Patrick Smythe Mystery Books in Order

Patrick Smythe is one of Jordan's most underdog-friendly detectives. He is a former one-armed policeman from Ulster, and he comes into these books with experience, bruises, and a streak of determination that makes him hard to dismiss. He is not flashy. He is persistent. That matters, because the people around him often underestimate him right up to the point where he starts pulling their lies apart.

The series moves around the west coast of Scotland and its islands, which suits Patrick well. These are cases shaped by landscape, ferry routes, tourist trade, and communities that are small enough for everyone to know one another and secretive enough for nobody to tell the truth first time. In The Disappearance of Russell Hadleigh, Paddy has to work the polished world of golf and missing money. In The Graves of Calgary Bay, the trail heads to Mull and Gometra. In The Fairy Pools' Gathering, a plea for help opens into intimidation and eerie nighttime rituals.

He rarely gets an easy job.

A big draw here is Patrick's partnership with Susan Calderwood. She is younger, feisty, and willing to challenge him, which keeps the series lively. The books are crime thrillers rather than classic puzzle mysteries, so there is movement, danger, and the sense that turning up one answer will only lead to a worse question. Clients are frightened, suspects are slippery, and the setting is never just backdrop.

If you like private or semi-private investigations with a strong Scottish coastal feel, these books have a nice identity of their own. They are less procedural than the Macleod series and less overtly political than Kirsten Stewart, but they still move with purpose. Start with The Disappearance of Russell Hadleigh to meet Patrick and Susan together, then follow them west into rougher waters.