Maeve Kerrigan Books in Order: How to read Jane Casey’s series?

Coming from Irish novelist Jane Casey (also the author of the Jess Tennant series), the Maeve Kerrigan series is a crime series set in London, England. In the beginning, Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious and empathic young detective constable who works for the murder task force. She is inexperienced but determined to prove she has what it takes to make it in the hard world.

How To Read The Maeve Kerrigan Series in Order?

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

1. Left for Dead (prequel novella) – A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving them for dead on south London streets. Then young police woman Maeve Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance and stumbles across the latest victim. But as a new recruit – and a female to boot – she must battle sexism from her colleagues in her bid to be taken seriously enough to even assist on the case…
2. The Burning – The Burning Man. It’s the name the media has given a brutal murderer who has beaten four young women to death before setting their bodies ablaze in secluded areas of London’s parks. And now there’s a fifth. Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious detective constable, keen to make her mark on the murder task force. Her male colleagues believe Maeve’s empathy makes her weak, but the more she learns about the latest victim, Rebecca Haworth, from her grieving friends and family, the more determined Maeve becomes to bring her murderer to justice.
3. The Reckoning – To the public, he’s a hero: a brutal killer who targets sex offenders. To most of London’s police force, he’s the suspect in a gruesome, time-consuming case to be avoided. But to Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan, he’s a murderer-no matter the sins of his victims-and catching him is her job. Assigned to the case with the division’s unreadable new DI, Josh Derwent, young and inexperienced Maeve is determined to prove she has what it takes to make it as a female in the tough world of the London police.
4. The Last Girl – Called to a South London crime scene, Maeve Kerrigan’s first thought is that this is a domestic dispute gone bad. But the husband – found bloody and unconscious in an upstairs room – insists he’s the third victim not the killer. However, the only witness is his young daughter. And she’s not talking…

5. The Stranger You Know – He meets women. He gains their trust. He kills them. That’s all Maeve Kerrigan knows about the man she is hunting. Three women have been strangled in their homes by the same sadistic killer. With no sign of a break-in, every indication shows that they let him in. But the evidence is pointing at a shocking suspect: DI Josh Derwent, Maeve’s colleague.
6. The Kill – A killer is terrorizing London but this time the police are the targets. Urgently re-assigned to investigate a series of brutal attacks on fellow officers, Maeve Kerrigan and her boss Josh Derwent have little idea what motivates the killer’s fury against the force. But they know it will only be a matter of time before the killer strikes again.
7. After the Fire – Arson, accident, or murder? After a fire rips through a North London tower block, two bodies are found locked in an 11th-floor flat. But is the third victim that ensures the presence of detective Maeve Kerrigan and the murder squad. It appears that controversial MP Geoff Armstrong, trapped by the fire, chose to jump to his death rather than wait for rescue. But what was such a right-wing politician doing in the deprived, culturally diverse Maudling Estate?

8. Let the Dead Speak – Eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home one day to find the house covered in blood and Kate, her mother, gone. All the signs point to murder. Maeve Kerrigan is determined to prove she’s up to her new role as detective sergeant. She suspects Chloe is hiding something, but getting her to open up is impossible.
9. One in Custody (novella) – ‘I’ve killed my husband.’ Those are the words Sheila Gleeson greets the police with when they arrive on her doorstep. There is a murder weapon, fingerprints, and a confession. It’s clearly premeditated murder, end of the story. Or is it? Because when detectives Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent dig a little deeper, they realize things might not be quite what they seem.
10. Cruel Acts – A year ago, Leo Stone was convicted of murdering two women and sentenced to life in prison. Now he’s been freed on a technicality, and he’s protesting his innocence. DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars where he belongs, but the more Maeve digs, the less convinced she is that he did it. Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start?
11. Love Lies Bleeding (novella) – When Detectives Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent arrive at the solicitors’ firm of Mitchford Bexley, they instantly see it is a place of wealth, good taste, and orderly calm. Except, that is, for the bloody footprints leading out of the reception…
12. Silent Kill (novella) – A teenage girl is killed on a London bus. The case should be simple. The bus was full of witnesses, and there are cameras everywhere. But the more DC Georgia Shaw and her colleagues Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent delve into the crime, the more elusive the answers become.
13. The Cutting Place – Everyone’s heard the rumors about elite gentlemen’s clubs, where the champagne flows freely, the parties are outrageous…and what goes on behind closed doors is darker than you could possibly imagine. Paige Hargreaves was a young journalist working on a story about a club for the most privileged men in London. She was on the brink of exposing a shocking scandal. Then she disappeared. DS Maeve Kerrigan must immerse herself in the club’s world of wealth, luxury, and ruthless behavior to find out what happened. But Maeve is keeping secrets of her own. Will she uncover the truth? Or will time run out for Maeve first?

14. The Close – To anyone walking by, Jellicoe Close looks just like a regular suburban street. Well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbors conversing over garden fences, children playing together. But look a little closer, and it’s a different story. Behind one of the closed doors lies one of the most dangerous criminals the country has ever seen. DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent must go undercover to expose the criminal. Posing as a young couple, they discover everyone on the street is keeping secrets.
15. A Stranger in the Family – When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart. Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side. It looks like a straightforward murder-suicide but DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent soon discover nothing about this case is straightforward. The Marshalls have been keeping secrets. And someone is prepared to kill to hide the truth. Until Maeve finds out what happened to Rosalie, no one will be safe . . .

If you like our article about the Maeve Kerrigan reading order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in Ruth Ware’s Books or Marian Keyes’s.