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Arnold Landon Books in Order

Part ofRoy Lewis Books in Order

Explore the Arnold Landon series by Roy Lewis in order, with book summaries, series background and clear guidance on where to begin.

Last updated: July 14, 2026

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Publication Order

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22 books

1

A Gathering of Ghosts / Murder in the Barn

by Roy Lewis

1983

Planning officer Arnold Landon tries to preserve a medieval barn threatened by redevelopment. When a historian is murdered there, Landon digs into the building's past and uncovers a second deadly secret.

2

Most Cunning Workmen / Murder in the Manor

by Roy Lewis

1985

Asked to catalogue the library of a medieval manor facing sale, Arnold Landon finds property disputes and corporate politics turning lethal. A murder forces him to investigate the estate's people as closely as its books.

3

A Trout in the Milk / Murder in the Farmhouse

by Roy Lewis

1986

Arnold Landon is caught up in a Northumbrian land dispute involving a businessman, an aging aristocrat and an eccentric local woman. When murder follows, every claim to the land becomes suspect.

4

Men of Subtle Craft / Murder in the Stableyard

by Roy Lewis

1987

A murder in the stableyard brings Arnold Landon into a rural case shaped by property, tradition and private animosities. He follows the subtle signs that link a present crime to older conflicts.

5

The Devil is Dead / Murder in the Church

by Roy Lewis

1989

At an old church, Arnold Landon discovers a brutally killed man and suspects that local beliefs may conceal something darker. His efforts to involve the authorities make the investigation increasingly dangerous.

6

A Wisp of Smoke / Murder in the House

by Roy Lewis

1992

Arnold Landon is drawn to a house where a suspicious death has disturbed an already uneasy household. The clues lie in its history, its inhabitants and the stories they are reluctant to tell.

7

A Secret Dying / Murder in the Tower

by Roy Lewis

1993

A tower and its troubled past place Arnold Landon at the heart of a murder inquiry. His knowledge of history helps him see connections that others miss, but it also puts him in harm's way.

8

Bloodeagle / Murder Under the Bridge

by Roy Lewis

1993

A murder beneath a bridge sends Arnold Landon into a case where the past refuses to stay buried. He must work through local suspicion and conflicting stories to uncover the killer's motive.

9

The Cross Bearer / Murder by the Quay

by Roy Lewis

1994

Arnold Landon and bookseller Jane Wilson search for a treasure linked to the Knights Templar. Their historical quest turns dangerous when murder reveals that someone else will go to great lengths to claim it.

10

A Short-Lived Ghost / Murder at the Folly

by Roy Lewis

1995

A death at a folly gives Arnold Landon another case in which old structures and modern motives collide. He follows overlooked details through a web of local relationships and carefully guarded secrets.

11

Angel of Death / Murder in the Field

by Roy Lewis

1996

Arnold Landon investigates a death in a field, where the rural setting conceals more than it reveals. Land disputes, personal grudges and local history complicate his search for the person responsible.

12

Suddenly as a Shadow / Murder in the Cottage

by Roy Lewis

1997

A cottage becomes the center of a troubling murder investigation for Arnold Landon. As he examines the people tied to the place, small inconsistencies point toward a secret someone is desperate to protect.

13

The Ghost Dancers / Murder on the Golf Course

by Roy Lewis

1998

A death on a golf course pulls Arnold Landon into a tightly connected community with much to hide. His patient approach exposes the rivalries and buried history behind an apparently open-and-shut crime.

14

The Shape-Shifter / Murder at Haggburn Hall

by Roy Lewis

1998

At Haggburn Hall, Arnold Landon finds a murder case complicated by shifting identities and old loyalties. The past of the estate matters as much as the people now fighting over its future.

15

An Assumption of Death / Murder on the Dawn Princess

by Roy Lewis

2000

Arnold Landon takes a voyage aboard the Dawn Princess, where a death disrupts the apparent calm of shipboard life. Trapped among a limited group of passengers, he follows secrets, motives and misleading appearances.

16

Dead Secret / Murder in Wolfcleugh Woods

by Roy Lewis

2001

While working in Northumberland's ancient woods, Arnold Landon encounters a body in a peat bog and another death nearby. Development plans, environmental conflict and family connections turn the landscape into a crime scene.

17

The Ways of Death / Murder at Abby Head

by Roy Lewis

2002

A case at Abbey Head brings Arnold Landon face to face with a suspicious death and a place full of competing claims. Careful research and persistence lead him toward a dangerous truth.

18

Headhunter / Murder in the South of France

by Roy Lewis

2004

Arnold Landon is drawn into a murder investigation in the south of France. Surrounded by local tensions and uncertain motives, he has to uncover the story behind a death before danger closes in.

19

Grave Error / Murder in Rome

by Roy Lewis

2005

In Rome, Arnold Landon's professional judgment is challenged after an artifact is stolen and sold on the black market. Disgrace and murder push him to prove what is genuine, and who is lying.

20

Dragon Head / Murder in China

by Roy Lewis

2007

A trip to China places Arnold Landon among artifacts, rival claims and a dangerous death. To find the truth, he must follow the evidence through a setting where history carries real value.

21

Shadowmaker / Murder in La Rochelle

by Roy Lewis

2009

Arnold Landon heads to La Rochelle and finds that a suspicious death has deep roots in the past. His talent for reading places and people becomes vital as old secrets begin to surface.

22

Goddess of Death / Murder in Valencia

by Roy Lewis

2012

Medieval architecture expert Arnold Landon travels to Valencia, where a death draws him into a mystery shaped by the city's past. He must sort through competing interests and concealed histories before another clue disappears.

Series background & context

Arnold Landon is not a hard-bitten detective. He is a medieval architecture specialist and researcher, a man more comfortable studying old timber, stonework and local records than trading threats with suspects. That makes him a very good fit for Roy Lewis's mysteries, where a building or landscape often holds the first clue to a much newer crime.

The series begins with A Gathering of Ghosts, when Landon's effort to save a medieval barn from redevelopment leads him into murder. From there, his cases move through Northumberland and beyond, taking in manor houses, farms, churches, woods, quays and country estates. Each place comes with a history, and that history is rarely harmless.

The past keeps turning up in the evidence.

Landon's work gives him access to people who care deeply about property, preservation and inheritance. Developers want to build. Families want to sell. Local experts want their version of history believed. Those tensions make a natural setting for murder, especially when valuable artifacts, disputed land or old secrets are involved.

Landon is thoughtful rather than flashy. He follows details that other people dismiss, whether they are a strange feature in a building, an inconsistency in an old story or a clue hidden in a place's changing use. His investigations can be dangerous, but the books keep their focus on patient detection, shifting relationships and the practical consequences of greed.

As the series continues, Landon travels farther afield, including cases in France, Italy, China and Spain. Even then, his habits remain the same. He looks closely at what has survived, asks who has a stake in the story being told, and refuses to treat a suspicious death as an isolated event.

These are traditional mysteries with an archaeological angle. Start with A Gathering of Ghosts to meet Landon and get the clearest sense of how his fascination with the past becomes a route into the present.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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