Death on Demand
cozy mystery
Series · police procedural
Inspector Lynley
The Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George has 22 known books (22 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Great Deliverance (1988). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is A Slowly Dying Cause.
- Books
- 22 known books (21 novels + 1 companion)
- Published
- 22
- First published
- 1988
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: A Great Deliverance (1988) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Great Deliverance
A Great Deliverance (1988) opens the series at 320 pages, introducing Thomas Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton, and his prickly working-class partner DS Barbara Havers -- Elizabeth George's dense, doorstop-length approach to British procedural fiction begins here.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Great Deliverance - Book 2:
Payment in Blood
Payment in Blood (1989), the second book at 384 pages, continues the slow-burn class friction between aristocrat-detective Lynley and Havers that runs through George's entire American-authored, unusually authoritative take on English crime fiction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Payment in Blood - Book 3:
Well-Schooled in Murder
Well-Schooled in Murder (1990) is the third entry, 464 pages, deepening the psychological weight George gives victims and suspects alike as Lynley and Havers's partnership continues to develop.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Well-Schooled in Murder - Book 4:
A Suitable Vengeance
A Suitable Vengeance (1991), the fourth published book at 447 pages, is actually a prequel set roughly a year before A Great Deliverance, telling the story of Lynley and Havers's first case together -- readers who want personal chronology can read it first, though it isn't required.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Suitable Vengeance - Book 5:
For the Sake of Elena
For the Sake of Elena (1992) follows A Suitable Vengeance as the fifth novel, 442 pages, continuing George's dense, multiple-POV approach to grief, class, and family dysfunction alongside the whodunit.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of For the Sake of Elena - Book 6:
Missing Joseph
Missing Joseph (1993), the sixth entry at 567 pages, keeps Lynley and Havers's odd-couple partnership central as George's novels grow denser and longer across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Missing Joseph - Book 7:
Playing for the Ashes
Playing for the Ashes (1994) sits between Missing Joseph and In the Presence of the Enemy as the seventh book, a substantial 696 pages, continuing George's literary, character-saturated approach to British crime.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Playing for the Ashes - Book 8:
In the Presence of the Enemy
In the Presence of the Enemy (1996), the eighth novel at 625 pages, followed Playing for the Ashes into print as Lynley and Havers's personal lives -- and the series' page counts -- kept growing.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of In the Presence of the Enemy - Book 9:
Deception on His Mind
Deception on His Mind (1997) follows In the Presence of the Enemy as the ninth entry, 710 pages, one of the series' longest and most research-dense explorations of grief and community beyond Lynley's usual English settings.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Deception on His Mind - Book 10:
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (1999), the tenth novel at 718 pages, continues George's doorstop-length, multiple-POV style, with Lynley and Havers's evolving personal lives running alongside the case.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner - Book 11:
A Traitor to Memory
A Traitor to Memory (2001) is the eleventh entry and one of the series' longest at 864 pages, following In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner with George's characteristic depth given to every suspect and victim.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Traitor to Memory - Book 12:
A Place of Hiding
A Place of Hiding (2003) sits between A Traitor to Memory and With No One as Witness as the twelfth book, 627 pages, continuing the series' 35-plus-year exploration of Lynley's personal life alongside its cases.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Place of Hiding - Book 13:
With No One as Witness
With No One as Witness (2005), the thirteenth novel at 784 pages, is a pivotal entry whose tragic ending is followed directly by What Came Before He Shot Her, the companion novel that tells the perpetrator's side of the story.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of With No One as Witness - Book 14:
What Came Before He Shot Her
What Came Before He Shot Her (2006), 703 pages, is a companion novel told from the perpetrator's perspective following the tragedy that ends With No One as Witness -- it barely features Lynley himself and is best read in its publication-order slot, not skipped.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of What Came Before He Shot Her - Book 15:
Careless in Red
Careless in Red (2008) follows What Came Before He Shot Her as the fifteenth entry, 633 pages, Lynley navigating the personal fallout of the previous two books' events.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Careless in Red - Book 16:
This Body of Death
This Body of Death (2010), the sixteenth novel at 736 pages, continues George's long-form, character-dense approach as Lynley and Havers's professional and personal lives keep evolving across the series' decades.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of This Body of Death - Book 17:
Believing the Lie
Believing the Lie (2012) follows This Body of Death as the seventeenth entry, 622 pages, sustaining the series' class-conscious, psychologically dense treatment of grief and family dysfunction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Believing the Lie - Book 18:
Just One Evil Act
Just One Evil Act (2013), the eighteenth novel at 719 pages, keeps Lynley and Havers's partnership central even as their circumstances -- marriage, loss, professional exile -- shift across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Just One Evil Act - Book 19:
A Banquet of Consequences
A Banquet of Consequences (2015), the nineteenth entry at 576 pages, followed Just One Evil Act into print, George's literary mystery style holding steady over twenty-seven years since the series began.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Banquet of Consequences - Book 20:
The Punishment She Deserves
The Punishment She Deserves (2018), the twentieth book at 704 pages, sits between A Banquet of Consequences and Something to Hide, another dense, multiple-POV entry in George's long-running exploration of British class and grief.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Punishment She Deserves - Book 21:
Something to Hide
Something to Hide (2022) follows The Punishment She Deserves as the twenty-first novel, 704 pages, Lynley and Havers's partnership still evolving more than three decades after A Great Deliverance introduced them.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Something to Hide - Book 22:
A Slowly Dying Cause
A Slowly Dying Cause (2025), the twenty-second and most recent entry at 640 pages, continues Elizabeth George's decades-long, character-saturated take on the Scotland Yard aristocrat-detective and his working-class partner.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Slowly Dying Cause
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
A Suitable Vengeance
A Suitable Vengeance (1991), the fourth published book at 447 pages, is actually a prequel set roughly a year before A Great Deliverance, telling the story of Lynley and Havers's first case together -- readers who want personal chronology can read it first, though it isn't required.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Suitable Vengeance - Book 2:
A Great Deliverance
A Great Deliverance (1988) opens the series at 320 pages, introducing Thomas Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton, and his prickly working-class partner DS Barbara Havers -- Elizabeth George's dense, doorstop-length approach to British procedural fiction begins here.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Great Deliverance - Book 3:
Payment in Blood
Payment in Blood (1989), the second book at 384 pages, continues the slow-burn class friction between aristocrat-detective Lynley and Havers that runs through George's entire American-authored, unusually authoritative take on English crime fiction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Payment in Blood - Book 4:
Well-Schooled in Murder
Well-Schooled in Murder (1990) is the third entry, 464 pages, deepening the psychological weight George gives victims and suspects alike as Lynley and Havers's partnership continues to develop.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Well-Schooled in Murder - Book 5:
For the Sake of Elena
For the Sake of Elena (1992) follows A Suitable Vengeance as the fifth novel, 442 pages, continuing George's dense, multiple-POV approach to grief, class, and family dysfunction alongside the whodunit.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of For the Sake of Elena - Book 6:
Missing Joseph
Missing Joseph (1993), the sixth entry at 567 pages, keeps Lynley and Havers's odd-couple partnership central as George's novels grow denser and longer across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Missing Joseph - Book 7:
Playing for the Ashes
Playing for the Ashes (1994) sits between Missing Joseph and In the Presence of the Enemy as the seventh book, a substantial 696 pages, continuing George's literary, character-saturated approach to British crime.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Playing for the Ashes - Book 8:
In the Presence of the Enemy
In the Presence of the Enemy (1996), the eighth novel at 625 pages, followed Playing for the Ashes into print as Lynley and Havers's personal lives -- and the series' page counts -- kept growing.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of In the Presence of the Enemy - Book 9:
Deception on His Mind
Deception on His Mind (1997) follows In the Presence of the Enemy as the ninth entry, 710 pages, one of the series' longest and most research-dense explorations of grief and community beyond Lynley's usual English settings.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Deception on His Mind - Book 10:
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (1999), the tenth novel at 718 pages, continues George's doorstop-length, multiple-POV style, with Lynley and Havers's evolving personal lives running alongside the case.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner - Book 11:
A Traitor to Memory
A Traitor to Memory (2001) is the eleventh entry and one of the series' longest at 864 pages, following In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner with George's characteristic depth given to every suspect and victim.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Traitor to Memory - Book 12:
A Place of Hiding
A Place of Hiding (2003) sits between A Traitor to Memory and With No One as Witness as the twelfth book, 627 pages, continuing the series' 35-plus-year exploration of Lynley's personal life alongside its cases.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Place of Hiding - Book 13:
With No One as Witness
With No One as Witness (2005), the thirteenth novel at 784 pages, is a pivotal entry whose tragic ending is followed directly by What Came Before He Shot Her, the companion novel that tells the perpetrator's side of the story.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of With No One as Witness - Book 14:
What Came Before He Shot Her
What Came Before He Shot Her (2006), 703 pages, is a companion novel told from the perpetrator's perspective following the tragedy that ends With No One as Witness -- it barely features Lynley himself and is best read in its publication-order slot, not skipped.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of What Came Before He Shot Her - Book 15:
Careless in Red
Careless in Red (2008) follows What Came Before He Shot Her as the fifteenth entry, 633 pages, Lynley navigating the personal fallout of the previous two books' events.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Careless in Red - Book 16:
This Body of Death
This Body of Death (2010), the sixteenth novel at 736 pages, continues George's long-form, character-dense approach as Lynley and Havers's professional and personal lives keep evolving across the series' decades.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of This Body of Death - Book 17:
Believing the Lie
Believing the Lie (2012) follows This Body of Death as the seventeenth entry, 622 pages, sustaining the series' class-conscious, psychologically dense treatment of grief and family dysfunction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Believing the Lie - Book 18:
Just One Evil Act
Just One Evil Act (2013), the eighteenth novel at 719 pages, keeps Lynley and Havers's partnership central even as their circumstances -- marriage, loss, professional exile -- shift across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Just One Evil Act - Book 19:
A Banquet of Consequences
A Banquet of Consequences (2015), the nineteenth entry at 576 pages, followed Just One Evil Act into print, George's literary mystery style holding steady over twenty-seven years since the series began.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Banquet of Consequences - Book 20:
The Punishment She Deserves
The Punishment She Deserves (2018), the twentieth book at 704 pages, sits between A Banquet of Consequences and Something to Hide, another dense, multiple-POV entry in George's long-running exploration of British class and grief.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Punishment She Deserves - Book 21:
Something to Hide
Something to Hide (2022) follows The Punishment She Deserves as the twenty-first novel, 704 pages, Lynley and Havers's partnership still evolving more than three decades after A Great Deliverance introduced them.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Something to Hide - Book 22:
A Slowly Dying Cause
A Slowly Dying Cause (2025), the twenty-second and most recent entry at 640 pages, continues Elizabeth George's decades-long, character-saturated take on the Scotland Yard aristocrat-detective and his working-class partner.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Slowly Dying Cause
About the Inspector Lynley series
Thomas Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton, is a Scotland Yard detective who happens to be minor aristocracy — a premise Elizabeth George uses to explore British class friction from the inside, especially through his prickly, working-class partner DS Barbara Havers, whose resentment of and eventual loyalty to Lynley is one of the great slow-burn partnerships in crime fiction. George, an American writing English detective fiction with unusual authority, builds each novel as a dense, doorstop-length literary mystery: multiple POV characters, real psychological depth given to victims and suspects alike, and cases that dig into grief, class, and family dysfunction as much as whodunit mechanics.
Lynley and Havers's personal lives evolve substantially and sometimes brutally across the series — marriage, loss, professional exile and reinstatement all happen to Lynley over the books' 35-plus-year span. It's for readers who want their British procedurals long-form and character-saturated rather than brisk, who don't mind sitting with difficult material, and who enjoy a class-conscious odd-couple detective partnership. The books were the basis for the BBC's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001–2008).
Frequently asked questions
How many Inspector Lynley books are there?
There are 22 novels in the Inspector Lynley series, from A Great Deliverance (1988) to A Slowly Dying Cause (2025).
What order should I read the Inspector Lynley books in?
Publication order, starting with A Great Deliverance. The one exception some readers make is A Suitable Vengeance, a prequel published 4th but set about a year before A Great Deliverance -- you can read it first for strict story chronology, though it isn't required.
Is there a new Inspector Lynley book coming?
No new book has been announced as of August 2026. The most recent entry, A Slowly Dying Cause, was published in September 2025.
Is What Came Before He Shot Her a Lynley novel?
It's a companion novel in the series' publication sequence (book 14) but is told from the point of view of the killer responsible for the tragedy at the end of the previous book, With No One as Witness, rather than from Lynley's perspective.
Is the Inspector Lynley series finished?
No, it's ongoing. Elizabeth George has continued publishing new Lynley novels, with A Slowly Dying Cause (2025) the most recent.
If you like the Inspector Lynley series
Reading order last verified .