Lesley Thomson Books in Order (Updated February 24, 2026)

Lesley Thomson is a British crime novelist whose work falls into two clear lanes: the long-running Detective’s Daughter mysteries (Stella Darnell and Jack Harmon) and a smaller set of standalone novels.

Order matters most inside the Detective’s Daughter books, where character relationships and backstory accumulate book to book.

Start Here

If you want the safest entry point, pick one of these based on what you’re in the mood for:

• Start the series: The Detective’s Daughter (2013): best “meet the cast” opening, and it sets the emotional core.
• Try a standalone first: A Kind of Vanishing (2007): separate continuity, and a clean test-run for her voice.

Series Map

• Detective’s Daughter: one continuous series (read in order).
• Standalones: separate continuity from the series and from each other (read anytime).
• Short fiction: optional; best read after you’ve met Stella.

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The Detective’s Daughter Series in Publication Order

1. The Detective’s Daughter (2013): Stella Darnell’s quiet, methodical life fractures when a case tied to her detective father resurfaces, pulling her into an investigation she can’t ignore.
2. Ghost Girl (2014): A trail of unsettling clues drags Stella and Jack into a cold case with fresh edges, where the past keeps refusing to stay buried.
3. The Detective’s Secret (2015): A death that looks straightforward starts to twist, forcing Stella and Jack to question what the city’s routine tragedies are really hiding.
4. The House With No Rooms (2016): A childhood memory of a body in the heat of summer becomes a live-wire mystery, and Stella has to decide what she truly saw.
5. The Dog Walker (2017): A winter discovery pushes Stella into a case where small details matter more than ever, and the investigation turns personal in unexpected ways.
6. The Death Chamber (2018): An old disappearance is dragged into the light, and Stella and Jack find that the people who “moved on” may have had the most to lose.
7. The Playground Murders (2019): A long-ago crime echoes into the present, and the search for what happened tests how far the team will go for the truth.
8. The Distant Dead (2021): A death connected to wartime shadows widens into a deeper reckoning, as Stella and Jack chase a story designed to stay sealed.
9. The Mystery of Yew Tree House (2023): A family holiday setting curdles into a history-soaked investigation, and the house itself becomes the motive board.
10. The Shrine (2026): A decades-old murder and a brewing revenge plot converge, forcing Stella and Jack to untangle a legacy built to keep punishing the present.

Optional short fiction (best read after Book 1)

• The Runaway (2015): A Stella-focused short that fills in early emotional context without changing the main series plot.

Alternate-title note: The House With No Rooms is also published under the title The Detective’s Shadow in some editions.

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Standalone Novels in Publication Order

These do not connect to the Detective’s Daughter continuity.

1. Seven Miles from Sydney (1987): A standalone early novel that sits outside her later crime-series work and can be read as a completely separate starting point.
2. A Kind of Vanishing (2007): A child’s disappearance becomes a long haunting, and the story follows the damage left behind when answers don’t come.
3. Death of a Mermaid (2020): A return to family and old wounds turns sharply investigative, as past decisions surface with consequences no one can tidy away.
4. The Companion (2022): An intimate setup tightens into suspicion, where the safest-looking help starts to feel like the most controlled kind of threat.

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Chronological Order

There’s no meaningful “timeline order” across the whole bibliography because the standalones don’t connect to the series. If you want the most straightforward timeline experience:

• Read the Detective’s Daughter series in publication order.
• Slot the standalones anywhere before, after, or between series books (they won’t spoil series events).

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Recommended Reading Order

If you want one clean plan that fits most readers:

1. The Detective’s Daughter (2013)
2. Ghost Girl (2014)
3. (Optional) The Runaway (2015)
4. The Detective’s Secret (2015)
5. The House With No Rooms (2016)
6. The Dog Walker (2017)
7. The Death Chamber (2018)
8. The Playground Murders (2019)
9. The Distant Dead (2021)
10. The Mystery of Yew Tree House (2023)
11. The Shrine (2026)
12. Standalones anytime, with A Kind of Vanishing (2007) as the simplest standalone entry point.

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Latest Release Status

• Most recent series entry available now: The Mystery of Yew Tree House (2023)
• Next announced release: The Shrine (scheduled March 2026)

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FAQs

Do I have to read the Detective’s Daughter books in order?
Yes, if you care about character continuity. The cases change each book, but the relationships and personal history build steadily.

Can I read the standalones first?
Yes. They’re separate continuity and won’t spoil the series.

What if I only want to try one book?
Pick The Detective’s Daughter (2013) for the series experience, or A Kind of Vanishing (2007) for a standalone that reflects her crime sensibilities without any ongoing cast.

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Bottom Line

For most readers, the best move is to start with The Detective’s Daughter (2013) and keep going in publication order. Use the standalones as detours whenever you want a complete story with no series commitment.