Henry Johnstone Books in Order: How to read Jane A. Adams’s series?

1920s British Murders!

What is the Henry Johnstone series about

The Henry Johnstone series is a historical mystery series by British psychological thrillers writer Jane Adams.

The story takes place in the 1920s and resolves around Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone, a specialist murder detective from London, as he leads investigations in different cities, always lending a hand to catch a killer in those difficult times.

If you like the Henry Johnstone series, you may want to take a look at the Naomi Blake series by the same author.

How to read the Henry Johnstone Books in Order?

Every book in the Henry Johnstone series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. The Murder Book – Lincolnshire, England. June, 1928. When three freshly-buried bodies are unearthed in the front yard of a rented cottage, DCI Henry Johnstone, a specialist murder detective from London, is summoned to investigate. Two of the victims are identified as Mary Fields, known to have worked as a prostitute, and her seven-year-old daughter Ruby. But who is the third victim and what was he doing at the cottage?
2. Death Scene – 1928. A rising star of the silent screen, Cissie Rowe had a bright future ahead of her in the new talking pictures. When Cissie is found brutally murdered in her own home, DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens are despatched to the seaside town of Shoreham-by-Sea to investigate. Famed for the quality of its light, Shoreham is home to a film studio and thriving theatrical community. But who among them would want the popular young actress dead?
3. Kith and Kin – December, 1928. When two bodies are found washed up in the Kentish marshes, it doesn’t take long for DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens to identify at least one of them. Billy Crane was a known associate of Josiah Bailey, one of the East End’s most notorious gangsters. But what were the victims doing in this remote and desolate spot? Is it a set-up? A revenge attack? Or could this be the start of a vicious turf war?

4. The Clockmaker – February, 1929. Clockmaker Abraham Levy’s young nephew has vanished. He was last seen boarding a train on his way to see his fiancée, and with no sign of foul play, the suspicion is that he may have got cold feet about his upcoming nuptials and alighted at an earlier stop. The police seem to think so, but Abraham isn’t convinced. Feeling he has no other option, Abraham makes an unexpected visit to DCI Henry Johnstone to appeal for his help
5. The Good Wife – 1929. Police surgeon Dr Clive Mason is devastated when his wife Martha is found dead in an empty horsebox at Southwell Races, her handbag stolen. The Masons were enjoying a day out at the races with their friends, Dr Ephraim Phillips and his wife Nora, when Martha went to speak to a face she recognized in a crowd – and disappeared.
6. Old Sins – 1929. The discovery of the bodies of two retired policemen, Walter Cole and Hayden Paul, sounds warning bells to DCI Henry Johnstone. Both men were experiencing financial difficulties, and their deaths were staged to look like suicides. Hayden left a note containing two words: old sins. And when Henry attends his sister’s Halloween party, he is approached by a flamenco dancer who leaves a note with the name of another man. Could this be a grim warning?

7. Bright Young Things – January 5, 1930. On a cold, grey winter morning, a mysterious man walks along Bournemouth beach carrying a bundle in his arms. He lays it carefully on the shoreline and calmly walks away. The man has dumped a body. Still recovering from the trauma of his last case, DCI Henry Johnstone returns to work to solve this baffling mystery. But as he and DS Mickey Hitchens investigate, the path to the truth is darker and twistier than they could ever have imagined.
8. The Girl in the Yellow Dress – 1930, Leicestershire. Everyone in the quiet market town of East Harborough is convinced that local miscreant Brady Brewer is responsible for the brutal murder of Sarah Downham. Despite Brewer’s protestations of innocence, and his sister’s pleas for help from DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens, Brewer is convicted and hanged. Two weeks after the hanging, a farmworker finds the body of another young woman less than a mile from where Sarah was found – and there are other disturbing similarities between the two murders.
9. The Room with Eight Windows – December, 1930. Henry Johnstone has retired from his role as detective chief inspector at London’s Scotland Yard and is staying at the home of the late Sir Eamon Barry on the south coast, cataloguing and inventorying his extensive library. Until he suddenly – and inexplicably – vanishes.

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