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Matthew Hattersley Books in Order

This page shows Matthew Hattersley books in order, with short summaries, series guides, standalone novels, and easy where-to-start tips for new readers.

Last updated: July 7, 2026

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20 books

Cookies

by Matthew Hattersley

2019

After his girlfriend's death, Miles starts letting fortune-cookie messages guide his life. What begins as a strange path toward luck and love turns darker as the messages grow sinister and his grip on reality starts to slip.

Half A Person

by Matthew Hattersley

2019

Kyle Bannerman lives on swagger and self-help lies while Bud drifts through the streets expecting the worst. When both men hit breaking point, this dark comic novel turns into a bruised story about collapse, connection, and the chance of redemption.

Double Bad Things

by Matthew Hattersley

2020

Mikey is a gentle undertaker who wants comic books, routine, and time with his sick mum. Then his cousins rope him into hiding bodies for gangsters, and silence becomes impossible when he learns how far the criminals will go.

Making a Killer

by Matthew Hattersley

2020

Alice Vandella is sent to a home for dangerous girls and learns fast that staying quiet will not keep her safe. When a man claiming to be her uncle offers freedom in exchange for joining a hit squad, her life takes a violent turn.

Seven Bullets

by Matthew Hattersley

2020

Betrayed by her old agency, Acid Vanilla heads to Hanoi to kill one more name on her revenge list. The job gets messy when the target is the only man she has ever loved and the city turns into a trap.

The Watcher

by Matthew Hattersley

2020

Elite assassin Acid Vanilla is sent to kill a Paris hacker just before a long-overdue holiday. When the target reveals a link to Acid's past, she spares her and becomes the hunted one instead.

Exit Wounds

by Matthew Hattersley

2021

Only one name remains on Acid Vanilla's revenge list, her former mentor Beowulf Caesar. A trip to Iran spirals into hostage-taking, soldiers, and an uneasy alliance that forces her to choose between vengeance and survival.

Sister Death

by Matthew Hattersley

2021

Hiding out in London, Acid agrees to help an old acquaintance whose nephew has stolen from a Spanish gangster. In San Sebastian she finds a reckless heist, a priceless artifact, and her deadly rival Sister Death closing in.

The Hunt

by Matthew Hattersley

2021

Acid Vanilla wakes on a plane above the Indian Ocean and is forced into a deadly sport on a remote island. Hunted by wealthy killers, she must join forces with other targets and turn prey into resistance.

I Am A Killer

by Matthew Hattersley

2022

Acid Vanilla and Spook open a small agency for people with nowhere else to turn. Their new missing-person case leads into London's underworld and pushes Acid toward the violence she has only just begun to accept.

Never Say Die

by Matthew Hattersley

2022

A quiet break in Montana turns ugly when Acid and Spook get caught between a motorcycle gang and corrupt local power. When Spook disappears, Acid has to hunt through a maze of violence before time runs out.

The Death Factory

by Matthew Hattersley

2022

Former soldier Jareth Hicks thinks his dangerous days are behind him until his ex-lover asks for help. To rescue her sister from a desert cult, he must go undercover inside a compound ruled by a chilling leader.

Two Wolves

by Matthew Hattersley

2022

Trying to live quietly, Jareth Hicks agrees to check on a friend's estranged family and finds a teenage girl in real danger. The trail leads to Ruben Rivers and the shadowy White Wolf, forcing Hicks back into combat.

Darkness On The Edge Of Town

by Matthew Hattersley

2023

Deep undercover in London's criminal world, John Beckett becomes exposed when a data leak blows his cover. With his niece Amber taken and enemies closing in, he has to run, fight, and uncover who sold him out.

When The Kingdom Comes

by Matthew Hattersley

2023

John Beckett wants a quiet life in a Portuguese town, but the local Silva family rules it through fear. When Beckett gets drawn into their orbit, he finds cartel links and a town desperate for someone to fight back.

A Bullet for the Past

by Matthew Hattersley

2024

Living quietly in Costa Rica, John Beckett is dragged back into espionage by a woman who needs his help. Sent after a rogue CIA agent, he enters a world of shifting loyalties where every ally may be lying.

Fallen Angels

by Matthew Hattersley

2024

Now working inside her half-brother Darius's outfit, Acid Vanilla is pulled into Hollywood's dirty underside. A botched hit, shaky loyalties, and Spook's own violent path leave Acid fighting to prove she still belongs.

The City of Sun and Violence

by Matthew Hattersley

2024

A trip to see Angel Falls turns into a nightmare when John Beckett's tour group is seized by guerrillas in the Venezuelan jungle. Trapped in a prison camp, he must plan an escape while deciding whom he can trust.

A Line in the Sand

by Matthew Hattersley

2025

A bleeding stranger dies in custody after claiming something dangerous is coming. John Beckett and Detective Maggie Lee follow the trail to a tech firm, a private security outfit, and a missing device powerful people want buried.

New

Born Savage

by Matthew Hattersley

2026

Acid Vanilla leads an assassination outfit into South Africa for a high-stakes contract that starts falling apart almost at once. Rival operatives, personal distractions, and a city full of danger push her toward a mistake she may not survive.

Where should I start?

If you want the main assassin series from the start: The WatcherSeven BulletsThe Hunt
If you want Acid Vanilla's backstory first: Making a KillerThe WatcherSeven Bullets
If you prefer spy thrillers and conspiracies: Darkness On The Edge Of TownWhen The Kingdom ComesThe City of Sun and Violence
If you want ex-military rescue action: The Death FactoryTwo Wolves
If you want the darkly funny standalones: Half A PersonCookiesDouble Bad Things

Author bio

Matthew Hattersley was born in Yorkshire, and his route into fiction was not a straight one. Before the novels, there was music, performance, and the kind of practical work that keeps creative people going while they figure things out. Over roughly two decades he toured Europe in a rock and roll band, trained as a professional actor, and helped found a theatre and media company.

That background still shows in the books.

His stories move with the rhythm of stage scenes and live sets. They tend to open fast, push hard, and keep their attention on people under pressure. Even when the plots get large, with assassins, spies, cults, or criminal networks, he usually keeps the focus close to the character in the middle of the mess.

Hattersley began with stand-alone novels that mixed crime, dark humor, and people having a very bad time. Half A Person is a rough-edged story about two damaged men trying to work out who they are. Cookies takes grief, insomnia, and fortune-cookie messages, then twists them into something funny and unnerving at the same time. Double Bad Things follows a mild-mannered undertaker pulled into gang violence, which tells you a lot about Hattersley's taste for ordinary people in extraordinary trouble.

Then came Acid Vanilla.

That series became his biggest world, and it is easy to see why. Starting with Making a Killer and The Watcher, he builds around a female assassin who is lethal, sharp-tongued, badly bruised by her past, and not always sure whether she is saving people or destroying herself. Books like Seven Bullets and The Hunt keep the action moving across cities, borders, and increasingly strange situations, but the real pull is Acid herself. She is funny, frightening, and often one bad decision away from disaster.

Hattersley did not stop there. He also built out the John Beckett books, beginning with Darkness On The Edge Of Town, and the Jareth Hicks stories, beginning with The Death Factory. Beckett gives him room for spy fiction, conspiracies, and men on the run. Hicks is more of a former soldier dragged back into danger when somebody vulnerable needs help. Across all of them, you can feel the same interest in capable people carrying damage they do not fully understand.

His books are full of motion, but they are not just about action. He keeps coming back to revenge, identity, loyalty, and the question of whether violent people can choose a better use for their skills. He also likes a streak of dark comedy. Even in the grimmest setups, there is usually a dry line, a bad joke, or a moment of absurdity that keeps the story human.

He has said Acid Vanilla was shaped in part by becoming a father. He wanted to create a female lead his daughter could one day feel proud of, and that helps explain why the character never feels like a token action heroine. She is allowed to be messy, angry, clever, selfish, brave, and very much her own person. That same mix of toughness and vulnerability turns up throughout Hattersley's work.

These days he lives in Derbyshire with his wife and daughter. He also writes psychological and domestic thrillers as M. I. Hattersley, which makes sense when you look at the range of his fiction. Whether he is writing a darkly funny standalone or a globe-hopping thriller, he seems most interested in the moment when a person is pushed to the edge and has to decide what kind of life they are really living.

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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