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mystery
Series · crime fiction
Kate Brannigan
The Kate Brannigan series by Val McDermid has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Dead Beat (1992).
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 1992
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Dead Beat (1992) — 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:
Dead Beat
Kate Brannigan begins with Dead Beat, published in 1992, the first of the series to be followed by Kick Back. It introduces Kate as a private investigator working the unglamorous end of 1990s Manchester -- corporate fraud, insurance scams, missing persons -- a deliberate answer to the male-dominated American hardboiled tradition.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead Beat - Book 2:
Kick Back
Kick Back (1993) follows Dead Beat in Kate Brannigan and precedes Crack Down, continuing Kate's Manchester PI work alongside her on-again boyfriend Richard Barclay, whose own dodgy schemes keep dragging her into trouble.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Kick Back - Book 3:
Crack Down
Crack Down is the third book in Kate Brannigan, published in 1994 at 246 pages, continuing Val McDermid's hardboiled-with-Mancunian-wit series as Kate's cases keep spiralling into something more dangerous than they first appear.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Crack Down - Book 4:
Clean Break
Between Crack Down and Blue Genes, Kate Brannigan continued in 1995 with Clean Break, keeping to the series' pattern of Kate's relationship with Richard Barclay and her standing in the Manchester PI trade developing book to book.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Clean Break - Book 5:
Blue Genes
Blue Genes (1996) follows Clean Break in Kate Brannigan and precedes Star Struck, continuing Kate's motorbike-riding, self-employed investigations through 1990s Manchester's corporate fraud and insurance scams.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blue Genes - Book 6:
Star Struck
Star Struck is the sixth and final book in Kate Brannigan, published in 1998 at 318 pages, closing out Val McDermid's answer to the male-dominated American hardboiled tradition.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Star Struck
About the Kate Brannigan series
Kate Brannigan is a private investigator working the unglamorous end of 1990s Manchester -- corporate fraud, insurance scams, missing persons, and the occasional case that spirals into something much more dangerous. She's a hardboiled heroine cut with very British, very Mancunian wit: motorbike-riding, self-employed, allergic to being condescended to, and paired for most of the series with an on-again boyfriend, Richard Barclay, whose own dodgy schemes keep dragging her into trouble. McDermid built the series as a deliberate answer to the male-dominated American hardboiled tradition -- Kate does the same kind of legwork and takes the same kind of risks as a Spenser or a Marlowe, but the voice, the setting, and the social texture are unmistakably Manchester.
Across six books published between 1992 and 1998, the series also doubles as a time capsule of the early-90s British PI trade just before mobile phones and the internet changed the job completely -- Kate's cases turn on landlines, paper trails, and legwork in a way later PI fiction rarely bothers with. McDermid wound the series down after Star Struck to focus on Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, which had launched in the middle of Kate's run and went on to become her best-known work.
Frequently asked questions
How many Kate Brannigan books are there?
Six, published between 1992 and 1998: Dead Beat, Kick Back, Crack Down, Clean Break, Blue Genes, and Star Struck.
Is the Kate Brannigan series connected to Val McDermid's other series?
No -- it shares no characters with Lindsay Gordon, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Karen Pirie, or Allie Burns.
Did the series end on a cliffhanger?
No -- Star Struck (1998) closes out Kate's arc; McDermid simply moved on to other series afterward rather than ending the story mid-thread.
If you like the Kate Brannigan series
Reading order last verified .