Order of Val McDermid Books
Val McDermid is a Scottish novelist of crime fiction, best known for her suspense novels featuring Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. Her other characters include lesbian journalist Lindsay Gordon and private investigator Kate Brannigan. McDermid considers her books to fall under the Tartan Noir crime fiction genre.
McDermid’s first novel was Report for Murder in 1987, part of the Lindsay Gordon series. Since ’87, she has written several different novels in all three of her series. Below is a list of Val McDermid’s published works in order of when they were originally released and in chronological order:
Publication Order of Allie Burns Books
| 1979 | (2021) |    |
| 1989 | (2022) | |
Publication Order of Inspector Karen Pirie Books
| The Distant Echo | (2003) | |
| A Darker Domain | (2008) | |
| The Skeleton Road | (2014) | |
| Out of Bounds | (2016) | |
| Broken Ground | (2018) | |
| Still Life | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Kate Brannigan Books
| Dead Beat | (1992) | |
| Kick Back | (1993) | |
| Crack Down | (1994) | |
| Clean Break | (1995) | |
| Blue Genes | (1996) | |
| Star Struck | (1998) | |
Publication Order of Lindsay Gordon Books
| Report For Murder | (1987) | |
| Common Murder | (1989) | |
| Final Edition / Open and Shut / Deadline for Murder | (1991) | |
| Union Jack / Conferences Are Murder | (1993) | |
| Booked For Murder | (1996) | |
| Hostage To Murder | (2003) | |
Publication Order of Tony Hill/Carol Jordan Books
(with Peter James)
| The Mermaids Singing | (1995) | |
| The Wire In The Blood | (1997) | |
| The Last Temptation | (2002) | |
| The Torment of Others | (2004) | |
| Beneath the Bleeding | (2007) | |
| Fever of the Bone | (2009) | |
| The Retribution | (2011) | |
| Cross and Burn | (2013) | |
| Splinter the Silence | (2015) | |
| Insidious Intent | (2017) | |
| Footloose | (2019) | |
| How the Dead Speak | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| A Place of Execution | (1999) | |
| Killing the Shadows | (2000) | |
| The Grave Tattoo | (2006) | |
| Trick of the Dark | (2010) | |
| The Vanishing Point | (2012) | |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| Cleanskin | (2006) | |
| Life's Too Short | (2010) | |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Writing on the Wall and Other Stories | (1997) | |
| Stranded | (2004) | |
| Christmas is Murder | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Graphic Novels
| Resistance | (2021) | |
Publication Order of Picture Books
| My Granny Is a Pirate | (2012) | |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| A Suitable Job for a Woman | (1994) | |
| Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime | (2014) | |
| My Scotland | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Austen Project Books
| Sense & Sensibility | (2013) | |
| Northanger Abbey | (2014) | |
| Emma | (2014) | |
| Eligible | (2016) | |
Publication Order of The MatchUp Collection Books
| Honor & ... | (2017) | |
| Deserves to Be Dead | (2017) | |
| Getaway | (2017) | |
| Midnight Flame | (2018) | |
| Short Story | (2019) | |
| Past Prologue | (2019) | |
| Faking a Murderer | (2019) | |
| Dig Here | (2019) | |
| Taking the Veil | (2019) | |
| Rambo on Their Minds | (2019) | |
| Footloose | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Books
| Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2016) | |
| Murder on Christmas Eve | (2017) | |
| A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2018) | |
| Anthology series. | ||
Publication Order of World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories Books
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 | (2000) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 | (2000) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 | (2002) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4 | (2003) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5 | (2004) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Naked Came the Phoenix | (2001) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 | (2002) | |
| Tart Noir | (2003) | |
| Like a Charm | (2004) | |
| The Adventure of the Missing Detective and 19 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories | (2005) | |
| Magnetic North | (2005) | |
| Criminal Tendencies | (2009) | |
| The Library Book | (2012) | |
| The Killer Cookbook | (2012) | |
| Inherit the Dead | (2013) | |
| OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crimewriters | (2014) | |
| Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime | (2016) | |
| MatchUp | (2017) | |
| Exit Wounds | (2019) | |
| Bloody Scotland | (2019) | |
| Imagine A Country | (2020) | |
| Marple: Twelve New Mysteries | (2022) | |
Notes: Final Edition was published as both Open and Shut and Deadline for Murder in the United States. Union Jack was published as Conferences are Murder in the United States. Naked Came the Phoenix is a collaborative novel with contributions by Nevada Barr, Mary Jane Clark, Diana Gabaldon, J.A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, Laurie R. King, Perri O’Shaughnessy, Anne Perry, Nancy Pickard, J.D. Robb, Lisa Scottoline and Marcia Talley. Magnetic North also contains contributions by Neil Astley, Andrew Crumey, Julia Darling, Sean O’Brien and Jacob Polley.
Need some help here: OUT OF BOUNDS p.374, “to keep the ASPIDISTRA flying”? My efforts only reveal the plant and Greek “shield”. What is the author’s meaning?
Couldn’t find the passage at page 374 in my paperback edition. I’d have to read it in context to try and explain the meaning. Sorry.
I have now read five of her novels and have another four at the ready. I am hooked on her stories.
Read my first Val McDermid novel (Beneath the Bleeding) – will certainly be reading more of her work – first class!