DI Daniel Ward Books in Order

Meg Jolly's DI Daniel Ward series is a Yorkshire-set police procedural built around serious crimes, close community ties, and a detective who rarely gets the luxury of handling one problem at a time. The main novels begin with The Past We Run From, although The Truth We Can't Hide works as a short introductory case.

Daniel Ward is a detective inspector working cases in Bradford and across West Yorkshire. His investigations take him through busy city spaces, quiet villages, market towns, and the moorland country beyond them. The setting matters because people carry long memories, local reputations can hide uncomfortable truths, and even a small case can affect a whole community.

The early books introduce Ward as he investigates the disappearance of toddler Millie Thompson in The Past We Run From. A known child killer is seen near the scene, but the case is not as simple as it first appears. Ward must also contend with the Hunters, a vigilante group that may destroy his best chance of finding the child in time.

Every case has pressure behind it.

In The Revenge We Seek, the murder of a woman outside Bingley becomes more urgent when another woman disappears. The Mistakes We Deny begins with the death of a rich businessman in Skipton, a victim with plenty of enemies and no shortage of people with secrets to protect. The Justice We Serve gives Ward and colleague Nowak a suspected serial killer whose victims appear connected by a list.

Alongside the individual cases is a continuing investigation into Bogdan Varga, an international crime figure whose operation repeatedly brushes against Ward's work. This thread adds a larger threat to the series. Ward may solve the murder directly in front of him, but the Varga case keeps reminding him that some dangers extend far beyond one crime scene.

The books are straightforward, fast-moving crime stories with a strong procedural core. Ward relies on colleagues, forensics, interviews, local knowledge, and patient follow-up, even when time is short. Later entries bring additional people into the team, including DC Holly Dean, whose autism shapes the way she approaches the job without making it her whole character.

The tone is tense but not relentlessly bleak. There are murders, disappearances, and high personal stakes, yet the team dynamic gives the series a human center. Readers can expect suspect-heavy investigations, Yorkshire detail, and ongoing character threads that are best enjoyed in order.

Start with The Truth We Can't Hide for a brief first encounter with Ward, or go directly to The Past We Run From for the first full novel. Continue through the books in publication order to get the most from the Varga storyline and the evolving relationships within Ward's team.