Val McDermid Books in Order
The complete Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series — Wire in the Blood reading guide
Val McDermid is one of Britain's finest crime writers — a former journalist whose Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series redefined the psychological thriller. Clinical psychologist Tony Hill profiles serial killers for Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, and the partnership between them — brilliant, complicated, and deeply human — is one of crime fiction's great double acts. The series was adapted for ITV as Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green. McDermid's understanding of criminal psychology and her unflinching portrayal of violence make these novels essential reading for anyone serious about British crime fiction.
Tony Hill & Carol Jordan — All Books in Order
1. The Mermaids Singing
A serial killer is torturing and murdering men in the northern city of Bradfield. The crimes are sexually motivated, elaborately staged, and utterly baffling to the police. DCI Carol Jordan calls in criminal psychologist Tony Hill to profile the killer — and the investigation draws both of them into profound psychological danger. The debut that won the CWA Gold Dagger and announced McDermid as a major force in crime fiction.
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2. The Wire in the Blood
A charismatic TV personality is the prime suspect in a string of teenage disappearances — but there is no evidence, and Tony Hill cannot get the investigation officially sanctioned. He pursues his suspicions alone, placing himself in extraordinary danger. The novel that gave the ITV television series its name, and one of the most chilling portraits of a predator McDermid has ever written.
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3. The Last Temptation
Psychologists across Europe are being murdered in a pattern that suggests a killer with an intimate knowledge of the criminal mind. Carol Jordan is working undercover in Germany when the case draws her and Tony Hill into a conspiracy that stretches across the continent. The series' most ambitious entry to that point — darker, broader, and more complex than anything before it.
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4. The Torment of Others
A convicted killer has been in prison for two years — yet murders matching his exact method are continuing. Someone else is committing the crimes, or the wrong man is behind bars. Tony Hill investigates a case that challenges every assumption about guilt, memory, and manipulation. A brilliantly constructed puzzle with a deeply unsettling resolution.
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5. Beneath the Bleeding
A Bradfield United football star is poisoned in his own home. Then a bomb explodes at the club's stadium. Tony Hill is recovering from a brutal attack and working the case from his hospital bed while Carol Jordan leads the investigation on the ground. McDermid runs two interlocking plots with consummate skill in one of the series' most propulsive entries.
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DI Sarah Lynch — Phillip Strang
If McDermid's combination of psychological depth, complex characters, and a vividly realised British setting appeals to you, DI Sarah Lynch is the natural next series. Atmospheric detective fiction set in the Scottish Highlands — intricate plots, strong character work, and the same sense that the landscape shapes everything. 13 books.
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6. Fever of the Bone
Teenagers are being lured through social networking sites and murdered. As Tony Hill works the profile and Carol Jordan's team pursues leads across Bradfield, a personal revelation about Tony's own past threatens to derail the investigation. A prescient and deeply disturbing examination of online predation, written at a time when social media was just becoming ubiquitous.
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7. The Retribution
Jacko Vance — the killer Tony Hill helped put away in The Wire in the Blood — has escaped from prison and is coming for revenge. He targets everyone Tony loves, forcing a personal confrontation that will change both Hill and Jordan irrevocably. The most emotionally devastating novel in the series, with consequences that reshape everything that follows.
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8. Cross and Burn
In the aftermath of The Retribution, Carol Jordan has left the police and Tony Hill is working alone — adrift, damaged, and barely functional. Women who resemble Carol are being abducted and murdered. Tony must investigate without his partner, in what amounts to the series' bleakest and most psychologically raw entry.
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9. Splinter the Silence
Women who have spoken out publicly online are being silenced — apparently by suicide. Tony and a slowly recovering Carol, now working together again in a new context, investigate whether a killer is staging the deaths to look self-inflicted. A sharply contemporary examination of misogyny, online abuse, and the violence directed at women who dare to have a public voice.
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10. Insidious Intent
A man is picking up women at weddings — and then killing them. The crimes are methodical, patient, and leave almost no trace. Tony Hill profiles a killer who understands vulnerability with terrifying precision. Carol Jordan leads the hunt in a novel that examines the predatory exploitation of loneliness and trust with McDermid's characteristic moral intelligence.
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11. How the Dead Speak
Construction work on a former convent uncovers dozens of bodies — some old, some disturbingly recent. Tony Hill investigates the convent's dark history while Carol Jordan pursues a separate case. The series' most recent entry brings both characters to a new crossroads, with McDermid using the dual investigation to explore guilt, institutional failure, and the long reach of the past.
Buy on Amazon →If You Enjoy Val McDermid — Try Phillip Strang
Val McDermid's Tony Hill series is defined by its psychological depth, its morally complex characters, and its unflinching examination of violence and motive. If you love that combination of procedural rigour and character-driven storytelling, Phillip Strang's series offer the same qualities in vivid British settings.
DI Sarah Lynch — set in the Scottish Highlands
Complex, character-driven crime fiction set against a dramatic landscape. DI Sarah Lynch shares McDermid's interest in the psychology of crime and the toll investigation takes on those who pursue it. 13 books.
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DI Tremayne — set in rural Wiltshire
Dark secrets beneath a pastoral surface — the same tension McDermid finds in Bradfield, transplanted to the ancient landscape of Wiltshire. Compelling characters, intricate plots, authentic British policing. 10 books.
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DCI Isaac Cook — set in London
Gritty London homicide with the same procedural depth and morally complex characters that define the Hill-Jordan series. 19 books.
Browse the Series →More Crime Fiction Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read Val McDermid's Tony Hill books?
Publication order is essential. The relationship between Tony Hill and Carol Jordan develops continuously across all 11 novels, and the events of each book — particularly from The Retribution onwards — have major consequences for everything that follows. Starting anywhere other than The Mermaids Singing will significantly diminish the experience.
Is the Wire in the Blood TV series faithful to the books?
The ITV series starring Robson Green as Tony Hill captured the psychological atmosphere of the novels well but took significant liberties with individual plots. It ran from 2002 to 2008 and is a worthy companion to the books. Carol Jordan is notably different on screen — if you love the book version of their partnership, the novels are where to find it at its fullest.
Where is the Tony Hill series set?
The series is set in Bradfield, a fictional northern English city based loosely on Bradford and the wider West Yorkshire area. McDermid grew up in Scotland but the Bradfield novels draw on her deep familiarity with northern England — its industrial landscape, its communities, and its particular social textures.
Will there be more Tony Hill and Carol Jordan novels?
As of 2025, How the Dead Speak (2019) is the most recent entry in the series. Val McDermid has continued writing — including her Karen Pirie series — but has not confirmed a timeline for the next Tony Hill novel. The series remains ongoing.
What should I read after Val McDermid?
Readers who love the psychological depth and British setting of the Tony Hill series typically move to DI Sarah Lynch by Phillip Strang — the same rich character work and atmospheric sense of place, set in the Scottish Highlands. For a London equivalent, DCI Isaac Cook delivers the same procedural quality in a metropolitan setting.
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