Inspector Capstan Books in Order
Part ofDavid Blake Books in OrderThis page lists the Inspector Capstan books by David Blake in order, with case summaries, series background, and suggestions on how they link to his later Space Police and Abigail Love novels.
Last updated: December 25, 2025
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Publication Order
4 books
The Thrills & Spills of Genocide Jill
by David Blake
2016
A new nemesis known as Genocide Jill draws Capstan into a spree of over the top mayhem involving politics, media stunts and improbable body counts. As the city lurches from crisis to crisis, he stumbles after her trail, hoping dim luck will make up for poor policing.
The Slaughtered Virgin of Zenopolis
by David Blake
2016
Inspector Capstan tackles a wildly escalating case in the city of Zenopolis, starting with a murder at Bath’s eccentric Basin Museum. Botched robberies, stolen Roman weapons and a self styled conqueror named Becky Philips soon have him trying to stop an invasion nobody else is taking seriously.
The Herbaceous Affair of Cocaine Claire
by David Blake
2016
In Capstan’s first recorded case, a glamorous criminal nicknamed Cocaine Claire drags him into a tangle of drug deals, bungled heists and social satire. The more he chases her, the more it becomes clear that Claire may understand the system better than the police do.
The Curious Case of Cut-Throat Cate
by David Blake
2016
Capstan’s second outing pits him against Cate Jakebury, a mild mannered academic and crime novelist who decides to research her book by committing real crimes. After murdering her husband, she recruits student pirates, steals HMS Victory and sails for France, leaving the baffled inspector always one step behind.
Series background & context
Inspector Capstan is where Blake first introduces the bumbling detective who will later end up patrolling space. In these early novels he is a conventional, if slightly weary, copper dealing with very unconventional crimes in and around the city of Bath and the fictionalised town of Zenopolis.
The opening book, The Slaughtered Virgin of Zenopolis, throws Capstan into a muddle of museum thefts, failed armed robberies and stolen Roman artefacts, with a would-be conqueror called Becky Philips threatening to lead a 'Roman invasion' of modern Bath. The case lurches from farce to chaos as the city’s institutions try, and mostly fail, to respond.
In The Curious Case of Cut-Throat Cate he faces Cate Jakebury, a young academic and historical novelist who decides to research her next book by committing the crimes herself. She murders her husband, recruits a band of student pirates, steals HMS Victory and attacks France, while Capstan doggedly follows in her wake, usually half a step behind.
Later cases, including The Thrills & Spills of Genocide Jill and The Herbaceous Affair of Cocaine Claire, keep raising the volume. Capstan tangles with flamboyant villains, disastrous heists and plots that happily sacrifice realism for the sake of a sharp joke or a ridiculous set piece, skewering everything from academia to tabloid culture along the way.
These books also plant the seeds for Blake’s wider comic universe. Characters from the Capstan stories crop up again in the Space Police novels and the Abigail Love rom coms, and Capstan’s combination of resilience, obliviousness and accidental heroism is what makes his later leap into the far future feel oddly plausible.
This page gives you the publication order, a quick sense of each caper and some pointers on how to weave the Capstan books around the science fiction and romantic comedies if you want to follow the character’s journey from small city detective to very reluctant space cop.
However you read them, expect deadpan narration, escalating chaos and a hero who never quite realises how out of control things have become.
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