Fiona Barton Books In Order – Complete List

Fiona Barton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Kate Waters thriller series and her newer Elise King series. The first of Fiona Barton’s books, The Widow, has been likened to bestsellers such as Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train.

Here are the Fiona Barton books in order for her two main series. The list will be updated with new novels as the author writes them.

Latest Fiona Barton Books

Kate Waters Books in Publication Order

1. The Widow, 2016
2. The Child, 2017
3. The Suspect, 2019

Elise King Books in Publication Order

1. Local Gone Missing, 2022
2. Talking to Strangers, 2024

All Fiona Barton’s Books in Order of Publication

• The Widow, 2016
• The Child, 2017
• The Suspect, 2019
• Local Gone Missing, 2022
• Talking to Strangers, 2024

Fiona Barton Biography

New York Times bestselling author Fiona Barton was born in 1957 in Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

She is a British author who prior to writing books worked in London as a writer and journalist for several newspapers including The Daily Mail where she worked as a senior writer, The Daily Telegraph where she was a news editor, and The Mail, where her job was that of a chief reporter.

During her time at the Mail, she was awarded the National Press Awards. She was also chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.

In 2008 she left her journalism career to volunteer in Sri Lanka with her husband as trainers of journalists. From this time she started working with exiled and threatened journalists located all over the world.

While initially left her career as a reporter to volunteer, she began working on The Widow during her stay in Sri Lanka. As a national newspaper journalist covering notorious crimes and trials, she wondered what the wives of those accused really knew – or allowed themselves to know.

After leaving Sri Lanka, the couple moved to France, where, once her debut novel was published and well received, she started working on The Child, her second book. At the age of 51, Fiona Barton realized that she was now a novelist.

Even though she had a major career change as she was no longer a journalist, she couldn’t quite leave the job behind. So she created the character Kate Water, who is also a journalist, which, Fiona readily agrees, is based on the author’s background, knowledge, and experience. Fiona Barton said in an interview, “There are bits of me in her, I suppose.”

Her debut novel, The Widow, has been so far sold in around 30 countries. After publication, it was shortlisted for the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller competition in 2014. The thriller became a New York Times Bestseller and Sunday Times Best Seller.

Reading the Fiona Barton books in order for her Kate Waters series entails catching up to her currently three published novels: The Widow, the first book, a psychological thriller published in 2016, The Child, another psychological thriller published in 2017 with new protagonists apart from Kate, a reporter who features in both books, hence the reason why they are both considered part of a series and The Suspect, published in 2019, focusing on two eighteen-year-old girls who go missing and Kate, the journalist who finds this case all too personal. The reading order of these novels is also the publication order.

The first book in the series, The Widow, is an awesome gripping psychological thriller with several twists and turns. It is the story of a missing child, written from several perspectives, narrated by the wife of the man suspected of the crime, the detective leading the case, Detective Inspector Bob Sparkes, the journalist, as well as the victim’s mother.

The idea for this book came from a thought she had about the family of the accused. Everyone is always looking at the victim, but what about those left behind on the accused’s side? How does all this impact, affect his family and how can they deal with the ordeal?

In The Child, the second Fiona Barton book, we meet again Kate, this time investigating another gruesome murder, revolving around the skeleton of a small baby, discovered in London, on a building site. The news on this case will deeply affect two women: one who might have a buried secret that could come to light, and the other who might dread the news that the baby stolen from her at the maternity ward could be the one found just now.

The inspiration for The Child came from seeing a scrap of paper that she kept in her bag about an infant child that was found once buried.

The Suspect, deals with the disappearance of two teenage girls who were backpacking in Thailand. When one of the girls, Alexandra O’Connor, who is only 18, failed to report home, her family alerts the police of a possible foul play.

Det. Insp. Bob Sparkes talks with Kate, hoping that she could write a piece that, once the girls read, could get them to go back home. But the story hit Kate much harder than that. Her own son, who went to Thailand two years ago, also disappeared.

Reading the Fiona Barton books in order also includes her second series, Elise King with Local Gone Missing, and Talking to Strangers, published in August 2024.

Fiona Barton is currently living in southwest France with her husband, Gary, where she is busy writing her next book, She also likes traveling, eating well, and enjoying the French countryside.

This post lists the current Fiona Barton books in order, which should help you find the reading order for her novels.The book list is short, and her novels make wonderful summer reads at the beach, or in winter cozying up with a hot cocoa or tea.

Fiona Barton Awards and Nominations

The Widow

• nominated for the British Book Award Crime and Thriller Book of the Year in 2017
• nominated for the CrimeFest: Sounds of Crime Award in 2017
• nominated for the Macavity Award for Best First Novel in 2017

The Child

• nominated for the CrimeFest: Sounds of Crime Award in 2018