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women's fiction
Series · contemporary fiction
Scottish Island of Mure
The Scottish Island of Mure series by Jenny Colgan has 9 known books (9 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Very Distant Shore (2017).
- Books
- 9 known books (9 novels)
- Published
- 9
- First published
- 2016
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Literary Fiction
- Last checked
Start here: A Very Distant Shore (2017) — 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 Very Distant Shore
A Very Distant Shore (2017) is a short prequel to Jenny Colgan's Scottish Island of Mure series, originally published as a Quick Reads title. It introduces islander Lorna and Saif, a refugee doctor who becomes Mure's new GP, setting up a relationship the main series continues to follow from The Cafe by the Sea onward.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Very Distant Shore - Book 2:
The Cafe by the Sea
The Cafe by the Sea (2016), published in the US as The Summer Seaside Kitchen, opens the main Scottish Island of Mure storyline as young lawyer Flora MacKenzie, burned out by London life, returns to her remote home island and ends up running the tiny harbourside cafe attached to the island's hotel. It sets the series' recurring interest in incomers finding their footing on a genuinely remote Scottish island.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cafe by the Sea - Book 3:
The Endless Beach
The Endless Beach (2018) carries Flora, Saif, Lorna and the wider Mure community forward into a new season, continuing the storyline Jenny Colgan launched in The Cafe by the Sea. It runs 421 pages, the second entry in the main Mure-set sequence.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Endless Beach - Book 4:
Christmas on the Island
Christmas on the Island (2018) is the third Mure-set novel, following The Endless Beach with a festive-season chapter in the island community's continuing story. At 337 pages, it keeps the series' recurring rhythms of ferries, mail planes, and seasonal life on a remote Scottish island.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Christmas on the Island - Book 5:
Christmas at the Island Hotel
Christmas at the Island Hotel (2020) continues the Mure storyline two years after Christmas on the Island, following the same island community through another festive season. It runs 368 pages, the fourth entry ahead of An Island Wedding.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Christmas at the Island Hotel - Book 6:
An Island Wedding
An Island Wedding (2022) brings two of the Scottish Island of Mure series' central couples to the altar, closing out the core Mure-set storyline that began with The Cafe by the Sea and A Very Distant Shore. At 352 pages, it's the last book set on Mure itself before the series moved to the neighbouring island of Carso.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of An Island Wedding - Book 7:
The Summer Skies
The Summer Skies (2023) moves the Scottish Island of Mure series from Mure itself to Carso, a neighbouring small Scottish island in the same fictional archipelago, introducing a new cast led by bush pilot Morag. Marketed as a numbered continuation of the same series line, it runs 352 pages and follows An Island Wedding.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer Skies - Book 8:
Close Knit
Released in 2024, Close Knit holds the seventh spot in Scottish Island of Mure. It follows The Summer Skies and comes before Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Close Knit - Book 9:
Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages
Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages (2025) continues the Carso-set storyline Jenny Colgan began with The Summer Skies, following bush pilot Morag and Carso local Gertie. Marketed as book eight of the Scottish Island of Mure series, it follows Close Knit and runs 352 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages
About the Scottish Island of Mure series
Flora MacKenzie, a young lawyer burned out by London life, returns to her remote home island of Mure in the Scottish Hebrides and ends up running the tiny harbourside cafe attached to the island's hotel in The Cafe by the Sea (2016, published in the US as The Summer Seaside Kitchen). A short prequel, A Very Distant Shore (2017, a Quick Reads title), introduces islander Lorna and Saif, a refugee doctor who becomes Mure's new GP -- a relationship the main series continues to follow. The Endless Beach (2018), Christmas on the Island (2018) and Christmas at the Island Hotel (2020) carry Flora, Saif, Lorna and the wider island community forward through further seasons, before An Island Wedding (2022) brings two of the series' central couples to the altar.
From 2023 the series' US publisher extended the Mure line to three further novels -- The Summer Skies (2023), Close Knit (2024) and Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages (2025) -- set not on Mure itself but on Carso, a neighbouring small Scottish island in the same fictional archipelago, introducing a new cast (bush pilot Morag and, later, Carso local Gertie) while marketing the books as numbered continuations of the same series line. All nine books share Colgan's recurring interest in small, isolated Scottish island communities, incomers finding their footing, and the practical rhythms -- ferries, mail planes, seasonal tourism -- of life somewhere genuinely remote.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Scottish Island of Mure series?
Nine, tracked here: six set on the island of Mure itself (A Very Distant Shore, The Cafe by the Sea, The Endless Beach, Christmas on the Island, Christmas at the Island Hotel, An Island Wedding) and three set on the neighbouring island of Carso (The Summer Skies, Close Knit, Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages), all published under the same US series line.
Is The Cafe by the Sea the same book as The Summer Seaside Kitchen?
Yes -- The Summer Seaside Kitchen is the US edition title of the same 2016 novel published in the UK as The Cafe by the Sea.
Are the Carso books (The Summer Skies, Close Knit, Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages) really part of the Mure series?
They're set on a different, neighbouring fictional island with a different cast, but Jenny Colgan's US publisher numbers them as books 6-8 of the Scottish Island of Mure series, which is why they're tracked together here.
Do I need to read A Very Distant Shore before The Cafe by the Sea?
No -- it's a short standalone prequel (originally a Quick Reads title) that can be read before or after the main series without affecting either.
If you like the Scottish Island of Mure series
Reading order last verified .