Detective's Daughter Books in Order
See the Detective's Daughter books by Lesley Thomson in order, with quick summaries, reading order, series background, and help choosing where to start.
Last updated: July 3, 2026
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Publication Order
9 books
The Detective's Daughter
by Lesley Thomson
2013
Clearing out her late father's house, Stella Darnell finds herself pulled back toward the unsolved murder that shaped her childhood. Kate Rokesmith's death ruined several lives, and Stella is determined to see what her detective father missed.
Ghost Girl
by Lesley Thomson
2014
A folder of unlabeled photographs in her late father's darkroom draws Stella into an old case from 1966. One image points to a day that scarred a young girl for life, and Stella can't stop digging.
The Detective's Secret
by Lesley Thomson
2015
After a man dies under Jack Harmon's train, the verdict is suicide, but his brother insists otherwise. Stella and Jack follow the case back to a body found in a west London water tower, and to secrets nobody wanted disturbed.
The Runaway
by Lesley Thomson
2015
This short prequel follows Stella at seven and a half, just after her parents split up. Hurt, angry, and tired of coming second to her father's job, the detective's daughter decides to run away.
The House With No Rooms
by Lesley Thomson
2016
A little girl's half-glimpsed memory from the baking summer of 1976 leads Stella toward a decades-old murder tied to Kew's Botanical Gardens. As she follows the trail into the world of botany, old secrets begin to bloom in dangerous ways.
The Dog Walker
by Lesley Thomson
2017
When Helen Honeysett vanishes during an evening run along the Thames, only her dog comes home. Nearly thirty years later, Stella and Jack take the case and find a haunted stretch of towpath, shuttered households, and a killer hidden in plain sight.
The Death Chamber
by Lesley Thomson
2018
Stella heads to the Cotswolds to reopen two linked disappearances, one from 1977 and one from 1999. In a village where rumor has hardened into truth, she has to find out who has been getting away with murder for decades.
The Playground Murders
by Lesley Thomson
2019
Forty years after six-year-old Sarah Ferris was killed in an empty playground, Stella uncovers new evidence that reopens one of Hammersmith's most troubling cases. What began as a child's murder leads into jealousy, betrayal, and a past that never really ended.
The Hollow House / The Distant Dead
by Lesley Thomson
2021
Now living in Tewkesbury, Stella Darnell is pulled into a fresh killing when an investigative journalist dies in the abbey. His work points back to a wartime London murder, and Stella soon finds the past is still claiming victims.
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