Janine Lewis Books in Order

Janine Lewis leads these books at full speed. She is a Detective Chief Inspector in Manchester, a mother, and from the opening of Blue Murder she is trying to hold together a home life that would be exhausting even without murder inquiries. Newly promoted, abandoned by her husband, and heavily pregnant, she takes charge of her first major case while the rest of her life is already wobbling.

There is no clean divide between work and home here.

That is what makes the Janine Lewis books feel different from a standard police procedural. The cases are strong mysteries: a deputy head teacher found dead in Blue Murder, a schoolgirl killed in a hit and run and a young woman pulled from the river in Hit & Run, a missing child case in Make Believe, and a respected doctor shot outside his practice in Desperate Measures. But the novels are just as interested in what it costs to carry that level of responsibility day after day.

Janine is a good detective, but Cath Staincliffe never makes the job look easy. There are children to collect, a baby who will not sleep, an ex-husband who cannot be relied on, and the constant feeling that someone needs something from her right now. That pressure shapes the way she moves through each investigation. She is sharp and committed, but also tired, frustrated, and sometimes running on nerve.

The Manchester setting adds a lot to the series. These are not glossy city mysteries. The books move through allotments, schools, side streets, family homes, surgeries, riverbanks, and police offices. The crimes grow out of everyday lives, and so do the motives. The result is a series that feels close to the ground, interested in people as much as puzzles.

These novels also come with a useful bit of background for new readers. They sit behind the Blue Murder television drama created by Cath Staincliffe, and the books keep that same blend of casework and domestic strain. You do not need to know the show to enjoy them, but if you like police stories driven by character, that connection makes sense. Janine is not a lone-wolf genius. She is a working detective trying to do the job properly while the rest of life keeps barging in.

That makes her easy to root for.

Across all four books, the real through line is Janine herself: capable, stretched thin, stubborn, compassionate, and very human. If you like crime fiction that is procedural but personal, with strong investigations and real family pressure, this series gives you both.