Author

Val McDermid

Q: What should I read first by Val McDermid?

Start with the Lindsay Gordon series, since it is the first on file, then read it in publication order.

Val McDermid has 42 known credited books (42 published) across 5 series. Start with Lindsay Gordon.

Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer whose career spans nearly four decades and five distinct series, making her one of the most prolific and structurally ambitious authors working in British crime fiction. Raised in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and educated at Oxford, she worked for years as a journalist before her 1987 debut, Report for Murder, launched the Lindsay Gordon series -- one of the earliest British crime series built around a lesbian protagonist. She followed it with the Manchester-set Kate Brannigan private-investigator novels, but it was 1995's The Mermaids Singing, opening the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, that made her name: a Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger winner and the basis for the long-running ITV adaptation Wire in the Blood. McDermid's Karen Pirie series, begun in 2003 and now her flagship ongoing work, follows a Scottish cold-case detective across eight novels and its own ITV adaptation. She has also written standalone psychological thrillers -- including the award-winning A Place of Execution -- historical novellas for Polygon's Darkland Tales series, and, since 2021, the journalism-focused Allie Burns series drawn from her own reporting background. She has received the CWA's Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement and holds honorary doctorates recognizing her contribution to the genre.

Series: 5
Credited books: 42
Published: 42
Latest published book: This Door of the Seas 6 August 2026
Active: 1987–present
Best known for: Lindsay Gordon

Key facts about Val McDermid

Val McDermid has 42 books on our list. 33 of them belong to a series, while 9 stand alone. Since all 42 are out now, every book here is ready to read. Their series sit on our crime fiction shelf.

Val McDermid has 5 series on file. Lindsay Gordon has 6 books, while Kate Brannigan has 6 books. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan has 11 books, starting in 1995.

Karen Pirie has 8 books, starting in 2003. Allie Burns has 2 books, starting in 2021. In particular, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan is the longest series on file.

Lindsay Gordon starts with Report for Murder, while Kate Brannigan starts with Dead Beat. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan starts with The Mermaids Singing.

Since Lindsay Gordon is the first series on file, it is the place to start. Their first published book on file came out in 1987. Meanwhile, This Door of the Seas is the latest published book, out on 6 August 2026.

There are also 9 standalone books. You can read them in any order, since each one stands alone. The newest one that is out is This Door of the Seas, from 2026. The oldest on file is A Place of Execution, from 1999.