Mark Hodder Books in Order (Updated August 8, 2026)

Mark Hodder’s bibliography is dominated by one large alternate-history creation: the Burton & Swinburne universe.

The six main novels form a completed sequence. After them come companion collections, short fiction, and the Black Pentagram cases, which continue using Burton, Swinburne, and their altered Victorian world without becoming Books 7, 8, and 9 of the original novel arc.

Hodder has also written the Macallister Fogg stories, a standalone science fiction novel, Sexton Blake fiction, and a newer collaboration with Michael Moorcock called the Metatemporal Detectives.

The safest first book is The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.

The Essential Mark Hodder Reading Order

If you only want Hodder’s principal original series, read:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats

Then, if you want more Burton and Swinburne, continue into the companion material and Black Pentagram stories.

The six novels should remain together. Later shorter works expand the setting, but they do not replace the conclusion supplied by Book 6.

Burton & Swinburne Novels in Order

Included, completed six-book sequence

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (2010)
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (2011)
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (2012)
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi (2013)
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man (2014)
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats (2015)

This is both publication order and the recommended first reading order.

The series follows historical explorer Richard Francis Burton and poet Algernon Swinburne through an alternate Victorian history destabilized by time travel and increasingly complicated variations of reality.

The books build heavily on previous events. This is not a detective series where later cases can be selected independently.

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack

Burton & Swinburne, Book 1

Begin here.

The novel establishes the central historical divergence, introduces Hodder’s altered versions of Burton and Swinburne, and explains why Victorian Britain has begun developing along an increasingly strange technological and social path.

Later books assume that readers understand those changes.

It also won the Philip K. Dick Award.

The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man

Burton & Swinburne, Book 2

Read this directly after The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.

The alternate Britain introduced in the first book continues to evolve, while Burton and Swinburne investigate another case tied to the larger disruption of history.

Skipping Book 1 would remove much of the explanation for why this Victorian world differs so sharply from recorded history.

Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon

Burton & Swinburne, Book 3

The third novel expands the series geographically and pushes the consequences of the altered timeline further.

It also completes the first major phase of the Burton and Swinburne story.

Do not move it ahead of the first two books because of its connections to Burton’s real historical expeditions.

Hodder is using historical material inside an already altered chronology.

The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi

Burton & Swinburne, Book 4

Book 4 begins another stage of the series.

By this point, the effects of changing history have become inseparable from the mystery plots.

Read the first three books before it.

A reader jumping in here would encounter established relationships and alternate-history consequences without their original explanations.

The Return of the Discontinued Man

Burton & Swinburne, Book 5

This is the penultimate main novel.

The series increasingly engages with competing versions of history and the consequences of earlier temporal changes.

It should be treated as a direct continuation, not an independent adventure.

The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats

Burton & Swinburne, Book 6

This is the sixth and final novel in the original Burton & Swinburne sequence.

Hodder identified it as the conclusion of the six-book series.

That distinction becomes important because additional Burton and Swinburne material was published afterward.

Those later works are extensions and side adventures rather than a seventh main novel.

Is Burton & Swinburne Finished?

The original novel sequence is complete at six books.

Read:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats

Further stories exist, but the six-novel arc has an ending.

Burton & Swinburne Companion Books

After completing the main novels, readers can move into two companion collections:

1. Strange Affairs and Curious Cases (2016)
2. When Red Petals Fall (2017)

Both are Optional.

They contain additional Burton & Swinburne material rather than continuing as full numbered novels.

Strange Affairs and Curious Cases

Optional companion

Strange Affairs and Curious Cases contains new short fiction involving Burton, Swinburne, and associated characters, alongside supplementary material.

It was conceived as the first Burton & Swinburne companion volume.

Read it after The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats.

Some individual stories may concern earlier periods, but the collection itself was written for readers already familiar with the completed six-book sequence.

When Red Petals Fall

Optional companion

This is the second companion volume.

It contains additional stories and related material from the Burton & Swinburne universe.

Read it after Strange Affairs and Curious Cases if you want the supplemental books in publication order.

Neither companion is required to understand the six novels.

Black Pentagram Books in Order

The Black Pentagram consists of shorter Burton & Swinburne cases published in 2018.

1. The Mystery of the Empty Bay
2. The Disaster at Dale Dyke
3. The Great Plague of Paris

These stories return Burton and Swinburne to an alternate 1862 and involve a new threat associated with black magic.

They are connected to the Burton & Swinburne universe, but should not be numbered as Books 7 through 9 of the original novel sequence.

Status: Optional later Burton & Swinburne cases.

Where Does The Mystery of the Empty Bay Fit?

The Mystery of the Empty Bay begins the Black Pentagram storyline.

It was published after the six main novels and the two companion volumes.

For a publication-led reading project, use:

1. Six Burton & Swinburne novels
2. Strange Affairs and Curious Cases
3. When Red Petals Fall
4. The Mystery of the Empty Bay
5. The Disaster at Dale Dyke
6. The Great Plague of Paris

This keeps the supplementary material in the order Hodder released it.

Should You Read Black Pentagram Before the Main Novels?

No.

The Black Pentagram stories assume familiarity with Burton, Swinburne, and Hodder’s alternate Victorian world.

Even if their local chronology can place them within an earlier period, publication order gives a first-time reader the necessary background.

Treat them as post-series bonus cases.

Other Burton & Swinburne Short Fiction

Hodder has released additional shorter works connected to characters or ideas from the Burton & Swinburne world.

Notable titles include:

1. The Beetle
2. Sherlock Holmes: Sir Richard Burton’s Final Chapter

These are Optional.

They should not be inserted automatically into the six-book main sequence.

The Beetle

The Beetle focuses on a figure associated with the supporting cast of the Burton & Swinburne material.

It is supplementary rather than a numbered installment.

Read it after the main novels.

Sherlock Holmes: Sir Richard Burton’s Final Chapter

This short work brings Sherlock Holmes into a story involving an elderly Sir Richard Francis Burton.

It is connected to Hodder’s interest in Victorian fictional and historical figures, but it is not Burton & Swinburne Book 7.

Treat it as an optional crossover or companion story.

Complete Burton & Swinburne Reader Order

Readers who want more than the six core novels can use this practical sequence:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats
7. Strange Affairs and Curious Cases
8. When Red Petals Fall
9. The Mystery of the Empty Bay
10. The Disaster at Dale Dyke
11. The Great Plague of Paris
12. Additional Burton-related short fiction

This is a recommended reader order rather than a claim that every title forms one twelve-book novel series.

The first six are the core.

Everything afterward is supplemental.

Macallister Fogg Books in Order

Hodder also created another eccentric Victorian-era investigator, Macallister Fogg.

The published stories are:

1. The Master Mummer’s Mummy (2013)
2. Great Great Great (And So Forth) Uncle Dragoslav (2013)
3. The Hetrodythermaline Highwayman (2013)

These are shorter works rather than full Burton & Swinburne-style novels.

The Master Mummer’s Mummy

Macallister Fogg, Story 1

Start here.

Macallister Fogg is a consulting detective whose cases involve increasingly strange threats, aided by his secretary Emma Boswell.

The story establishes the characters and tone.

Great Great Great (And So Forth) Uncle Dragoslav

Macallister Fogg, Story 2

Read this second.

It continues the Macallister Fogg adventures and should be kept after the introductory story.

The Hetrodythermaline Highwayman

Macallister Fogg, Story 3

This is the third published Macallister Fogg adventure.

No larger novel sequence needs to be read around these three stories.

Is Macallister Fogg Connected to Burton & Swinburne?

The two bodies of work share Hodder’s interest in eccentric Victorian adventure, but they should not automatically be treated as one required continuity.

For reading-order purposes, keep Macallister Fogg separate.

You do not need Burton & Swinburne before The Master Mummer’s Mummy.

A Red Sun Also Rises

Standalone novel

1. A Red Sun Also Rises (2012)

This is Hodder’s major standalone novel outside Burton & Swinburne.

The story begins with Victorian characters but moves into a science fiction setting involving another world.

Its Victorian atmosphere can make it look connected to Burton & Swinburne.

It is not a required part of that series.

Read it independently.

Is A Red Sun Also Rises Part of Burton & Swinburne?

No.

Pyr published it as an original standalone adventure from the author of the Burton & Swinburne books.

Similar period influences do not make the settings identical.

Status: Separate continuity.

Sexton Blake Books by Mark Hodder

Sexton Blake presents a different problem because the character existed for more than a century before Hodder wrote or edited material involving him.

Do not treat every Sexton Blake title associated with Hodder as part of a Mark Hodder-created series.

His original Sexton Blake novel is:

1. The Silent Thunder Caper (2014)

He has also edited collections of earlier Sexton Blake fiction and participated in later collaborative projects.

The Silent Thunder Caper

Sexton Blake original fiction by Hodder

The Silent Thunder Caper is Hodder’s own Sexton Blake adventure.

It belongs to the enormous wider history of the character rather than a private continuity beginning with Hodder.

Readers familiar with traditional British adventure fiction can approach it without reading every previous Sexton Blake story.

Sexton Blake Anthologies Edited by Mark Hodder

Hodder has edited several collections preserving earlier Sexton Blake fiction.

These include:

1. Sexton Blake and the Great War
2. Sexton Blake and the Master Crooks
3. Sexton Blake’s Allies
4. Sexton Blake on the Home Front
5. Sexton Blake’s New Order

These are primarily editorial projects containing work by earlier Sexton Blake writers.

Do not count them as five Mark Hodder sequel novels.

Status: Edited collections.

Caribbean Crisis and Voodoo Island

Collaborative Sexton Blake material

Caribbean Crisis & Voodoo Island was published in 2023 under the names Michael Moorcock and Mark Hodder.

The book combines a restored and revised version of Moorcock’s early Sexton Blake novel Caribbean Crisis with new material, including the prequel Voodoo Island.

This project is important because it leads toward Hodder and Moorcock’s newer collaboration involving metatemporal detectives.

It is not part of Burton & Swinburne.

Metatemporal Detectives Books in Order

Mark Hodder and Michael Moorcock have begun a new collaborative sequence:

1. The Albino’s Secret (2025)

The book is officially identified as Metatemporal Detectives Book 1.

It features Sir Seaton Begg and an albino figure tied to Moorcock’s wider metatemporal concepts.

The Albino’s Secret

Metatemporal Detectives, Book 1

The Albino’s Secret was published in 2025.

It is the first confirmed published volume of the series and the newest published Mark Hodder book as of August 8, 2026.

No earlier Burton & Swinburne book is required.

Readers familiar with Moorcock’s recurring multiversal ideas may recognize additional resonances, but this is a separate Hodder collaboration.

What Comes After The Albino’s Secret?

Hodder and Moorcock have been working on a second book titled:

2. The Albino’s Honour

Hodder has described it as the second novel in an intended series or trilogy.

A further title, The Albino’s Eye, has also been associated with the planned sequence.

However, as of August 8, 2026, neither should be treated as a published volume unless a confirmed release has occurred.

Current status:

1. The Albino’s Secret , Published
2. The Albino’s Honour , Forthcoming or in development, no reliably confirmed publication date
3. The Albino’s Eye , Planned, publication status not yet firm

Do not assign invented release dates.

A Dark and Subtle Light

This title needs a correction because several online bibliographies still list it as a 2024 release.

A Dark and Subtle Light was intended to begin a project called Machiavelli the Immortal.

The planned publication date was October 2024.

The release was subsequently cancelled by the publisher.

It therefore should not be included as a normally published Mark Hodder novel.

Status: Unpublished after cancelled scheduled release.

Why Do Some Lists Say A Dark and Subtle Light Was Published in 2024?

Older retailer and catalog records retained the scheduled October 8, 2024 publication date.

That makes the title appear to be an ordinary released novel.

However, available information indicates that the publication did not proceed as planned.

For a reference-grade reading order, the title belongs under unpublished or cancelled projects rather than among Hodder’s published books.

Zenith the Albino

Hodder has also written fiction involving Zenith the Albino, a classic character originally created by Anthony Skene.

One example is:

1. Zenith the Albino: The Blood of Our Land

The story was originally associated with the anthology Zenith Lives! and later appeared separately.

This is not part of Burton & Swinburne.

It is also relevant to the broader literary lineage surrounding Hodder’s later collaboration with Michael Moorcock, since Zenith was a significant influence on Moorcock’s own albino characters.

Status: Separate licensed or legacy-character fiction.

Other Mark Hodder Short Fiction

Additional individually published short works include titles such as:

1. My Hat! My Wonderful Hat!
2. The Abattoir
3. Dust and Six Fragments of Bone
4. The Sigils of Hufferton Hall

These works should remain outside the numbered Burton & Swinburne novels unless a specific edition identifies a direct series connection.

They are optional for readers concentrating on Hodder’s major novels.

Mark Hodder Novels in Publication Order

For readers following Hodder’s full-length published fiction rather than one continuity:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (2010)
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (2011)
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (2012)
4. A Red Sun Also Rises (2012)
5. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi (2013)
6. The Return of the Discontinued Man (2014)
7. The Silent Thunder Caper (2014)
8. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats (2015)
9. Caribbean Crisis & Voodoo Island (2023), with Michael Moorcock
10. The Albino’s Secret (2025), with Michael Moorcock

This list deliberately excludes A Dark and Subtle Light because its planned publication was cancelled.

Short stories, casebooks, companion collections, and edited anthologies are also kept separate rather than mixed into the novel list.

The Best Order for a First Mark Hodder Read

A new reader does not need to move chronologically through every Hodder publication.

Begin with his strongest continuous sequence:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats

After that, choose between three directions.

For more Burton and Swinburne, read the companion volumes and Black Pentagram stories.

For unrelated science fiction, read A Red Sun Also Rises.

For Hodder’s newest collaborative work, begin The Albino’s Secret.

Does Burton & Swinburne Have a Chronological Order?

The series is built around altered timelines, historical interference, and multiple possibilities.

Trying to create a supposedly pure chronological order therefore works against the structure of the books.

Use publication order.

The six novels reveal the mechanics and consequences of altered history in the sequence Hodder designed.

This is especially important because later books reinterpret circumstances established earlier.

Should the Black Pentagram Stories Be Inserted Chronologically?

Not on a first read.

Although the cases are set in an alternate 1862, they were written after the main sequence and rely on an established version of Burton and Swinburne’s world.

Read them after Book 6.

Chronological placement is mainly an option for returning readers.

Are the Burton & Swinburne Companion Books Required?

No.

The six main novels tell the central series arc.

The companion books add short stories, side incidents, and supplementary material.

Label them Optional rather than numbering them into the novel series.

Is The Albino’s Secret Connected to Burton & Swinburne?

No confirmed direct continuity makes it another Burton & Swinburne book.

It is Metatemporal Detectives Book 1 and was co-written with Michael Moorcock.

Keep the series separate.

Is The Albino’s Secret Connected to Caribbean Crisis and Voodoo Island?

There is a stronger creative relationship here than with Burton & Swinburne.

Hodder and Moorcock’s newer collaborations involve characters and concepts associated with Moorcock’s metatemporal fiction, and Hodder has discussed recurring characters across these projects.

However, The Albino’s Secret is formally labeled as the first Metatemporal Detectives book.

For a clear reading order, treat Caribbean Crisis & Voodoo Island as related precursor material rather than Book 0 unless an official series list explicitly numbers it that way.

What Is Mark Hodder’s First Novel?

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack was published in 2010.

It launched Burton & Swinburne and remains the clearest introduction to Hodder’s fiction.

What Is Mark Hodder’s Latest Book?

As of August 8, 2026, the newest confirmed published book co-authored by Mark Hodder is:

The Albino’s Secret, with Michael Moorcock, published in 2025.

It is Metatemporal Detectives Book 1.

A Dark and Subtle Light should not be treated as the preceding 2024 publication because its scheduled release was cancelled.

Frequently Asked Questions

What order should I read Mark Hodder’s Burton and Swinburne books?

Read:

1. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
2. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man
3. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon
4. The Secret of Abdu El-Yezdi
5. The Return of the Discontinued Man
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats

How many main Burton & Swinburne novels are there?

Six.

The original series is complete.

Are there Burton & Swinburne books after Book 6?

There is later Burton & Swinburne material, including companion collections and Black Pentagram stories.

They are supplemental rather than seventh, eighth, and ninth main novels.

What are the Black Pentagram books?

They are three shorter Burton & Swinburne adventures:

1. The Mystery of the Empty Bay
2. The Disaster at Dale Dyke
3. The Great Plague of Paris

Read them after the main series.

Is A Red Sun Also Rises connected to Burton & Swinburne?

No.

It is a standalone novel.

What order should I read Macallister Fogg?

Read:

1. The Master Mummer’s Mummy
2. Great Great Great (And So Forth) Uncle Dragoslav
3. The Hetrodythermaline Highwayman

Did A Dark and Subtle Light come out?

Its planned 2024 publication was cancelled.

It should not be counted as a normally published Hodder novel.

What is The Albino’s Secret?

It is a 2025 novel co-written by Michael Moorcock and Mark Hodder.

It begins the Metatemporal Detectives series.

Is there a sequel to The Albino’s Secret?

The Albino’s Honour has been identified as the next project in the sequence.

As of August 2026, it should remain listed as forthcoming or in development unless a firm publication date is confirmed.

Which Mark Hodder book should I read first?

Start with The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.

It begins his defining six-book series and requires no previous reading.

Conclusion

Mark Hodder’s reading order is simpler than the amount of Burton & Swinburne material can initially suggest.

There are six core novels. Read them from The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack through The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats without rearranging them.

Only after that should the supplemental layer be added. Strange Affairs and Curious Cases, When Red Petals Fall, and the three Black Pentagram stories all extend the Burton & Swinburne world, but none needs to be mistaken for a seventh main novel.

Outside that universe, A Red Sun Also Rises stands alone, the Macallister Fogg adventures form their own short sequence, and Hodder’s Sexton Blake work belongs to a much older shared literary tradition.

His newest confirmed publication moves in another direction. The Albino’s Secret, written with Michael Moorcock, begins the Metatemporal Detectives and is the latest published Mark Hodder book as of August 2026.