Yorkshire Murder Mysteries Books In Order: How to read J.R. Ellis’s DCI Jim Oldroyd series?

J.R. Ellis is a British author who lived in Yorkshire for most of his life, and after he retired from a teaching career, he started writing murder mysteries set in the varied landscapes and communities of the county.

More precisely, The Yorkshire Murder Mysteries follows the murder investigations led by DCI Jim Oldroyd and his partner DS Carter, a newcomer from London.

How to read the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries In Order?

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

1. The Body in the Dales – A body is discovered deep in a cave beneath the Yorkshire Dales. Leading the investigation into the mysterious death are experienced DCI Jim Oldroyd and his partner DS Carter, a newcomer from London. The deceased is Dave Atkins, well-known throughout the village but not well-liked. While there is no shortage of suspects, the details of the crime leave Oldroyd and Carter stumped.
2. The Quartet Murders – DCI Oldroyd has seen his fair share of victims, but he has never witnessed a murder-until now. When world-famous violinist Hans Muller is shot and killed during a concert, the detective is faced with a case beyond logic. The culprit is nowhere to be found-and the victim’s priceless violin has disappeared too.
3. The Murder at Redmire Hall – Lord Redmire’s gambling habit has placed him in serious debt. Determined to salvage his fortune by putting Redmire Hall on the map, the aristocrat performs an impossible locked-door illusion on live TV. But as the cameras roll, his spectacular trick goes fatally wrong… Special guest DCI Jim Oldroyd has a front-row seat, but in all his years with the West Riding Police he’s never witnessed anything like this.

4. The Royal Baths Murder – A famous writer is found murdered at the Victorian baths in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate. In a crime worthy of one of his novels, Damian Penrose, who was appearing at the town’s crime writing festival, has been ruthlessly strangled. But with no trace of the murderer and no apparent means of escape, how did the killer simply vanish from the scene of the crime?
5. The Nidderdale Murders – A retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. There’s a witness who saw everything, and the gunman’s on the run; the case should be open-and-shut for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the murderer had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead and, what’s more, no trace of him can be found.
6. The Whitby Murders – Halloween, Whitby. DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends for a goth festival. But their visit to an escape room ends in bloody murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses-but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value. Oldroyd and DS Carter are called in to solve the case, assisted from the sidelines by Louise.

7. Murder at St Anne’s – In the chilly depths of a Yorkshire winter, a well-liked rector is found bludgeoned to death in her own church. With no sign of a murder weapon, local superstition quickly pins the blame on the ghost of a medieval monk believed to haunt the building… Well accustomed to unusual murder investigations, DCI Jim Oldroyd takes on the case, along with his assistant, Sergeant Andy Carter, but they are hampered at every turn by the deepening snow and the threat of the supernatural.
8. The Railway Murders – When a film shoot on Wharfedale’s vintage railway turns into a grisly crime scene, DCI Oldroyd’s idyllic visit to the countryside with his partner Deborah is well and truly stopped in its tracks. One of the film’s stars has been shot dead in a train carriage while the cameras rolled outside. But nobody else went in-or came out. Has the killer really pulled off the perfect, impossible crime?
9. The Brewery Murders – Steeped in a history of award-winning Yorkshire ale, the town of Markham boasts not one but two breweries. Richard Foster runs one; his sister, Emily, along with her partner, Janice, runs the other. And not without some resentment. The unwelcome return of the town’s former bad boy, Brendan Scholes, threatens to ignite the sibling rivalry further. Scholes claims to have found the long-lost secret recipe to the beer that made Richard and Emily’s father famous, and he wants money. But it isn’t long before Scholes’ body is found floating in a fermentation tank at one of the breweries, his head caved in by a hammer. DCI Oldroyd and Andy Carter are called in to investigate the murder, and there’s no shortage of suspects.

If you like our article about the Yorkshire Murder series in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also want to check out the DCI Ryan Mysteries, or the work of Elly Griffiths.