Detective Inspector Declan Walsh Books in Order
Part ofJack Gatland Books in OrderGet the Detective Inspector Declan Walsh books in order by Jack Gatland, with short summaries, series background, and where to start with these London cases.
Last updated: January 15, 2026
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Publication Order
25 books
Digging Your Grave
by Jack Gatland
2026
Murders committed years apart suddenly line up into one pattern, and Declan Walsh realises someone has been building a conspiracy for decades. Four people took parts of the secret to their graves, and one grave is still out there. Walsh has to find it first.
We Play With Death
by Jack Gatland
2025
A City banker is killed with a wet playing card pinned to his body and a toy water pistol nearby. Declan Walsh traces the clue back to a group of old friends and a game that never really ended. Someone is punishing the winners.
Stand And Deliver
by Jack Gatland
2025
A masked highwayman is robbing the wealthy across London, and the crimes feel designed as a message. When a senior minister is held up, Declan Walsh is forced into a high-profile chase. To catch the thief, he has to understand the story they’re reenacting.
His Dead Man's Hand
by Jack Gatland
2025
A decade-old corpse is found in the basement of a hidden casino, and the victim turns out to be a famous American poker player. Declan Walsh steps into a world of high stakes and higher lies. The house always wins, unless Walsh changes the rules.
Harvest For The Reaper
by Jack Gatland
2024
A serial killer nicknamed the Red Reaper seems to be back, and Declan Walsh can’t afford to be wrong. As new victims appear, he has to separate copycat theatrics from the real monster. The hunt becomes personal when the killer starts targeting the investigation.
Crooked Was His Cane
by Jack Gatland
2024
London cab drivers are being murdered, and the killer leaves a crooked cane and strange clues behind. Declan Walsh works the case street by street, trying to link the deaths before fear takes over the city. One wrong turn could make him the next fare.
Cheating My Destiny
by Jack Gatland
2024
At an elite anti-aging event, a sponsor is found dead in a cryotherapy chamber and Declan Walsh is pulled into the world of biohacking and high-stakes ambition. Everyone claims they’re chasing progress. Walsh has to prove when “progress” becomes murder.
A Pocket Full of Posies
by Jack Gatland
2024
A new disappearance mirrors a past case that still haunts Declan Walsh’s team, down to the posies left behind. Old assumptions start to crack as the pattern returns. Walsh has to move fast, because this time the victim might still be alive.
Pretend To Be Dead
by Jack Gatland
2023
A corpse dressed as a Roman soldier is found with an antique weapon, just as London celebrates its history. Declan Walsh follows the clues through reenactors and collectors, where obsession can turn deadly. Someone is using the past as cover for murder.
Kissing a Killer
by Jack Gatland
2023
Declan Walsh walks into a new remit and a new office, only to be handed a murder at a high-profile art exhibition. The victim’s connections make the case radioactive. Walsh has to sift art-world glamour from ugly motive before the killer strikes again.
Kill Your Darlings
by Jack Gatland
2023
The Last Chance Saloon is changing, and Declan Walsh is already under pressure when a Fleet Street legend is kidnapped. The case collides with media power and political ambition, where stories are weapons. Walsh has to find the victim before the narrative becomes fatal.
Beneath The Bodies
by Jack Gatland
2023
A body hidden for decades is discovered in an underground cell at Temple Church, and Declan Walsh is pulled into a mystery layered with history and modern secrets. As he traces who wanted the victim erased, the present-day danger grows real.
Stalking The Ripper
by Jack Gatland
2022
A gruesome murder echoes London’s most infamous case and Declan Walsh is forced into a race against a copycat killer. The clues feel staged, the public is watching, and panic spreads fast. Walsh has to stop the pattern before history repeats itself.
Murder By Mistletoe
by Jack Gatland
2022
Days before Christmas, people across London start collapsing after wearing Father Christmas hats. Declan Walsh tracks the poisoned trail from the streets to the people profiting from panic. With festive crowds everywhere, he has to stop the next death quickly.
Heavy Is The Crown
by Jack Gatland
2022
Gangster Johnny Lucas insists he knows who’s killing his people, and Declan Walsh can’t ignore him. As bodies fall around a boxing club and old loyalties resurface, Walsh must untangle truth from delusion. The man asking for help may also be the threat.
Behind The Wire
by Jack Gatland
2022
A body is found at a remote research base in the Peak District, and the case yanks Declan Walsh back toward his military past. With an old mentor involved and secrets buried behind security fences, Walsh has to face what he thought he’d left behind.
A Quiver Of Sorrows
by Jack Gatland
2022
A famous actor is killed by an arrow during a Robin Hood convention, and Declan Walsh has a room full of suspects who all had the skill to do it. As jealousies and grudges surface, Walsh learns the story behind the costume is far from playful.
Whisper For The Reaper
by Jack Gatland
2021
A killer is working London with a signature that feels like a message, and Declan Walsh is running out of time to decode it. As the bodies mount, the case drags him into the city’s darker corners and forces hard choices to keep his team safe.
To Hunt A Magpie
by Jack Gatland
2021
A high-profile theft and a missing woman pull Declan Walsh into a case where appearances are carefully managed. The trail runs through London’s wealth and old connections, with a “magpie” thief at the centre. Walsh has to catch them before the story turns bloody.
Murder Of Angels
by Jack Gatland
2021
A man is found murdered in a quiet London square, and the “angels” that watch over it are defaced. Declan Walsh’s investigation uncovers money, motives, and secrets that reach far beyond the crime scene. Someone is determined to silence him.
Killing The Music
by Jack Gatland
2021
When murder hits the world of London music, Declan Walsh has to navigate fame, money, and people who know how to control a narrative. The case spirals fast, and every interview brings a new contradiction. Walsh needs the truth before the next encore becomes a crime scene.
Hunter Hunted
by Jack Gatland
2021
A body turns up in Heathrow’s cargo terminal, and the evidence points in several dangerous directions. Declan Walsh is pulled into a case involving military ties and international pressure. The closer he gets, the more he becomes the target.
A Ritual For the Dying
by Jack Gatland
2021
A death with ritual markings puts Declan Walsh on edge, especially when the clues point to a group that knows how to hide in plain sight. The investigation becomes a race through secret meetings and public lies, with another victim in the sights.
A Dinner To Die For
by Jack Gatland
2021
A death at a celebrity chef’s restaurant drops Declan Walsh into a cutthroat world of money and ego. With parts of his team away, he’s forced to work the case short-handed while the pressure climbs. Another victim could be served up at any moment.
Letter From The Dead
by Jack Gatland
2020
Detective Inspector Declan Walsh receives a letter that drags him back to a murder from twenty years earlier. As a political campaign heats up, a new killing makes the old case urgent again. Walsh has to protect a suspect while hunting the truth.
Series background & context
The Detective Inspector Declan Walsh books are built around a simple pressure cooker: a smart detective whose career is always on the edge, working cases that keep brushing up against the people who’d prefer to stay untouchable.
Walsh is a DI seconded to the City of London Police, working out of a department with a telling nickname, the Last Chance Saloon. It’s where difficult cases and difficult people end up, and it’s also where Walsh gets sent when someone thinks he needs to be controlled, punished, or quietly used.
In this unit, reputations are currency.
The City gives the series its flavour. These are London mysteries, but not just alleyways and fog, they move through the Square Mile, Westminster-adjacent power circles, and the kind of institutions that have lawyers on speed dial. Murders connect to politics, celebrity, media, finance, and old grudges that have been waiting for the right moment to surface. One week the trail might run through an airport cargo terminal or a glossy gallery opening. The next, it’s a church crypt, a restaurant kitchen, or a convention full of people playing at history. London has layers, and someone is hiding in one of them.
Walsh doesn’t work alone. His team includes colleagues like DCI Alexander Monroe and DS Anjli Kapoor, plus recurring support players who can be trusted to follow a lead even when it points somewhere awkward. A lot of the tension comes from how that team survives internal scrutiny while dealing with killers who are confident they’ll never face consequences.
Each book has its own central mystery, usually with a clean hook and a fast escalation, but there are longer threads too. Past cases come back to bite, certain adversaries reappear in new forms, and the personal cost of the job keeps stacking up. Sometimes the unit itself is under threat, reorganised, undermined, or pushed into corners where doing the right thing becomes its own risk. And when a case drags Walsh into parts of his own history he’d rather keep sealed, the procedural structure turns personal fast.
If you want to read in order, start with Letter From The Dead and you’ll meet the unit the way Walsh does, under pressure, with no time to get comfortable. If you’d rather sample the tone, you can also pick up almost any title and still get a complete case, then circle back to the beginning once the characters have you hooked.
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