Lorimer and Brightman Books in Order
Part ofAlex Gray Books in OrderSee the Lorimer and Brightman series by Alex Gray in order, with book summaries, character background, reading order help and ideas on where to begin.
Last updated: December 26, 2025
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Publication Order
22 books
Acts of Malice
by Alex Gray
2025
During a careers talk at his goddaughter's school, Lorimer meets glamorous drama teacher Meredith St Claire, who begs him to look into her fiancé's disappearance. When actor Guy Richmond's body is found outside Glasgow, the case pulls Lorimer into the rivalries and backstage secrets of a theatre world where performance and truth blur.
Out of Darkness
by Alex Gray
2024
At last taking a long holiday together, Lorimer and his wife Maggie travel to Zimbabwe in search of adventure, unaware that old rumours about their friend Daniel Kohi are resurfacing there. Back in Glasgow, Daniel is drawn into a murder linked to his lodger Netta Gordon's troubled past, and the two investigations begin to collide in dangerous ways.
Questions for a Dead Man
by Alex Gray
2023
Scottish MSP Robert Truesdale disappears while leading a drive to legalise drugs, then apparently dies in a car bombing. As doubts grow about the body and the man himself, DSI William Lorimer and undercover PC Daniel Kohi probe Glasgow's drug underworld.
Echo of the Dead
by Alex Gray
2022
After a gruelling winter, Lorimer joins Daniel Kohi for a break in Glencoe, only for two climbers to be found dead on the surrounding peaks. As more secrets surface, Lorimer's Major Incident Team hunts a serial killer hidden in the Highland community.
Before the Storm
by Alex Gray
2021
Inspector Daniel Kohi returns to his Zimbabwean home to find his family murdered and his house destroyed, forcing him to flee for his life. In Glasgow, DSI Lorimer races to stop a Christmas Eve terror plot, tackle linked murders and unmask a traitor inside the police, soon realising he needs Daniel's help.
When Shadows Fall
by Alex Gray
2020
A retired colleague and close friend is shot dead in his own garden, and soon two more ex police officers are executed with the same chilling precision. As panic spreads through his team, Lorimer fights the clock to stop a killer who seems to be hunting cops for reasons no one can see.
The Stalker
by Alex Gray
2019
In Bellahouston Park, the bodies of young women are found months apart, each murdered by the same unseen predator. While Lorimer's team hunts a repeat killer, his wife Maggie tours Scotland to promote her first book, unaware that a quiet man in the back row has already chosen her as his next obsession.
Only the Dead Can Tell
by Alex Gray
2018
When Dorothy Guildford is stabbed in her own home, suspicion falls instantly on her husband, Peter. DC Kirsty Wilson discovers a link between the case and a human trafficking ring Lorimer has been tracking, and the team must move fast when Peter is attacked and one of their own is put in danger.
Still Dark
by Alex Gray
2017
On New Year's Eve, Lorimer is called to a family home where a gunman's rampage ends in devastating murder suicide, leaving him traumatised and doubting his future in the force. As he struggles back to duty, a fugitive from an earlier euthanasia case returns to Glasgow, now tied to a powerful gangster Lorimer is forbidden to touch.
The Darkest Goodbye
by Alex Gray
2016
DC Kirsty Wilson attends what looks like a peaceful death in an elderly woman's flat, but learns a bogus community nurse visited just before the end. When a drug dealer is executed soon after, Lorimer and Kirsty uncover a shadowy service that offers desperate people a final 'release' at a terrible price.
Keep the Midnight Out
by Alex Gray
2015
While on holiday on the Isle of Mull, Lorimer discovers the bound body of a red haired young man washed up on the shore, echoing an unsolved Glasgow case from his early career. As island detective Stevie Crozier leads the local inquiry, past and present investigations collide, suggesting a patient killer who may have been hunting for decades.
The Bird That Did Not Sing / The Silent Games
by Alex Gray
2014
With the 2014 Commonwealth Games looming, a bomb explodes in rural Stirlingshire and security across Glasgow tightens. As Lorimer juggles that threat, the sudden death of a glamorous old schoolfriend's husband and the discovery of an unidentified young woman, he uncovers a plot that could tear the city apart in front of the world.
The Swedish Girl
by Alex Gray
2013
Student Kirsty Wilson thinks she has struck gold when she moves into a luxury Glasgow flat owned by glamorous Swedish classmate Eva Magnusson. After finding Eva murdered and their male housemate accused, Kirsty turns to family friend Lorimer, and together they uncover a trail of lookalike victims stretching from Glasgow to Stockholm.
A Pound Of Flesh
by Alex Gray
2012
In a bitter Glasgow winter, Lorimer faces not one but two serial killers, one preying on street sex workers and another targeting wealthy men in white Mercedes. With politicians in the crosshairs and an information leak inside the force, Lorimer and profiler Solly Brightman must move before the next body drops.
Sleep Like the Dead
by Alex Gray
2011
An unpaid hitman stalks Glasgow, determined to collect his fee in blood, while Marianne Brogan is haunted by threats and the unexplained disappearance of her brother Billy. As a series of professional killings baffles the team, Lorimer and an unofficially involved Solly Brightman race to expose who ordered the hits.
Five Ways to Kill a Man
by Alex Gray
2010
An anonymous killer is experimenting with death across Glasgow, trying out brute force, poison and drowning on apparently unconnected victims. As the body count rises, DCI Lorimer and Solly Brightman link the murders to a suspicious house fire and realise the investigation is edging dangerously close to Lorimer's own family.
Glasgow Kiss
by Alex Gray
2009
When teenager Julie Donaldson accuses her popular teacher Eric Chalmers of rape, the entire secondary school splits into hostile camps. Then Julie vanishes, just as Lorimer is already hunting for a missing toddler, and he is pushed into a frantic search for two vulnerable girls before time runs out.
Pitch Black
by Alex Gray
2008
Back from a peaceful break on Mull, Lorimer is pulled into the brutal stabbing of Kelvin Football Club's star midfielder. When a referee and another player are killed, he uncovers dark rivalries, greed and long buried secrets around the club and realises someone is systematically targeting its insiders.
The Riverman
by Alex Gray
2007
After an office celebration, accountant Duncan Forbes is found dead in the River Clyde, apparently the victim of a drunken accident. An anonymous tip and toxicology test tell a different story, and Lorimer's probe into Forbes's firm, missing protégé and fragile widow reveals a chain of secrets worth killing for.
Shadows of Sounds
by Alex Gray
2005
During rehearsals for a concert, charismatic orchestra leader George Millar is murdered in his dressing room, shocking Glasgow's classical music scene. Lorimer and psychologist Solly Brightman delve into the tangled affairs, jealousies and sexual games among the musicians to find out who hated Millar enough to kill him.
A Small Weeping
by Alex Gray
2004
A murdered prostitute is found in Glasgow's Queen Street Station, posed as if in prayer with a flower between her hands. When a young nurse is killed in the same ritual style, Lorimer and Solly Brightman trace a trail from a secretive care home to the windswept Isle of Harris before the killer strikes again.
Never Somewhere Else
by Alex Gray
2002
Three young women are strangled and mutilated in Glasgow's St Mungo's Park, with nothing obvious linking them except the brutality of their deaths. Reluctantly teaming up with university psychologist Solly Brightman, Lorimer learns that only one victim may have been the real target and must uncover why before the killer returns.
Series background & context
The Lorimer and Brightman novels follow Detective William Lorimer and psychologist Solomon Brightman as they work major crimes in and around Glasgow. From the first case in Never Somewhere Else, the books mix a traditional police procedural with a close look at the people caught up in each investigation, from victims and suspects to the officers themselves. Over time the cases form a long arc, but each book is written so you can join the series almost anywhere.
Lorimer is a steady, thoughtful detective who values his marriage and his team, which makes him a little different from the hard drinking loners found elsewhere in crime fiction. His wife Maggie, a teacher and later a writer, and friends such as pathologist Rosie Fergusson give the stories a lived in domestic thread that runs alongside the hunt for each killer.
Solomon, often called Solly, brings a psychologist's eye to the series. He profiles offenders, challenges Lorimer's assumptions and sometimes spots patterns others miss, while Rosie's forensic work grounds the cases in medical detail. Together, the pair help Lorimer think about motive and psychology rather than just clues and opportunity.
The investigations range widely across Glasgow and beyond. Early books deal with serial killings in city parks, care homes and the classical music world, while later entries tackle human trafficking, organised crime, euthanasia for hire schemes, terrorism around the Commonwealth Games and Christmas Eve plots, and a hired gun stalking the streets. Stories like The Swedish Girl, The Bird That Did Not Sing, A Pound Of Flesh, Sleep Like the Dead and Before the Storm show how each case opens a different corner of the city and its communities.
As the series develops, the cast widens. Younger officers such as DC Kirsty Wilson take on more responsibility, and characters like former Zimbabwean inspector Daniel Kohi arrive with their own histories, linking Glasgow to places as far away as Harare and the Highlands. Long running personal arcs, including grief, burnout and questions of integrity inside Police Scotland, give the later books extra weight.
Throughout, the tone stays grounded and humane. The novels rarely dwell on gore, choosing instead to focus on the emotional cost of crime and the slow work of detection, and on the ways a close knit team leans on one another.
You can dip into almost any title as a standalone, but reading in order lets you watch Lorimer, Brightman and their city change over time.
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