Jenny O'Brien Books in Order
Explore Jenny O'Brien's books in order, with quick summaries, series background, and clear suggestions for where to start reading.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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Jenny O'Brien books in publication order
22 books
Ideal Girl
by Jenny O'Brien
2015
Student nurse Liddy Murphy has learned to smile, work hard, and keep her heart guarded. When she meets hospital professor Mitch Merrien, attraction grows, but a crisis forces them to confront guilt, fear, and what they truly want.
Boy Brainy
by Jenny O'Brien
2016
Bullied Dai Monday thinks his name is trouble enough, until a mystery at Conwy Castle draws him into a hunt for King Arthur's crown. With crooks, ghosts, dragons, and magic in the way, Dai must find his courage.
Englishwoman in Paris
by Jenny O'Brien
2016
Lady Sarah Cosgrave needs a fiancé before her twenty-third birthday to secure her inheritance. A fake relationship with handsome French builder Pascal de Sauvarin seems practical, until real feelings collide with the demands of her family and social world.
Dunkirk - Rescuing Robert
by Jenny O'Brien
2017
On the final day of the Dunkirk evacuation, Sally and her grandfather wait for news of her brother Robert. Refusing to remain helpless, Sally takes their small houseboat out to sea, where a soldier offers unexpected help.
Englishman in Blackpool
by Jenny O'Brien
2017
In this short prequel, Mr Hopper, butler to the Earl of Cosgrave, visits Blackpool and meets Beverley at a dance competition. She is in trouble and ready to run, while Hopper finds a reason to hope for love again.
Englishwoman at Christmas: Holly and Ivy
by Jenny O'Brien
2017
Holly Branch distrusts men after a disastrous marriage, while Lord Oliver Ivy is hiding from his own losses. Stranded together in Cornwall during a snowstorm, the two strangers must decide whether Christmas can offer a second chance.
Englishwoman in Manhattan
by Jenny O'Brien
2017
Recently widowed concert pianist Lady Cara Bachmeire seeks a quieter life in Manhattan. A shared key to Gramercy Park brings lawyer Matti Bianchi into her world, but his work may threaten the fragile future Cara is trying to build.
Englishwoman in Scotland
by Jenny O'Brien
2017
Lady Titania Nettlebridge escapes an arranged marriage by taking a cook's job in Scotland. The trouble is that her new employer is Viscount Hector Brayely, the very man she is meant to marry, and neither is ready for the truth.
Granny's Gone AWOL in Guernsey
by Jenny O'Brien
2018
Dai Monday's purple-dreadlocked, Harley-riding Granny Gosh has disappeared in Guernsey. With his best friend Win and the interfering ghost of King Arthur, Dai sets off on a funny, magical hunt to bring her home.
The Stepsister
by Jenny O'Brien
2018
Stepsisters Victoria and Ness inherit a Dutch house from a stranger, then Ness vanishes after going to investigate. Victoria leaves Guernsey for the Netherlands, where missing memories, suspicious messages, and a watchful threat make every answer dangerous.
Darkest Night
by Jenny O'Brien
2020
Christine wakes beside her murdered housemate with no memory of the man she brought home. DC Gaby Darin must untangle an impossible crime, then find a second missing woman before the killer turns their attention toward her team.
Fallen Angel
by Jenny O'Brien
2020
Years after Angelica Brock was found posed in a white nightdress, her murder remains unsolved. For DS Gaby Darin, the cold case is painfully close to home, and a new clue may connect Angel's death to another crime.
Silent Cry / Missing in Wales
by Jenny O'Brien
2020
Five years after Izzy Grant's partner and newborn daughter disappear, a note says they are alive and must not be found. Newly transferred DC Gaby Darin reopens the case, convinced its most important clue lies in Izzy's past.
Buried Lies
by Jenny O'Brien
2021
Hannah Thomas comes home from a night away to find her fiancé dead and her young son missing. DI Gaby Darin soon learns that Hannah's painful past may hold the key, but every answer seems to reveal another lie.
Lost Souls
by Jenny O'Brien
2021
Ten-year-old Elodie Fry disappears overnight, leaving DI Gaby Darin desperate to find her. When an unsettling discovery at a crematorium points toward the same hidden danger, Gaby must connect the cases before Elodie is lost for good.
Cold Grave
by Jenny O'Brien
2022
When seventeen-year-old Bryony vanishes after being dropped at a friend's house, DI Gaby Darin sees echoes of another missing teenager. A third linked case raises the stakes as Gaby races to find the girls before time runs out.
The Puppet Maker
by Jenny O'Brien
2023
Detective Alana Mack finds an abandoned two-year-old girl and a note begging police not to find her mother. As human remains and another disappearance complicate the case, Alana must protect Casey while uncovering a frightening family secret.
Cage of Bones
by Jenny O'Brien
2024
Human bones found in a crab pot pull Detective Alana Mack into a case of adoption, vanished mothers, and old family lies. After an attack leaves Alana injured, she must keep working before the killer erases more evidence.
Roses for the Dead
by Jenny O'Brien
2024
Detective Alana Mack investigates women murdered near railway tracks, each with a red rose left on a freshly made bed. When another woman disappears from a train, Alana must determine whether a killer is escalating or someone is copying them.
The Book of Lost Children
by Jenny O'Brien
2025
In 2018, Kitty discovers a notebook hidden with an old violin and follows its clues to Guernsey. Decades earlier, nurse Evelyn Nightingale risks everything under German occupation to protect vulnerable newborns from a terrible fate.
The Resistance Knitting Club
by Jenny O'Brien
2026
After her brother goes missing at Dunkirk, eighteen-year-old Lenny Gallienne joins a secret wartime operation and heads to Paris. Working undercover in a bookshop, she encodes intelligence in knitting patterns while the Gestapo closes in.
The Secret Dressmaker
by Jenny O'Brien
2026
During the Second World War, parachute packer Flora Toussaint is sent from Manchester to occupied Paris to expose a traitor. Among dressmakers, fashion houses, and the world of Le Moulin Rouge, every stitch may hide a dangerous secret.
Where to start with Jenny O'Brien
For Welsh police procedurals: Silent Cry / Missing in Wales → Darkest Night → Fallen Angel → Lost Souls
For Irish detective fiction: The Puppet Maker → Roses for the Dead → Cage of Bones
For wartime historical fiction: The Book of Lost Children → The Resistance Knitting Club → The Secret Dressmaker
For warm contemporary romance: Ideal Girl → Englishwoman in Paris → Englishwoman in Scotland
For younger readers: Boy Brainy → Granny's Gone AWOL in Guernsey
Jenny O'Brien sub-series and character series
Dai Monday books in order
Explore this seriesDetective Alana Mack books in order
Explore this seriesDetective Gaby Darin books in order
Explore this series
Darkest Night
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 2
Fallen Angel
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 3
Silent Cry / Missing in Wales
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 1
Buried Lies
by Jenny O'Brien
2021Detective Gaby Darin, Book 5
Lost Souls
by Jenny O'Brien
2021Detective Gaby Darin, Book 4
Cold Grave
by Jenny O'Brien
2022Detective Gaby Darin, Book 6
Detective Gaby Darin books in chronological order

Silent Cry / Missing in Wales
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 1
Darkest Night
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 2
Fallen Angel
by Jenny O'Brien
2020Detective Gaby Darin, Book 3
Lost Souls
by Jenny O'Brien
2021Detective Gaby Darin, Book 4
Buried Lies
by Jenny O'Brien
2021Detective Gaby Darin, Book 5
Cold Grave
by Jenny O'Brien
2022Detective Gaby Darin, Book 6
Englishwoman books in order
Explore this series
Englishwoman in Paris
by Jenny O'Brien
2016Englishwoman, Book 1
Englishman in Blackpool
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 4
Englishwoman at Christmas: Holly and Ivy
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 5
Englishwoman in Manhattan
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 3
Englishwoman in Scotland
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 2
Englishwoman books in chronological order

Englishwoman in Paris
by Jenny O'Brien
2016Englishwoman, Book 1
Englishwoman in Scotland
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 2
Englishwoman in Manhattan
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 3
Englishman in Blackpool
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 4
Englishwoman at Christmas: Holly and Ivy
by Jenny O'Brien
2017Englishwoman, Book 5
Irish Girl Romance books in order
Explore this seriesThreads of Resistance books in order
Explore this seriesJenny O'Brien collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Jenny O'Brien books
Author bio
Jenny O'Brien was born in Dublin and has lived in Wales and Guernsey. Those places show up in different ways across her work, from Welsh police investigations to Guernsey-set mysteries and wartime stories. She writes across a few genres, but the connecting thread is simple: she likes a good story with people facing trouble, whether that trouble is a missing child, a family secret, or a very inconvenient romance.
She wanted to write from an early age. For a while, she joked that writing her name on the bottom of a cheque was about as close as she got. When banking became more automated, she picked up a pen and began making up stories instead.
The habit stuck.
O'Brien started with fiction for younger readers. Boy Brainy introduces Dai Monday, a bullied boy whose life gets stranger when he finds himself caught up in the secrets of Conwy Castle, King Arthur, and a missing crown. Its follow-up, Granny's Gone AWOL in Guernsey, sends Dai and his friend Win looking for Dai's unusual, motorcycle-riding grandmother.
She also writes romance. In Ideal Girl, student nurse Liddy Murphy meets professor Mitch Merrien while working in a Dublin hospital, and the story lets their relationship grow alongside the pressures of work and family history. The Englishwoman books take a lighter, romantic route through Paris, Scotland, Manhattan, Blackpool, and Cornwall, often pairing people who have titles, expectations, or difficult pasts with the lives they would rather build for themselves.
Then came crime.
Her thriller The Stepsister follows Victoria as she travels from Guernsey to the Netherlands after her stepsister disappears following an unexpected inheritance. O'Brien went on to create DI Gaby Darin, a sharp, direct detective working cases in North Wales. Beginning with Silent Cry, also published as Missing in Wales, the series combines missing-person cases, cold cases, and the working lives of Gaby's Major Incident Team.
Later, she returned to Ireland for the Detective Alana Mack books. Alana is a detective rebuilding her life and career after an accident that leaves her using a wheelchair. The series begins with The Puppet Maker, in which an abandoned young child, a missing mother, and human remains turn into one increasingly urgent investigation.
O'Brien has also written historical fiction set around the Second World War. The Book of Lost Children moves between occupied Guernsey and a later search for the meaning behind a violin and a notebook. In The Resistance Knitting Club, young Leonora Gallienne is drawn into wartime espionage in Paris, using knitting patterns to conceal intelligence.
She lives in Guernsey, writes alongside her work as a nurse, and is an all-year sea swimmer. She is also a committed reader, the sort of person who asked for built-in bookshelves rather than diamonds for a milestone birthday. That feels like a useful clue to the range of books she writes: romance, crime, children's adventures, and history all have room on the shelf.
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