DI Hillary Greene Books in Order: How to read Faith Martin’s Series?

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Written by English author Jacquie Walton under the pen name Faith Martin (author of the Ryder and Loveday series), this is a crime series about a British detective.

Set in Oxfordshire, this series follows DI Hillary Greene, a member of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who works out of Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington. DI Hillary Greene mostly investigates crimes in the towns and villages in the north of Oxfordshire.

How to read the DI Hillary Greene Series in Order?

In the Hillary Greene book series, the novels were renamed for some reasons. Every book in the Hillary Greene series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

  1. Murder on the Oxford Canal (A Narrow Escape) – Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption. Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death. Can Hillary Greene clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the water?
  2. Murder at the University (On the Straight and Narrow) – A pretty French student is found dead in her room at an exclusive Oxford college. Everyone thinks it is another tragic case of accidental drug overdose. But Detective Hillary Greene has a nose for the truth. She quickly discovers that the student was involved in some very unusual activities.
  3. Murder of the Bride (Narrow is the Way) – DI Hillary Greene is called out to attend a suspicious death at Three Oaks Farm in the picturesque village of Steeple Barton. The large farmhouse is filled with music and revellers, but when she steps into the farm’s cowshed, Hillary finds a dead bride. Dressed in a sumptuous white wedding gown, the young, beautiful redhead had clearly been strangled. But not everything is what it seems…
  1. Murder in the Village (By a Narrow Majority) – A would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife’s alibi is full of holes and there’s another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival? DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this perplexing murder. She certainly doesn’t think the prime suspect is as guilty as everyone thinks.
  2. Murder in the Family (Through a Narrow Door) – 15–year-old Billy Davies is found dead in his father’s shed. A pair of gardening shears thrust brutally into his chest. DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this baffling crime. Who wanted Billy dead and why? The investigation reveals that the teenager was not such an innocent young man.
  3. Murder at Home (With a Narrow Blade) – Flo Jenkins is found murdered in her armchair, a paperknife sticking out of her chest. The old woman was well liked and nothing seems to have been stolen from her home. And it was common knowledge that she only had weeks to live. Why kill a dying woman? This is going to be one of the toughest cases yet for Hillary Greene to solve.
  1. Murder in the Meadow (Beside a Narrow Stream) – Wayne Sutton is found dead by a stream in a beautiful meadow. His head has been bashed in and a red paper heart left on his body. The handsome young artist had a reputation as a ladies’ man. DI Hillary Greene discovers that many wealthy married women were buying his paintings and taking ‘private’ art lesson from him. It appears that several of them might have wanted him dead.
  2. Murder in the Mansion (Down a Narrow Path) – Mattie Jones is found brutally stabbed to death in her palatial home. Hillary Greene is called in to investigate the murder of this wealthy woman and discovers that Mattie’s snobby attitude had made her many enemies…
  3. Murder in the Garden (Across the Narrow Blue Line ) – Edward Philpott is found bludgeoned to death with his own spade in his beautiful garden. He lived with his daughter Rachel and his two grandchildren. Hillary Greene’s only lead is a rival from the village flower show who used to argue with the victim about the size of their vegetables. But what dark secrets from the past and present does this village hold?
  1. Murder by Fire (A Narrow Point of View) – David Merchant’s body is found in a bonfire in his back garden. David was a publisher and devout Christian. Who would want to kill this seemingly very decent man? DI Hillary Greene faces one of her most puzzling cases as she struggles to find anyone with a strong motive to kill the pious publisher.
  2. Murder at Work (A Narrow Exit) – Hillary will retire in a few weeks. But can her boss get Hillary to change her mind by putting her on a murder investigation? The victim is found dead with his head bashed in with a piece of wood. Michael Ivers was a gambler and a notorious womaniser. He had few friends and there is a long list of people who might have wanted him dead.
  3. Murder Never Retires (A Narrow Return) – Hillary Greene returns to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. Twenty years ago, mother-of-three Anna McRae was found beaten to death in her kitchen with a rolling pin. She’d been having an affair with her brother-in-law, so the prime suspect was Anna’s sister Debbie. But the evidence never added up.
  1. Murder of a Lover (A Narrow Margin of Error) – Ten years ago, Rowan Thompson was found stabbed to death with a pair of scissors in his student house. It turns out that Rowan was quite a lover, with many disgruntled partners left in his wake. But did any of them have a strong enough motive to murder him? Meanwhile. Hillary Greene’s stalker is getting more aggressive with his messages and flowers.
  2. Murder Never Misses (Walk a Narrow Mile) – Three missing young women. One evil stalker. But Hillary Greene doesn’t think it all adds up. Hillary is recovering from the vicious attack by her stalker. It appears that he is also behind the disappearance and murder of three women. Her bosses want these unsolved cases closed, but Hillary has a theory that will shock everyone.
  3. Murder at Midnight (A Narrow Victory) – Felix Olliphant was found stabbed to death at a New Year’s Eve costume party for the turn of the millennium. Seemingly liked by everyone, motives for his murder are hard to find. There was one suspect, but no evidence. Hillary Greene struggles to solve this baffling case.
  1. Murder in Mind (The Work of a Narrow Mind) – Seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Perkins was found battered to death in her home in 2010. The murder weapon was suspected to be a fire poker and it seems she was quite popular with older gentlemen. Her grandson Robbie inherited everything, but he can’t be placed at the scene of the crime. Hillary Greene also has a new boss and a baffling cold case to contend with, not to mention a marriage proposal to consider.
  2. Hillary’s Final Case (A Narrow Trajectory) – Can Hillary finally close the case of the missing young women? Can she take down one of Oxfordshire’s most wanted criminals? Can she handle her new boss? Can she help one of her team get answers on his long lost sister? And will she really get married and leave her beloved boat?
  3. Hillary’s Back – Eighteen months after Hillary suffered a personal tragedy, she is throwing herself into her work to try to get over it. Former soldier Gareth Proctor joins her team and finds himself quickly growing to enjoy his new environment. The first cold case he works on is the murder of Andrew Feeley. In 2012, this twenty-one-year-old was found dead in the woods near his home, killed by a single stab wound to the chest from his own knife.
  1. Murder Now and Then – Former Detective Hillary Greene and her cold case team are taking a fresh look at the unsolved murder of Michael Beck, found bludgeoned over the head and dead in a river near his home in 2012. Just twenty-two at the time, he’d recently finished a history degree and had his whole life ahead of him. Everyone said he was a pleasant sort of lad with a passion for the past, quietly living with his parents until he could afford a place of his own. But it quickly turned out that there were at least two people who might have wanted him dead.
  2. Murder in the Parish – Thirty years ago, two days before Christmas, the much-loved Reverend Keith Coltrane was hit over the head and left to die inside his own church. The killer was never caught. This shocking crime took place in the pretty Oxfordshire village of Lower Barton. Everyone knows everyone else in this peaceful little community. Who would have wanted to harm the young Reverend, who was handsome and popular – especially with the ladies of the village? No one has a bad word to say about him – apart from his younger sister. Now, Hillary Greene and her team of misfits are ready to find out the truth.

If you like our article about the Hillary Greene reading order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in more books by Faith Martin like the Ryder and Loveday series, or maybe the DI Nikki Galena series written by Joy Ellis.

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3 Comments

  1. Thanks for the list . I had read books 13, 14, 15 first and then started with book one and need a refresher on the stories in those 3 books .
    There is a book 18 now , Hillary’s Back .

  2. I enjoy the series but I see no reason to have all the men in Greene’s life disapear or killed. Does her talent entail lonliness?

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