, several of Ann Cleeves’ books and series have been adapted to the TV.

The Vera Stanhope series was adapted into an ITV television series simply called Vera in 2011. It stars Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope. The series has 14 seasons and it concluded in January 2025. The final two episodes, titled “Inside” and “The Dark Wives,” aired on January 1 and 2, 2025, respectively.

The Shetland series was adapted into the same-titled TV series by BBC One in 2013. Douglas Henshall plays Jimmy Perez. Shetland has so far aired 9 seasons, with a 10th confirmed and scheduled to begin filming in early 2025. It is expected to air in late 2025.

Raven Black was adapted for radio in Germany and the UK in 2021.

The Two Rivers series was adapted into a four-part mini-series titled The Long Call on ITV in 2021, and as the title suggests, it is based on the first book of the Two Rivers series, The Long Call. Ben Aldridge stars as DI Matthew Venn.

Ann Cleeves Awards and Nominations

Ann Cleeves has received several awards and was nominated numerous times for her bestselling novels. Here is a comprehensive list.