Palmer-Jones Books in Order

This reading order guide provides the complete list of Palmer-Jones books in order, from the very first to the latest, so you won’t miss anything!

About the Palmer-Jones Series

The Palmer-Jones series was born and it has been captivating readers ever since, when British author Ann Cleeves began her writing career. As the first series by Cleeves, these mysteries follow George and Molly Palmer-Jones, a seemingly ordinary, elderly couple, who turn out to be clever, courageous and intensely interested in the lives of others. George, being a retired civil servant and an ardent naturalist and Molly, his loving and faithful wife who looks out for him in everything he does. They spend their time post retirement on the English countryside watching the birds, but their peaceful hobby often lands them in the midst of dark, gloomy secrets, jealousy, clandestine relationships and violent crimes.

The series kicked off in ’86 with “A Bird in the Hand” in the atmospheric Norfolk coastal region, a relaxed bird watching trip turned out to be a chilling murder investigation when a gifted young ornithologist was found dead in a really unsettling manner. Ann Cleeves masterfully weaves together nature, human emotion and crime, to show how hatred, love and resentment can exist even in the calmest of settings. “Come Death and High Water” (1987) carries this style on by sending George and Molly to a remote island, where a threatened bird observatory, personal greed and the stormy weather all clash following a devastating storm. Across the eight novels written between ’86 and ‘96, the Palmer-Jones books deliver slow-burning mysteries, richly atmospheric settings and people who are very real, and make this series just right for readers who enjoy mellow British mysteries with lots of depth and feeling.

What is so special about the Palmer-Jones series, is not the crimes themselves, but rather the gentle way the story unfolds, the emotional bonds between the characters and the idea that danger can strike at any moment, even when you’re watching a beautiful sunset.