Drew Slocombe Books in Order

The Drew Slocombe books follow an ex-nurse who has reinvented himself as an undertaker and champion of natural burials in the West Country. Where many crime novels focus on the police, these stories keep returning to what happens around the grave rather than the courtroom.

Drew arrives on the scene in Dark Undertakings, handling the funeral of Jim Lapsford, a health-obsessed man whose sudden heart attack feels all wrong. Drew's medical training makes him question the easy diagnosis, especially when he learns about Jim's complicated private life, including a long-suffering wife and several mistresses. With a cremation date looming, he has only days to decide whether he is looking at bad luck or a carefully concealed murder.

In Grave Concerns he is trying to make a success of Peaceful Repose, his natural burial ground. The discovery of an unidentified elderly woman already interred on his land throws his plans into chaos. With the help of forthright assistant Maggs and the determined Genevieve Slater, Drew traces the dead woman's past through a web of family secrets, shady doctors and buried scandals. The book also explores the practicalities and philosophy of green funerals without losing sight of the human drama.

The Sting of Death brings Drew together with Devon detective Den Cooper when a supposed abduction and killing surfaces in the countryside they both call home. Bees, wasps and the aftermath of the foot and mouth disease outbreak provide the backdrop as the two men pool their different skills, while Drew's family tensions and money worries continue to nag in the background.

In A Market for Murder the focus shifts again to everyday life when Drew's wife, Karen, takes a stall at the local farmers' market. A supermarket bombing and the shooting of a fellow stallholder raise questions about who benefits from violence aimed at the food chain. Drew finds himself caught between activists, big retailers and small producers, all while trying to keep his own business afloat.

Throughout the series Drew is a reluctant sleuth. He would much rather focus on giving the dead a dignified send-off, but his work means he hears things the police do not, and grieving families often trust him more than official investigators. His perspective keeps the emphasis on motives rooted in fear, pride, money troubles and old resentments.

These books will suit readers who like their mysteries grounded in real work and ordinary households, with a slightly darker edge than a classic cozy but the same attention to character and place.