Alardyce Books in Order

The Alardyce books take Heather Atkinson’s love of history and the gothic and root it firmly in Victorian Edinburgh. The series begins in 1880 with The Missing Girls of Alardyce House, where young Amy Osbourne is sent north from London after her parents are lost at sea. Her new home, Alardyce House, is a large, grey and deeply unwelcoming mansion owned by her haughty aunt and uncle.

Amy finds small comforts in friendship with her younger cousin Edward, but clashes bitterly with his elder brother Henry, who seems every bit as conceited as his mother. As weeks of mourning pass, she realises her aunt has designs on her inheritance and intends to marry her off to a suitor Amy finds horrifying. Rumours swirl below stairs of a monster stalking the city, and when local women are attacked, Henry becomes a prime suspect. The house is full of secrets, and Amy must decide who she can trust.

In The Cursed Heir, time has moved on to 1896. Amy is now Amy Alardyce, married with children, and the focus shifts to her eldest son Robert. His biological father, Matthew, was a violent criminal, and as Robert comes of age disturbing reports surface about his behaviour in Edinburgh. Amy loves her son fiercely but fears the darkness he may have inherited, while her husband Henry struggles with the growing distance between them. The book explores whether blood really is destiny and how far a mother will go to save a child who may be dangerous.

His Fatal Legacy continues Robert’s story as he becomes master of his own household and tries to claim a place in fashionable society with his wife Jane. At the same time, poor women are being hunted on the city’s streets, and Amy begins to suspect that the killer might be her own son. Inspector Murphy, a dogged and infamous policeman, takes on the case, forcing Amy to choose between turning her son in or protecting him from the gallows.

By Evil at Alardyce House, a decade has passed and Robert has fled abroad, building a fortune in African diamond and gold mines while his family at home pretends he no longer exists. News of a death draws him back to Scotland, however, and his return threatens the fragile peace Amy and her remaining children have carved out. Old scandals resurface, new tensions flare and the idea of a curse on the Alardyce line feels horribly plausible.

Blending chilling crimes, family drama and an atmospheric Edinburgh setting, the Alardyce series is a great fit for readers who like their mysteries with creaking mansions, moral dilemmas and a constant question about whether evil is made, inherited or both.