Constable Evan Evans Books in Order: How to read Rhys Bowen’s series?

Welcome to Llanfair.

What is the Constable Evan Evans series about?

Created by writer Rhys Bowen (Her Royal Spyness, Molly Murphy), Evan Evans is a young police constable that has traded city life for that of Llanfair-an idyllic Welsh village. It is a cozy little town filled with unforgettable characters–and of course, the occasional mystery.

Our young constable is a self-effacing man who hoped for a quiet life. At least, he imagined that Llanfair, located at the foot of a mountain will be a calm village. But he has to awkwardly fend off the advances of a buxom barmaid in the local pub, deals with the bantering give-and-take typical in a small village, and resolves some murders.

You can find out more about Rhys Bowen in our article dedicated to her career.

How to read the Constable Evan Evans Books in Order?

All the books of the Constable Evan Evans Series offer standalone stories but Evan’s life is developed a little more in each novel.

1. Evans Above – As constable of the Welsh village of Llanfair, Evan Evans enjoys the quiet life among the town’s eccentrics, until two visiting hikers are found dead, and Evan must discover the link between their murder and the destruction of prize-winning tomatoes.
2. Evan Help Us – While the village of Llanfair has always been at odds with the neighboring town of Beddgelert, an intriguing archeological find in the nearby hills brings that rivalry to dangerous extremes and creates a circus of local enthusiasm and gossip. The circus quickly turns deadly, however, when Llanfair’s prodigal son, Ted Morgan, announces plans to erect an amusement park over the site’s excavation. Soon Constable Evans is drawn into a whirl of cultural pride, deception, and greed, and while he’s at it uncovers the town’s undaunted ambition – to earn the right to the longest name in the world.
3. Evanly Choirs – World-renowned tenor Ifor Llewelyn comes home to Llanfair to rest, on doctor’s orders. Llewelyn immediately sets about renewing old friendships, and Mostyn even persuades him to sing with the choir. But Ifor isn’t in Llanfair long before the residents decide that his presence is a mixed blessing. Noisy fights between Ifor and his wife, a threatening stranger, and Ifor’s own warped sense of humor make life in Llanfair increasingly tense. When he announces that he is planning to write his memoirs, telling all about his numerous relationships with famous and infamous women, he jokes that some people won’t be happy. But is someone unhappy enough to commit murder to stop him?

4. Evan and Elle – There is both excitement and dismay in Llanfair when a new French restaurant opens. The glamorous owner, Madame Yvette, tries to win over the locals, and everything seems to be going well until a string of fires plagues the town. One night the restaurant burns down, and a body is found in the rubble.
5. Evan Can Wait – Constable Evan Evans, the sole police officer in the charming Welsh village of Llanfair, is assigned to assist an expedition to raise a World War II German bomber plane from a lake. The whole venture is being filmed for a documentary on World War II and Evans tries to assist the film crew by finding them local people with stories to tell. Little does he realize that resurrecting the past can sometimes mean opening old wounds.
6. Evans to Betsy – There aren’t many opportunities for young people in Llanfair, so when an exciting and glamorous American woman breezes into town talking of dormant psychic powers and important social research, barmaid Betsy Edwards is quick to take her up on an offer of employment at the recently opened Sacred Grove New Age center not far away. Of course, the locals, including the village constable, Evan Evans, think Betsy has gone around the bend. And she’s only a little surprised when her new powers are put to a real-life test; when the center’s flamboyant director goes missing, clues to his fate mysteriously appear in Betsy’s dreams. As Betsy does her own sleuthing on the spot, Evan comes to realize that there is nothing straightforward about this case and that Betsy has no idea at all of the terrible danger she is in.
7. Evan Only Knows – When Constable Evan Evans and his new fiancée decide to travel south from home in Llanfair, Wales, to visit his mother in Swansea, they’re not expecting the disturbing news that greets them on their arrival: the young thug convicted of murdering Evan’s father several years earlier is suspected of murder once again. But when Evan goes to meet the boy face to face he’s surprised to find not the stone-cold killer he expected but a scared young man who swears his innocence. Against his own wishes, and ignoring his superiors, Evan believes the boy’s claim of innocence and decides to investigate, at potential peril to his career.

8. Evan’s Gate – When Constable Evan Evans discovers a beautiful shepard’s cottage in the mountains of Llanfair, Wales, he and his fiancée are thrilled. But it turns out that Evan’s discovery extends far beyond the beauties of a mountain-top view and a cozy dream-house when Evan finds the skeleton of a child buried in the front yard. The skeleton is decades old, but the discovery eerily coincides with the case of a present-day missing girl. Although discouraged by his fellow detectives, Evan dives into the mystery of both missing children. He soon realizes that if he can solve the decades-old death, he just might find a crucial insight into the whereabouts of the child missing in the present day.
9. Evan Blessed – When a young female hiker goes missing for a few hours, the routine search turns ominous when the village police find an underground bunker-complete with handcuffs and chains. Now, as he copes with wedding plans and a visit from his disapproving mother, Evans has a serious investigation on his plate, searching for a link between the still-missing girl and the eerie, empty chamber.
10. Evanly Bodies – Evans is investigating the murder of a man shot to death through the open window of his home while eating breakfast. After the man’s wife is jailed as a suspect, a second man is killed—and then a third—and Evans and his team are on the hunt for a serial killer. But they can’t seem to find any connections between the three men…