Kate Brannigan
crime fiction
Series · police procedural
Inspector Ramsay
The Inspector Ramsay series by Ann Cleeves has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Lesson in Dying (1990).
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 1990
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: A Lesson in Dying (1990) — 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 Lesson in Dying
A Lesson in Dying opens Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series, a police procedural published in 1990 at 185 pages. It's the first of six books, followed by Murder in My Backyard.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Lesson in Dying - Book 2:
Murder in My Backyard
Murder in My Backyard is the second book in Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series, published in 1991. It follows A Lesson in Dying and precedes A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Murder in My Backyard - Book 3:
A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy
A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy is the third entry in Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series, published in 1992 at 215 pages. It follows Murder in My Backyard and precedes Killjoy.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy - Book 4:
Killjoy
Killjoy is the fourth book in Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series, published in 1993 at 216 pages. It follows A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy and precedes The Healers.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Killjoy - Book 5:
The Healers
The Healers is the fifth entry in Ann Cleeves' Inspector Ramsay series, published in 1995 at 242 pages. It follows Killjoy and precedes the series' closing volume, The Baby Snatcher.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Healers - Book 6:
The Baby Snatcher
The Baby Snatcher closes Ann Cleeves' six-book Inspector Ramsay series, published in 1997 at 270 pages. It follows The Healers as the final entry in a series that ran from 1990.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Baby Snatcher
About the Inspector Ramsay series
Stephen Ramsay is a police inspector working the fictional Northumberland town of Otterbridge, and Ann Cleeves's first police-procedural detective, introduced in 1990 while her Palmer-Jones series was still running. Ramsay is prickly, socially awkward, and quietly working through a difficult divorce across the six novels, and Cleeves uses him to dig into the close-knit, insular communities of North East England — villages and small towns where everyone has history with everyone else, a preoccupation that runs through her entire body of work and reaches its fullest expression later in Shetland and Vera Stanhope.
Written between 1990 and 1997, the Ramsay novels are considerably harder-edged than the Palmer-Jones books that preceded them, closer in tone to conventional British police procedural than to cozy amateur detection, and they mark Cleeves's transition toward the kind of psychologically attentive, place-driven crime writing she'd become known for. This is the series for readers tracing the development of Cleeves's later, more celebrated detectives — Ramsay is a clear dry run for Vera's Northumberland setting and for the isolated-community focus of her mature work.
Frequently asked questions
How many Inspector Ramsay books are there?
Six novels, published between 1990 and 1997, starting with A Lesson in Dying and ending with The Baby Snatcher.
What order should I read the Inspector Ramsay books in?
Publication order, starting with A Lesson in Dying. Ramsay's personal life develops gradually across the series, though each case stands reasonably well alone.
Is Inspector Ramsay connected to Vera Stanhope?
No direct crossover, but both are set among Northumberland's close-knit communities, and Ramsay is generally considered an early version of the isolated-community focus Cleeves later refined with Vera and Shetland.
Where is Inspector Ramsay set?
The fictional Northumberland town of Otterbridge, in North East England.
Is there a new Inspector Ramsay book coming?
No. The series concluded with The Baby Snatcher in 1997 and has not been continued.
If you like the Inspector Ramsay series
Reading order last verified .