Mel Sherratt Books in Order
Explore all Mel Sherratt books in order, with series lists, short summaries, background on her crime and womens fiction, plus guidance on the best place to start reading.cite
Last updated: January 17, 2026
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Publication Order
30 books
Missing Girls
by Mel Sherratt
2023
In the Staffordshire Moorlands, DI Marsha Clays first big case begins when a grandfather is found dead, his wife viciously beaten and their young granddaughters missing. As another death and a long-ago accident come to light, Marsha must untangle decades of resentment to bring the girls home.cite
Twisted Lives
by Mel Sherratt
2022
Called to what looks like a murdersuicide, DI Allie Shenton quickly realises both victims were executed and the trail leads to a property owned by drug dealer Kenny Webb. With another dealer taken out and an old nemesis stirring, Allie must dismantle a violent network before anyone else dies.cite
Hidden Secrets
by Mel Sherratt
2022
Two men are murdered on opposite sides of Stoke, each hiding a tangle of secrets. With a single photograph linking their social circle and an old case resurfacing, Detective Allie Shenton and her team race to discover who is lying to protect a killer among friends.cite
Broken Promises
by Mel Sherratt
2022
On the Limekiln Estate, DI Allie Shenton investigates the brutal killing of Billy Whitmore, a man with plenty of enemies. As more bodies turn up and pressure mounts from the press and public, Allie must unpick a tangle of loyalties before a vulnerable family pays the price.cite
The Life She Wants
by Mel Sherratt
2021
Sarah lives a secluded, controlled life with her husband Richard in a dream house miles from anywhere. When grieving couple Juliette and Danny move in next door and strange glimpses of a little girl unsettle them, Sarah will do anything to keep her own deadly secrets buried.cite
Invisible Victim
by Mel Sherratt
2021
A local journalist who has been interviewing women abducted and held for ten days wakes up in a dark room, realising she has become the fifth victim. Stripped of her identity, she must revisit her own buried secrets if she is to outthink a captor who never speaks.cite
Good Girl
by Mel Sherratt
2021
Sixteen-year-old Erin Ellis is attacked and dies in the arms of her best friend just yards from home, written off at first as a mugging gone wrong. DS Grace Allendale digs into the tight-knit community and uncovers motives that reach back to a case shed rather forget.cite
Tick Tock
by Mel Sherratt
2020
A schoolgirl is strangled during a cross-country run, her body left in a field behind her school. Two days later, a young mother is found murdered in a city park. With no clear link between victims, DS Grace Allendale must spot the pattern before the killer strikes again.cite
Liar Liar
by Mel Sherratt
2020
When toddler Tyler falls from a balcony at Harrison House, DS Grace Allendale and DC Frankie Higgins are first on the scene. Everyone insists it was an accident, but as Grace probes the estates debts, gangs and divided loyalties, it becomes clear too many people are lying.cite
Coming Home to Hope Street
by Mel Sherratt
2020
Decades after leaving Hope Street, Livvy returns with her teenage daughter, Pip, to the sister she has not seen in years. Hannah is torn between anger and relief, and as the women work together in Hannahs new bookshop, past mistakes and new beginnings collide.cite
The Man Across The Street
by Mel Sherratt
2019
Hannah has spent years caring for her mum on Hope Street and is left adrift after her mothers death and a shocking family secret. When workaholic Doug moves in opposite after a health scare, a gentle romance blossoms, but both neighbours are hiding more than they admit.cite
Secrets, Lies & Love
by Mel Sherratt
2019
Sophie and Beth run a lively market stall in Somerley, trading gossip as easily as they sell produce. Behind the smiles, Sophie is tempted by a handsome stranger and Beth is haunted by heartbreak and fears for her daughter, until long-buried secrets force everything into the open.cite
Second Chances at Love
by Mel Sherratt
2019
Widowed Sadie and commitment-shy Riley rely on their jobs at Chandlers Shoes and on each other. When the shop faces closure, their fight to keep it open brings new friends, new risks and the chance that both women might finally find the love they thought they had lost.cite
Hush Hush
by Mel Sherratt
2018
A killer is attacking people where they should feel safest, in their homes and workplaces, and DS Grace Allendale is the new detective tasked with stopping them. When the trail points toward the Steele crime family her own flesh and blood she has to choose who she stands with.cite
She Did It
by Mel Sherratt
2017
Reinventing herself with a new name and fake CV, Esther lands a job at glamorous PR firm Parker-Brown with one goal revenge on someone who wronged her. As she worms her way into her boss Tamaras life, lies, schemes and a sudden death spin far beyond her control.cite
Don't Look Behind You
by Mel Sherratt
2017
The small city of Stockleigh reels as three women are brutally attacked within days. Detective Eden Berrisfords search for a pattern leads her to Carla, a survivor rebuilding her life while her abusive ex-husband is released from prison and heading her way.cite
The Second Chance Shoe Shop
by Mel Sherratt
2016
Riley and Sadie work side by side at Chandlers Shoes, one still grieving her husband, the other convinced shell never meet the right man. When the shop is threatened with closure, their plan to save it forces both women to rethink love, loss and what they want from life.cite
The Little Market Stall of Hope and Heartbreak
by Mel Sherratt
2016
Market traders Sophie and Beth love being at the heart of Somerley gossip, but behind the banter lie a stale marriage, a tempting newcomer and fears about Beths secretive daughter. When hidden truths emerge, their friendship and livelihoods are pushed to the edge.cite
The Girls Next Door
by Mel Sherratt
2016
Six months after teenager Deanna Barker is stabbed, assaults on local youths shake the town of Stockleigh. As Detective Eden Berrisford hunts the attacker, her niece Jess vanishes, turning the investigation into a desperate race to save another girl from becoming a statistic.cite
Written in the Scars
by Mel Sherratt
2015
On the Mitchell Estate, single mum Donna yearns for love, soldier Lewis returns home shattered by war, and women like Megan and Mary hide wounds the world cannot see. Their lives intersect in a story about trauma, bad choices and the possibility of healing.cite
That's What Friends Are for
by Mel Sherratt
2015
Best friends Sam and Louise have shared everything since school, from running a busy market stall to raising Louises teenage daughter. But secrets about marriage, money and the past begin to surface, forcing them to ask how well they really know each other.cite
Only the Brave
by Mel Sherratt
2015
When one of the notorious Johnson brothers is murdered and a bag of cash goes missing, DS Allie Shenton is thrown into a forty-eight-hour race to stop a gang war. With an old stalker circling her family, she has to decide how much she is prepared to risk to end the violence.cite
Follow the Leader
by Mel Sherratt
2015
A body is found on a canal towpath with a magnetic letter in his pocket, then another victim appears with a letter hidden in her clothes. As DS Allie Shenton follows the eerie trail, she must decode a childlike game before a calculating killer spells out his final move.cite
Watching Over You
by Mel Sherratt
2014
After the death of her husband and unborn child, Charley Belington moves into a new flat, grateful for the kindness of her landlady Ella. But Ellas troubled past is tilting into obsession, and Charley soon realises she has invited a very dangerous woman into her life.cite
Secrets on the Estate
by Mel Sherratt
2014
A companion to The Estate novels, this book gathers diary entries from key characters, new scenes set around the Mitchell Estate and glimpses of people who will appear in *Written in the Scars*, adding extra layers to the series without giving away major twists.cite
Fighting for Survival
by Mel Sherratt
2013
Caren Williams returns to the estate she once fled and finds herself living opposite her old enemy Gina Bradley. With Ginas daughters leading a girl gang and old grudges resurfacing, rivalries on Stanley Avenue erupt into a bitter, sometimes deadly, street war.cite
Somewhere to Hide
by Mel Sherratt
2012
On the notorious Mitchell Estate, widow Cath Mason opens her door to women fleeing violence and hardship. Anonymous threats, missing possessions and a teenagers murder soon suggest that danger is far closer to home than she imagined.cite
Behind a Closed Door
by Mel Sherratt
2012
Housing officer Josie Mellor spends her days helping vulnerable tenants on the Mitchell Estate, from abused partners to isolated young mums. As tensions rise and violence escalates, Josies own controlling marriage begins to mirror the cases shes trying to escape.cite
Taunting the Dead
by Mel Sherratt
2011
When glamorous Steph Ryder is found murdered, DS Allie Shenton starts close to home, probing her powerful husband, friends and family. As lies and alibis fall apart and more bodies appear, Allie races to expose a killer hiding in plain sight.cite
Stirred with Love
by Mel Sherratt
2011
In the market town of Somerley, Kate, Chloe and Lily join forces to open The Coffee Stop, each hoping the cafe will help mend a different kind of heartache. When tragedy and money troubles strike, their new friendship is tested along with the business.cite
Where should I start?
If you want gritty Stoke-on-Trent police procedurals: Taunting the Dead Follow the Leader Only the Brave.cite
If you prefer a fresh detective series with family secrets: Hush Hush Tick Tock Liar Liar Good Girl.cite
If you like community drama on tough estates: Somewhere to Hide Behind a Closed Door Fighting for Survival Written in the Scars.cite
If you enjoy tense psychological suspense standalones: Watching Over You She Did It Invisible Victim The Life She Wants.cite
If you want something warmer and more uplifting: Stirred with Love Secrets, Lies & Love Second Chances at Love The Man Across The Street.cite
Author bio
Mel Sherratt grew up in Abbey Hulton in Stoke-on-Trent, and the citys streets, back-to-back houses and estates would later become the backdrop for many of her crime novels.cite
As a child she always had a book on the go, sneaking away to read and scribbling stories of her own. Winning a local writing competition when she was still at school gave her a first glimpse of what it might feel like to be an author, even if it took a lot longer to get there in real life.cite
Before publishing took over, she worked a string of very down-to-earth jobs. She spent years as a bank clerk, then became a housing officer for Stoke-on-Trent City Council, walking the stairwells and front gardens of real estates that would later feed into The Estate series. After that came a move into training and development in adult social care, where she wrote policies, newsletters and speeches by day and crime scenes by night.cite
For more than a decade she tried to break into traditional publishing, writing book after book around full-time work and collecting a thick file of rejections. Editors liked her writing but struggled to place stories that mixed womens fiction, psychological suspense and police work. Eventually, after twelve years of near misses, she decided to back herself and try the then-new world of Kindle self-publishing.cite
In December 2011 she uploaded Taunting the Dead, a gritty murder mystery set in Stoke featuring detective Allie Shenton. Word of mouth did the rest. The book climbed the Kindle charts, selling tens of thousands of copies, and gave her the confidence to publish the first three titles in The Estate series, emotional crime dramas set on the fictional Mitchell Estate. Those books found a huge readership too and showed that there was room for stories that were both tough and very human.cite
On the back of that success she signed with a crime imprint to republish Taunting the Dead and psychological thriller Watching Over You, and went on to create more series. DS Allie Shenton tackles organised crime, cold cases and long grudges across six books. DS Grace Allendale returns to Stoke to work major investigations while dealing with the uncomfortable fact that a local crime family are her relatives. Detective Eden Berrisford polices the same world from a community angle, and DI Marsha Clay brings a slightly cosier, rural twist in the Staffordshire Moorlands.cite
Alongside the police procedurals sit the Mitchell Estate novels, which blend domestic drama with crime and explore how debt, violence and loyalty play out behind closed doors. Standalone thrillers such as Watching Over You, She Did It and Invisible Victim lean into claustrophobic settings, secrets from the past and ordinary women pushed into extreme situations.cite
She also writes as Marcie Steele, turning the same eye for character onto warmer, small-town stories. The Somerley and Hope Street books follow friends, families and market traders as they open coffee shops, run shoe stores and navigate love and second chances in the fictional town of Somerley.cite
Across all her work certain threads run through. Her stories are rooted in working-class communities, her leads are often women juggling family loyalties with hard choices, and the crimes grow out of everyday pressures as much as headline-grabbing evil. She likes to call it grit lit, crime and womens fiction with an emotional punch.cite
Today she is the author of more than twenty-one novels with over two million copies sold worldwide. She has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library, named among Stoke-on-Trents most influential people several years running, and now writes full-time from her home city, where she lives with her husband and fond memories of Dexter, their much-loved terrier.cite
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