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Hilary Bonner Books in Order

Explore Hilary Bonner's books in order, with concise summaries, series background, and easy suggestions for where to start reading.

Last updated: July 15, 2026

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Hilary Bonner books in publication order

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22 books

Rene and Me

by Hilary Bonner

1989

Written with Gorden Kaye, this autobiography follows the actor's path from Yorkshire to fame as René Artois in 'Allo 'Allo!. Kaye also reflects on colleagues, career setbacks, and the personal life behind his comic persona.

Benny: The True Story

by Hilary Bonner

1992

Co-written with Dennis Kirkland, Benny: The True Story is a personal account of comedian Benny Hill. Kirkland recalls their long professional friendship, Hill's work, and the private man behind the television character.

Heartbeat

by Hilary Bonner

1994

A companion to the television series Heartbeat, this book offers behind-the-scenes material, cast interviews, and a complete episode guide. It also explores the programme's 1960s music, fashions, cars, and everyday style.

The Cruelty Of Morning

by Hilary Bonner

1995

In 1967, Jennifer Stone finds an unidentified woman's body in the sea, then a local girl vanishes. Twenty years later, Jennifer is a successful reporter and returns to uncover the secrets behind both unresolved crimes.

A Fancy To Kill For

by Hilary Bonner

1997

When journalist Joyce Carter is murdered near actor Richard Corrington's Devon home, the evidence points toward the celebrity. Policeman Todd Mallett suspects a wider and more sinister pattern, with other deaths demanding answers.

A Passion So Deadly

by Hilary Bonner

1998

DCI Rose Piper investigates the murders of two men employed by a Bristol escort agency. Her inquiry eventually intersects with a seemingly secure Somerset farming family, where conflict and grief are moving toward tragedy.

For Death Comes Softly

by Hilary Bonner

1999

After her marriage breaks down, DCI Rose Piper retreats to a remote island off the North Devon coast. Unexplained events soon put her in danger and draw her into the orbit of the island's charismatic owner.

A Deep Deceit

by Hilary Bonner

2001

Suzanne and Carl Peters appear to have built a peaceful life in St Ives, but their past is never far away. Poison-pen letters reopen old fears and expose the dangerous lie that has held their family together.

A Kind Of Wild Justice

by Hilary Bonner

2002

A DNA test finally confirms who murdered a Devon girl twenty years earlier, but double-jeopardy rules mean the man cannot be retried. DS Mike Fielding and journalist Joanna Bartlett seek another way to expose what happened.

A Moment Of Madness

by Hilary Bonner

2002

Rock star Scott Silver is murdered in his South Devon home, while the apparent attacker dies at his widow Angel's hands. Reporter John Kelly pursues the story and becomes dangerously drawn into Angel's orbit.

The Strange and Saucy World of Benny Hill

by Hilary Bonner

2002

Written with television producer Dennis Kirkland, this nonfiction portrait looks back on Benny Hill's life and career. It draws on Kirkland's long working friendship with the comedian and the making of his famous television show.

When the Dead Cry Out

by Hilary Bonner

2004

Twenty-seven years after Clara Marshall and her daughters vanished, skeletal remains revive the cold case. Detective Karen Meadows and reporter John Kelly revisit old suspicions, but finding Clara is only the start of the mystery.

No Reason to Die

by Hilary Bonner

2005

Former reporter John Kelly investigates a string of disturbing deaths at a tough Dartmoor army training base. Each death has an official explanation, but together they suggest a pattern that powerful people would rather leave unexplored.

The Cruellest Game

by Hilary Bonner

2013

Marion Anderson believes she has the perfect home, husband, and son, until tragedy shatters that picture. As her life unravels on Dartmoor, Marion discovers that the foundations of her family may have been built on lies.

Friends to Die for

by Hilary Bonner

2014

A close-knit group of Covent Garden friends becomes the target of a prankster whose tricks grow steadily more menacing. After someone dies, the Sunday Club must face the possibility that the threat comes from within.

Death Comes First

by Hilary Bonner

2015

After her husband dies in a yachting accident, Joyce Mildmay receives a letter he prepared in case of his death. Its warning about her father and the family business sends her searching for a dangerous truth.

Deadly Dance

by Hilary Bonner

2017

Fourteen-year-old Melanie Cooke is found dead in Bristol's red-light district after telling her mother she was visiting a friend. DI David Vogel investigates three unsettling men and a case whose darkest truth is carefully hidden.

Wheel of Fire

by Hilary Bonner

2019

The head of a major private bank dies in a catastrophic fire at his Somerset manor. DI David Vogel must untangle financial intrigue, arson, and violence as a country-house tragedy becomes one of his most baffling cases.

Dreams of Fear

by Hilary Bonner

2020

When a young mother is found hanged in her seaside home, it looks like suicide. DI David Vogel spots troubling evidence and follows a trail through nightmares, family tensions, and secrets that have been buried for decades.

Cry Darkness

by Hilary Bonner

2021

Astrophysicist Dr Sandy Jones ignores a worried call from an old Princeton friend, then learns she has died in a laboratory explosion. Seeking answers, Sandy uncovers research into consciousness and a conspiracy that may put her life at risk.

The Danger Within

by Hilary Bonner

2021

A man is stabbed to death in his North Devon home, with his traumatized wife beside the body. DCI David Vogel initially suspects a violent marriage, but the dead man's secrets lead the inquiry somewhere far more complicated.

The Deadliest Legacy

by Hilary Bonner

2023

A sudden death at an Appledore book festival is followed by a series of alarming incidents. DCI David Vogel must protect bestselling novelist Delia Day and uncover who is turning a literary celebration into a potentially deadly event.

Where to start with Hilary Bonner

For Devon-set crime and old secrets: The Cruelty of MorningA Fancy To Kill ForA Passion So Deadly.
For cold cases and investigative suspense: When the Dead Cry OutNo Reason to Die.
For domestic psychological thrillers: The Cruellest GameFriends to Die forDeath Comes First.
For DI David Vogel's first cases: Deadly DanceWheel of FireDreams of FearThe Danger Within.
To continue with Vogel: The Deadliest Legacy.

Hilary Bonner sub-series and character series

DI David Vogel books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Deadly Dance"

    Deadly Dance

    by Hilary Bonner

    2017DI David Vogel, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Wheel of Fire"

    Wheel of Fire

    by Hilary Bonner

    2019DI David Vogel, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Dreams of Fear"

    Dreams of Fear

    by Hilary Bonner

    2020DI David Vogel, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "The Danger Within"

    The Danger Within

    by Hilary Bonner

    2021DI David Vogel, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Deadliest Legacy"

    The Deadliest Legacy

    by Hilary Bonner

    2023DI David Vogel, Book 5

DI David Vogel books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Deadly Dance"

    Deadly Dance

    by Hilary Bonner

    2017DI David Vogel, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Wheel of Fire"

    Wheel of Fire

    by Hilary Bonner

    2019DI David Vogel, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Dreams of Fear"

    Dreams of Fear

    by Hilary Bonner

    2020DI David Vogel, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "The Danger Within"

    The Danger Within

    by Hilary Bonner

    2021DI David Vogel, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Deadliest Legacy"

    The Deadliest Legacy

    by Hilary Bonner

    2023DI David Vogel, Book 5

Hilary Bonner collections, short stories, and related book types

Non-Fiction

  1. Book cover for "Benny: The True Story"

    Benny: The True Story

    by Hilary Bonner

    1992
  2. Book cover for "Rene and Me"

    Rene and Me

    by Hilary Bonner

    1989
  3. Book cover for "Heartbeat"

    Heartbeat

    by Hilary Bonner

    1994
  4. Book cover for "The Strange and Saucy World of Benny Hill"

    The Strange and Saucy World of Benny Hill

    by Hilary Bonner

    2002

Standalone Hilary Bonner books

  1. Book cover for "The Cruelty Of Morning"

    The Cruelty Of Morning

    by Hilary Bonner

    1995
  2. Book cover for "A Fancy To Kill For"

    A Fancy To Kill For

    by Hilary Bonner

    1997
  3. Book cover for "A Passion So Deadly"

    A Passion So Deadly

    by Hilary Bonner

    1998
  4. Book cover for "For Death Comes Softly"

    For Death Comes Softly

    by Hilary Bonner

    1999
  5. Book cover for "A Deep Deceit"

    A Deep Deceit

    by Hilary Bonner

    2001
  6. Book cover for "A Kind Of Wild Justice"

    A Kind Of Wild Justice

    by Hilary Bonner

    2002
  7. Book cover for "A Moment Of Madness"

    A Moment Of Madness

    by Hilary Bonner

    2002
  8. Book cover for "When the Dead Cry Out"

    When the Dead Cry Out

    by Hilary Bonner

    2004
  9. Book cover for "No Reason to Die"

    No Reason to Die

    by Hilary Bonner

    2005
  10. Book cover for "The Cruellest Game"

    The Cruellest Game

    by Hilary Bonner

    2013
  11. Book cover for "Friends to Die for"

    Friends to Die for

    by Hilary Bonner

    2014
  12. Book cover for "Death Comes First"

    Death Comes First

    by Hilary Bonner

    2015
  13. Book cover for "Cry Darkness"

    Cry Darkness

    by Hilary Bonner

    2021

Author bio

Hilary Bonner was born in Bideford, North Devon, in 1949 and grew up close to the coast. Her father was a butcher who also ran a tea shop, and the West Country landscapes of her early life would later become a familiar part of her crime fiction.

She wanted to be a journalist from an early age. As a teenager, she read newspapers keenly, drawn to reporting that took readers into lives and events they might not otherwise see.

At seventeen, Bonner won a place on the Daily Mirror training scheme. She began working in Fleet Street at twenty, learning the trade in an era when a reporter could begin the day without knowing where the next assignment would lead.

Show business became her main beat. Over the years she was show business editor at the Daily Mirror, the Sun, and the Mail on Sunday, and also worked as an assistant editor. It was a busy, people-filled world, and it gave her a close view of public image, private pressure, ambition, and deception.

In 1993, Bonner left Fleet Street to write full time. Her first novel, The Cruelty of Morning, arrived in 1995. It follows a reporter returning to a haunting unsolved disappearance, and it set the pattern for much of her later work: crime stories with emotional stakes, complicated families, and secrets that have lasted far too long.

The West Country is more than a backdrop in Bonner's books. Devon, Somerset, Bristol, and the coast give her stories a lived-in sense of place, whether she is writing about a cold case in When the Dead Cry Out, a family under strain in The Cruellest Game, or a group of London friends in Friends to Die For.

Real events often sit somewhere behind the fiction.

When the Dead Cry Out grew from Bonner's experience of living next door to a man later convicted of murdering his wife and children. In No Reason to Die, a journalist investigates a troubling series of deaths connected with an army training base. Bonner's years as a reporter show in the way her characters keep asking who benefits when the truth stays hidden.

She has also written nonfiction and worked on books with television figures, including René and Me with Gorden Kaye and books about Benny Hill. Alongside the standalones, her later novels include the DI David Vogel police procedurals, beginning with Deadly Dance.

Bonner has served as chair of the Crime Writers' Association. She lives between the West Country and London with her wife, actor Amanda Barrie, and continues to draw on the places and human knots she knows well.

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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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