Alice McVeigh Books in Order (Updated May 9, 2026)

Alice McVeigh writes contemporary fiction, music-world fiction, speculative fiction under the name Spaulding Taylor, and award-winning Jane Austen-inspired historical fiction.

Her catalog has three main shelves. The first is her contemporary orchestra fiction from the 1990s. The second is her music-world nonfiction and related work. The third is her later Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen series, where most new readers now begin.

The Austen books are connected by literary world and style, not by one continuous plot. They revisit different corners of Austen’s fiction, including Lady Susan, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility.

Best Route Through Alice McVeigh’s Books

1. Begin with Susan if you want the clearest entry into her Austen series.
2. Begin with While the Music Lasts if you want her earlier contemporary fiction about orchestra life.
3. Begin with Last Star Standing if you want her speculative-fiction work under the Spaulding Taylor name.

For most readers coming from Austen retellings, the best order is:

1. Susan
2. Harriet
3. Darcy
4. Pride and Perjury
5. Marianne

That order follows the core Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen sequence and avoids mixing the Austen books with her unrelated earlier fiction.

Alice McVeigh Books in Publication Order

1. While the Music Lasts (1995): A contemporary orchestra novel about the fictional Orchestra of London, using musicians’ rivalries, affairs, ambitions, and professional tensions as the engine of the story.
2. Ghost Music (1997): A standalone sequel to While the Music Lasts, bringing the Orchestra of London back into a darker story involving a difficult conductor, a strained marriage, and a mysterious antique cello.
3. All Risks Musical: An Irreverent Guide to the Music Profession (2002): A comic nonfiction guide to the music profession, drawn from McVeigh’s background as a professional cellist.
4. Beating Time (2003): A play connected to McVeigh’s music-world writing rather than to her later Jane Austen fiction.
5. The Grand International (2012): A co-authored alternate-history work with Fergus Wilson, set in a world where Hitler won the war and Nazism shaped Britain.
6. Last Star Standing (2021): Published under the pen name Spaulding Taylor, this dystopian science-fiction adventure follows rebel outsider Aiden as he tries to resist galactic oppression.
7. Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel (2021): A prequel to Lady Susan that imagines Susan Smithson at sixteen, already clever, disruptive, and socially dangerous before she becomes Austen’s manipulative widow.
8. Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation (2022): An Emma variation that shifts attention toward Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax, giving both women more agency and more complicated secrets.
9. Capturing Mr Darcy (2022): A short Pride and Prejudice story, best treated as an extra rather than as a main-series novel.
10. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (2023): A retelling that places Darcy under sharper emotional and family pressure, forcing him to choose between Elizabeth and obligations tied to reputation and inheritance.
11. All Hallow’s Eve at the Bennets (2023): A short Austen-inspired seasonal piece, best read as a compact extra for readers who already enjoy McVeigh’s Regency voice.
12. Pride and Perjury: Twelve Short Stories Inspired by Pride and Prejudice (2024): A short-story collection exploring side characters, hidden motives, and untold moments around Pride and Prejudice and related Austen worlds.
13. A Heliotrope Ribbon (2024): A short Austen-inspired story, best placed with McVeigh’s shorter Warleigh Hall Press material rather than with the full-length novels.
14. Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel (2025): A sequel focused on Marianne after Sense and Sensibility, following her return to London, renewed independence, and emotional testing after marriage and loss.
15. A Highbury Christmas: A short Emma-related Christmas piece, best treated as a seasonal extra; public listing data is less consistent than for the major Warleigh Hall Press novels.
16. Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series: Book Collection: A collected edition of the Austen series material, useful for bundle readers but not a separate new story.

Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series Books in Order

This is the main Alice McVeigh sequence for Austen readers. The books do not all follow the same characters, but they are best read in release order because the series moves across Austen’s world in a deliberate widening pattern.

1. Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel (2021): A young Susan Smithson enters the orbit of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the Collins family, and rural Kent, already showing the charm and danger that will define her later life.
2. Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation (2022): Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax become central figures in a reworked Emma, shifting the focus away from Emma’s assumptions and toward the women she underestimates.
3. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (2023): Darcy’s inner conflict receives the main attention, especially when family pressure and Elizabeth’s judgment force him toward a difficult choice.
4. Pride and Perjury: Twelve Short Stories Inspired by Pride and Prejudice (2024): A collection of Austen-inspired stories that examines characters such as Wickham, Lydia, Caroline Bingley, Lady Catherine, and others from new angles.
5. Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel (2025): Marianne Brandon returns as the center of her own later story, facing London society, past attachments, and new romantic uncertainty.

Alice McVeigh Contemporary Fiction in Order

These are separate from the Austen books. Read them together if you want McVeigh’s music-world fiction.

1. While the Music Lasts (1995): The first Orchestra of London novel, built around the comic and darker private lives of professional musicians.
2. Ghost Music (1997): A standalone sequel that returns to the orchestra world while adding supernatural tension through an antique cello.

Reading note: Ghost Music can stand alone, but While the Music Lasts gives the cleaner introduction to the fictional orchestra setting.

Alice McVeigh Short Stories and Extras

These are optional. They should not interrupt the main Austen novels unless you prefer shorter pieces between full-length books.

1. Capturing Mr Darcy (2022): A short Pride and Prejudice story centered on Darcy and the romantic pressure of being observed, pursued, or understood differently.
2. All Hallow’s Eve at the Bennets (2023): A Halloween-season Austen short, useful as a light extra for readers who enjoy Bennet-family settings.
3. A Heliotrope Ribbon (2024): A short Austen-inspired piece, best read alongside McVeigh’s other shorter Regency work.
4. A Highbury Christmas: A Christmas-themed Emma extra, best saved for readers who already know Harriet or enjoy Highbury-centered Austen stories.

Nonfiction, Plays, and Co-Authored Work

These titles belong outside the main fiction reading order.

1. All Risks Musical: An Irreverent Guide to the Music Profession (2002): A comic nonfiction book about surviving the professional music world.
2. Beating Time (2003): A play rather than a novel, connected more naturally to McVeigh’s music background than to her Austen fiction.
3. The Grand International (2012): A co-authored alternate-history novel with Fergus Wilson, separate from both the orchestra fiction and the Austen series.

Spaulding Taylor Book

Alice McVeigh’s speculative-fiction work appears under the pen name Spaulding Taylor.

• Last Star Standing (2021): A dystopian science-fiction adventure about a rebel outsider trying to resist a powerful galactic regime.

Reading note: This is separate continuity. Do not place it between the Austen novels unless you are reading McVeigh’s full bibliography in strict publication order.

Recommended Alice McVeigh Reading Order

This order is designed for a reader who wants the best progression, not just the oldest-to-newest list.

1. Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel (2021): Begin here because it launches the modern Austen sequence and works even if you know only the broad outline of Austen’s world.
2. Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation (2022): Move next to Emma, where McVeigh again shifts attention to a character who is often treated as secondary.
3. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (2023): Read third for the most direct Pride and Prejudice novel in the main sequence.
4. Pride and Perjury: Twelve Short Stories Inspired by Pride and Prejudice (2024): Place the collection after Darcy, because many of its pleasures come from seeing familiar Austen characters reframed.
5. Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel (2025): Read after the earlier Austen books, since it is a sequel rather than a prequel or side-angle retelling.
6. Capturing Mr Darcy (2022): Add this short story after Darcy or after Pride and Perjury, when you are already in the Pride and Prejudice lane.
7. All Hallow’s Eve at the Bennets (2023): Read as a seasonal Bennet-family extra.
8. A Heliotrope Ribbon (2024): Add this with the other shorter Austenesque material.
9. A Highbury Christmas: Save this for a holiday read, especially after Harriet.
10. While the Music Lasts (1995): Shift to McVeigh’s original contemporary fiction with the first Orchestra of London novel.
11. Ghost Music (1997): Continue the orchestra setting with the standalone sequel.
12. All Risks Musical: An Irreverent Guide to the Music Profession (2002): Read after the orchestra novels if you want McVeigh’s nonfiction view of professional music.
13. Beating Time (2003): Add this only if you are interested in her playwriting or music-world material.
14. The Grand International (2012): Read as a separate co-authored alternate-history title.
15. Last Star Standing (2021): Finish with the Spaulding Taylor science-fiction novel if you want the full author range.

Chronological Order

A single chronological order does not work across Alice McVeigh’s full catalog.

The Austen books move through different source novels and different characters. Susan is a prequel to Lady Susan, Harriet reworks Emma, Darcy reworks Pride and Prejudice, and Marianne continues Sense and Sensibility.

Use this simpler rule:

1. Read the Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen books in publication order.
2. Read the orchestra novels with While the Music Lasts before Ghost Music.
3. Read Last Star Standing separately.

Standalone vs. Connected Books

Most connected:
While the Music Lasts and Ghost Music share the Orchestra of London world, though Ghost Music is still described as a standalone sequel.

Series by theme and publisher:
The Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen books are connected as an Austen-inspired series, but they do not form one continuous plot.

Separate pen name:
Last Star Standing belongs to Spaulding Taylor and should be separated from the Alice McVeigh Austen and contemporary-fiction shelves.

Extras:
Short stories and collections are optional unless you want a complete bibliography.

Latest Release Status

As of this update, Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel is the latest confirmed full-length Alice McVeigh novel found in the main catalog.

It was published in October 2025 and is listed as the fifth book in McVeigh’s Jane Austen series.

No later full-length Alice McVeigh novel with a confirmed publication date was found during this check.

FAQs

Do Alice McVeigh’s books need to be read in order?

Only partly.

Read While the Music Lasts before Ghost Music. For the Austen books, publication order is the most sensible path, but the novels focus on different Austen works and are not one continuous storyline.

What is the best Alice McVeigh book to start with?

Start with Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel if you want her Austen fiction.

Start with While the Music Lasts if you want her contemporary orchestra fiction.

Is Alice McVeigh the same as Spaulding Taylor?

Yes, Spaulding Taylor is the name used for Last Star Standing.

That book is science fiction and should be treated separately from the Alice McVeigh Austen novels.

Is Susan part of Pride and Prejudice?

Not exactly.

Susan is a prequel to Lady Susan, but it also includes familiar figures from the wider Austen world, including connections that Austen readers will recognize.

Is Darcy a sequel to Susan and Harriet?

No.

Darcy belongs to the same Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen series, but it is a Pride and Prejudice variation rather than a plot sequel to Susan or Harriet.

Should I read Pride and Perjury before Darcy?

Read Darcy first.

Pride and Perjury is a short-story collection, and it works better once you are already familiar with McVeigh’s approach to Austen characters.

Is Marianne a sequel?

Yes.

Marianne is a Sense and Sensibility sequel focused on Marianne after the original Austen novel.

Are the short stories required?

No.

Capturing Mr Darcy, All Hallow’s Eve at the Bennets, A Heliotrope Ribbon, and A Highbury Christmas are optional extras.

Conclusion

Alice McVeigh is best read by shelf.

For Austen readers, start with Susan, continue through Harriet, Darcy, Pride and Perjury, and Marianne, then add the short stories.

For readers interested in her earlier career, read While the Music Lasts before Ghost Music. For speculative fiction, keep Last Star Standing separate under the Spaulding Taylor name.