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King's Watch Universe Books in Order

Part ofMark Hayden Books in Order

Explore the King's Watch Universe by Mark Hayden, with every series in order, quick summaries, background notes, and help choosing where to begin.

Last updated: July 13, 2026

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King's Watch Universe books in publication order

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24 books

1

The 13th Witch

by Mark Hayden

2018

Former RAF pilot Conrad Clarke gets a text from Odin and a job offer from the King's Watch. To earn his place in England's hidden magical police, he must find a missing witch and survive a world where wit matters more than power.

2

The Eleventh Hour

by Mark Hayden

2018

Conrad and Vicky head to the Lake District hoping for a breather, then a murder drags them into the feuds of the Lakeland Particular. Their target is a mage who kills at distance and will keep doing it until someone stops them.

3

The Twelve Dragons of Albion

by Mark Hayden

2018

Conrad is finally in the Watch, but his first real mission is messy. With powerful mage Vicky Robson beside him, he must investigate rumours of a dragon's egg and pass his Invisible College test before both problems explode.

4

Eight Kings

by Mark Hayden

2019

The death of the Mage-King of Wessex turns a tense conference into a fight for power between rival magical factions. Conrad, Mina, and Saffron are sent to keep the peace, then murder and old loyalties put that hope in real danger.

5

Nine of Wands

by Mark Hayden

2019

Conrad's quiet break in Spain with Mina ends when a tarot reading points toward trouble and alchemical gold. Soon he is chasing a deadly prize while adapting to new allies, including junior mage Saffron Hawkins and Scout the collie.

6

Phantom Stag

by Mark Hayden

2019

Vicky Robson takes the lead when a hunter dies in the Forest of Arden during a pursuit of the Phantom Stag. Alone in hostile woodland, she must face fae tricks, ghosts, and a killer that ordinary policing cannot touch.

7

Ring of Troth

by Mark Hayden

2019

Mina Desai owes a dangerous serpent a debt she cannot ignore. To recover a missing magical ruby without putting Conrad in the firing line, she builds her own team and tackles a job that reaches back more than a century.

8

Tenfold

by Mark Hayden

2019

A deadly explosion at a medal ceremony throws the Watch into crisis. To understand the dark magick spreading across England, Conrad must summon his long-dead ancestor Thomas Clarke and face the legacy buried under his own name.

9

Wings over Water

by Mark Hayden

2019

A haunted RAF airfield should be routine work for Peculier Necromancer Woody Woodhouse, but the dig at Draxholt has stirred something worse. Conrad is called in, and the case forces him to confront ghosts tied to his own past.

10

French Leave

by Mark Hayden

2020

One enemy escapes after the dragon conspiracy burns out, and the trail runs into France. This short side adventure follows unfinished business across the Channel, with the Watch forced to decide how far to push the chase.

11

Six Furlongs

by Mark Hayden

2020

A Samhain party, a political contest, and a body hanging from a tree all point to the same brewing feud. Conrad rides into Lakeland to stop rival mages from tipping the region into open war.

12

The Seventh Star

by Mark Hayden

2020

At Mina's glitzy Bollywood party, a fae princess drops a problem in Conrad's lap. Something in Lancashire is attacking the fae, and Conrad must investigate with yet another new partner before a local crisis grows much worse.

13

Arrow in the Dark

by Mark Hayden

2021

Karina takes charge of Conrad's pack of traumatised mannwolves on the shores of Ullswater. Keeping them safe is hard enough, but when a cub vanishes she has to become the leader she has never believed she could be.

14

Fire Games

by Mark Hayden

2021

Vicky only expects an awkward birthday visit for Conrad, then ends up trapped in a high-society mess she hates. One bad night of fancy dress and family power plays leaves her owing a dangerous debt to one of magick's biggest houses.

15

Five Leaf Clover

by Mark Hayden

2021

Recovering from injury, Conrad heads toward Cornwall and then Ireland after fresh news about the missing Codex Defanatus. Out of his jurisdiction and short on allies, he must face two fae queens and the stain on his family history.

16

Four Roads Cross

by Mark Hayden

2021

Unemployed again, Conrad is talked into becoming Lakeland's new Commissioner. What looks like an administrative clean-up turns into a stand-off between powerful factions, and he must prevent the fells from sliding into full magical war.

17

Marshlight

by Mark Hayden

2021

Karina Kent is given a slim chance at redemption after a disastrous case. Sent back to Kent to investigate her mother's murder and a coven with secrets, she has to face her past and prove she can still be trusted.

18

Tales from the Watch

by Mark Hayden

2021

This collection gathers the first four King's Watch novellas in one volume. It follows Vicky, Conrad, and Mina through the gaps between the main novels, from a fae-haunted forest to ghosts, serpent magick, and a chase into France.

19

Tangled Bow

by Mark Hayden

2022

Karina has finally found some peace as Madreb to the Birkfell Pack, until an old promise drags her back into trouble. This novella pushes her to choose between staying safe and standing by the people who now depend on her.

20

Third Eye: The Sound of Peace

by Mark Hayden

2023

With peace in Lakeland and his wedding approaching, Conrad hopes life may finally calm down. Instead, political change inside the Watch and a strange plea from Beckthorpe Abbey pull him toward one more crisis before he can even reach the church.

21

Three Ring Circus

by Mark Hayden

2024

Alicia, a young fae squire in Princess Faith's service, gets a crash course in survival and court politics during Conrad and Mina's wedding festivities. Her story reveals the fae world from the inside while filling in what really happened around the big event.

22
New

Second Nature Part One

by Mark Hayden

2026

The wedding is over, and Conrad goes back to work with too many problems at once. A secretive organisation called the Akademia, a mystery figure named Homer, and trouble among his mannwolves open a dangerous new chapter.

23
New

Second Nature Part Two

by Mark Hayden

2026

Conrad's enemies stop circling and start moving. As battle lines form across several realms, Conrad, Saffron, Alice, Faith, and the wolves are pushed into a brutal showdown under the full moon.

24
New

Table Talk

by Mark Hayden

2026

Sophie Guest, once a stable hand and now a unicorn rider in the world of magick, finds herself pulled into harder questions than any ordinary case. This novella asks what being good really means when duty and power start pulling in different directions.

King's Watch Universe books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The 13th Witch"

    The 13th Witch

    by Mark Hayden

    2018The King's Watch, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "The Twelve Dragons of Albion"

    The Twelve Dragons of Albion

    by Mark Hayden

    2018The King's Watch, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "The Eleventh Hour"

    The Eleventh Hour

    by Mark Hayden

    2018The King's Watch, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Tenfold"

    Tenfold

    by Mark Hayden

    2019The King's Watch, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Phantom Stag"

    Phantom Stag

    by Mark Hayden

    2019A King's Watch Story, Book 1
  6. Book cover for "Nine of Wands"

    Nine of Wands

    by Mark Hayden

    2019The King's Watch, Book 5
  7. Book cover for "Wings over Water"

    Wings over Water

    by Mark Hayden

    2019A King's Watch Story, Book 2
  8. Book cover for "Eight Kings"

    Eight Kings

    by Mark Hayden

    2019The King's Watch, Book 6
  9. Book cover for "Ring of Troth"

    Ring of Troth

    by Mark Hayden

    2019A King's Watch Story, Book 3
  10. Book cover for "The Seventh Star"

    The Seventh Star

    by Mark Hayden

    2020The King's Watch, Book 7
  11. Book cover for "French Leave"

    French Leave

    by Mark Hayden

    2020A King's Watch Story, Book 4
  12. Book cover for "Six Furlongs"

    Six Furlongs

    by Mark Hayden

    2020The King's Watch, Book 8
  13. Book cover for "Fire Games"

    Fire Games

    by Mark Hayden

    2021A King's Watch Story, Book 6
  14. Book cover for "Marshlight"

    Marshlight

    by Mark Hayden

    2021A King's Watch Story, Book 7
  15. Book cover for "Tales from the Watch"

    Tales from the Watch

    by Mark Hayden

    2021A King's Watch Story, Book 5
  16. Book cover for "Five Leaf Clover"

    Five Leaf Clover

    by Mark Hayden

    2021The King's Watch, Book 9
  17. Book cover for "Arrow in the Dark"

    Arrow in the Dark

    by Mark Hayden

    2021A King's Watch Story, Book 8
  18. Book cover for "Four Roads Cross"

    Four Roads Cross

    by Mark Hayden

    2021The King's Watch, Book 10
  19. Book cover for "Tangled Bow"

    Tangled Bow

    by Mark Hayden

    2022A King's Watch Story, Book 9
  20. Book cover for "Third Eye: The Sound of Peace"

    Third Eye: The Sound of Peace

    by Mark Hayden

    2023The King's Watch, Book 11
  21. Book cover for "Three Ring Circus"

    Three Ring Circus

    by Mark Hayden

    2024The King's Watch, Book 12
  22. Book cover for "Second Nature Part One"

    Second Nature Part One

    by Mark Hayden

    2026The King's Watch, Book 13
  23. Book cover for "Table Talk"

    Table Talk

    by Mark Hayden

    2026A King's Watch Story, Book 10
  24. Book cover for "Second Nature Part Two"

    Second Nature Part Two

    by Mark Hayden

    2026The King's Watch, Book 14

Series background & context

Mark Hayden's King's Watch Universe is less a single series than a connected shelf of books that all speak to one another. The main line is urban fantasy, but the wider project also includes straight crime thrillers and shorter side stories that broaden the cast. If you like a world that keeps opening outward without losing its central voice, this one has a lot to offer.

At the centre of it all is Conrad Clarke, a former RAF pilot with a complicated past who gets pulled into the hidden world of magick in modern Britain. Once he joins the King's Watch, he becomes part detective, part problem-solver, part reluctant diplomat. Around him are witches, mages, fae, gods, dwarves, dragons, necromancers, and a growing circle of allies who all bring their own baggage to the table.

The main King's Watch novels are the backbone of the universe, but they are not the whole of it. The A King's Watch Story novellas step away from Conrad just enough to let other voices come through. Vicky Robson gets her turn. So does Mina Desai. Later books spend real time with Karina Kent, and those stories, written with Lucy Campbell, give the universe a different texture. Table Talk adds yet another angle by moving the spotlight to Sophie Guest.

Then there is the crime side. The Operation Jigsaw trilogy takes readers back before the overt fantasy and shows earlier versions of Conrad, Tom Morton, Mina, and Kate inside a dangerous criminal conspiracy. After that, the Tom Morton books follow Tom into later, non-magical investigations of his own. Those novels are grounded, tense, and clearly part of the same larger world, even when the magick stays offstage.

Setting matters here. A lot. Clerkswell, the Lake District, Lancashire, Cornwall, Cheshire, Southport, Ireland, and points further afield all have their own feel, and Hayden uses that well. The tone shifts from pub banter to murder inquiry to supernatural politics, often in the same book. Even when the cast is dealing with old powers and hidden realms, the stories stay rooted in work, loyalty, family trouble, and the practical business of surviving the week.

That mix is the real hook. The universe rewards long-term reading because faces recur, past choices matter, and side stories deepen what the novels only have time to hint at. But it is not a closed maze. You can start with The 13th Witch for the clearest entry into the fantasy side, or go back to A Piece of Blue Sky if you want Conrad and Tom before magick takes over. Either way, the bigger picture gradually comes into focus, and that is a large part of the fun.

Edited by

Richard Reis

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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