Nicola Upson Books in Order
Browse the Josephine Tey mystery series by Nicola Upson in order, with book summaries, series background and straightforward suggestions for a good reading path.
Last updated: December 22, 2025
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Publication Order
11 books
Dear Little Corpses
by Nicola Upson
2022
On 1 September 1939, London children arrive in the Suffolk village where Josephine Tey has a cottage, part of the mass wartime evacuation. When a little girl vanishes, the community’s welcome curdles into suspicion, and Archie Penrose races to find both child and culprit.
The Secrets of Winter / Dead of Winter
by Nicola Upson
2020
In December 1938, Josephine Tey and Archie Penrose spend Christmas at a castle on St Michael’s Mount, where a gala is raising funds for Jewish refugees. Cut off by storm seas and snow, the guests face two brutal deaths and a murderer who could be one of their own.
Stanley and Elsie
by Nicola Upson
2019
Sorry for the Dead
by Nicola Upson
2019
A newspaper article forces Josephine Tey to revisit the summer of 1915, when a girl died at a Sussex horticultural college where she briefly taught. Accusations of a cover‑up and forbidden love drag old fears into the open as Josephine and Archie probe a tragedy decades in the making.
Nine Lessons
by Nicola Upson
2017
A church organist is found buried alive in a Hampstead grave, a photograph and cryptic note beside him. The trail leads Archie Penrose to Cambridge, where a series of assaults on women and echoes of M. R. James’s ghost stories pull Josephine Tey into a chilling case.
London Rain
by Nicola Upson
2015
On the eve of George VI’s coronation, Josephine Tey visits BBC headquarters to watch a radio adaptation of one of her plays. When Britain’s star newsreader is shot live on air and a second body soon follows, Archie Penrose must find the killer in a building full of microphones and secrets.
The Death of Lucy Kyte
by Nicola Upson
2013
Josephine Tey inherits a dilapidated cottage in Suffolk from an actress godmother, along with a strange condition that a woman named Lucy Kyte may claim whatever she needs from the house. Sorting through diaries tied to the notorious Red Barn murder, Josephine uncovers new danger close to home.
Fear in the Sunlight
by Nicola Upson
2012
Josephine Tey, Archie Penrose and Alfred Hitchcock converge on Portmeirion in 1936 for a birthday celebration and film discussions. What should be a glamorous weekend turns nightmarish as staged scares give way to very real murders that will echo decades later.
Two for Sorrow
by Nicola Upson
2010
Researching a novel about real‑life baby‑farmers Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, Josephine Tey spends time with dressmakers and actresses preparing a charity gala. When a young seamstress is found murdered, secrets from Edwardian executions bleed into a modern‑day hunt for a sadistic killer.
Angel with Two Faces
by Nicola Upson
2009
Hoping for rest after earlier traumas, Josephine Tey accepts Archie Penrose’s invitation to his Cornish childhood home. A supposed riding accident, a missing young man and a fatal fall at the cliff‑top Minack Theatre reveal that the past in this village is anything but peaceful.
An Expert in Murder
by Nicola Upson
2008
In 1934, Josephine Tey travels to London to celebrate the final week of her smash‑hit play Richard of Bordeaux. A young fan she befriends on the train is murdered soon after, drawing Josephine and Inspector Archie Penrose into a backstage world of grudges and revenge.
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