Rex Graves Mysteries Books in Order
Part ofCS Challinor Books in OrderSee the Rex Graves Mysteries by C.S. Challinor in order, with short summaries, series background, and easy guidance on where to start with Rex.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Rex Graves Mysteries books in publication order
13 books
Christmas is Murder
by CS Challinor
2008
Rex arrives at a snowbound manor hotel in East Sussex expecting a quiet Christmas and finds a suspicious death instead. As more guests fall victim, he must work through poison, grudges, and romance in a house no one can leave.
Murder in the Raw
by CS Challinor
2009
Rex flies to Saint Martin to investigate the disappearance of French actress Sabine Durand at an exclusive nudist resort. Behind the tropical sunshine, he finds jealousy, bad alibis, and plenty of reasons someone wanted her gone.
Phi Beta Murder
by CS Challinor
2010
While visiting his son at a Florida university, Rex looks into the apparent suicide of a student found hanging in a locked dorm room. Campus gossip, hidden agendas, and fear for his son's safety push the case into darker territory.
Murder on the Moor
by CS Challinor
2011
Rex's housewarming at his Highland lodge goes badly wrong when a storm traps his guests and a woman turns up dead in the loch. Cut off from help, he must untangle old ties, fresh resentments, and a very personal case.
Murder at the Dolphin Inn
by CS Challinor
2012
During a cruise stop in Key West, Rex and Helen stumble into a bizarre double murder at a Victorian bed and breakfast. With the inn's unpopular owners dead after Fantasy Fest, every guest and relative looks suspicious.
Murder of the Bride
by CS Challinor
2012
Rex and Helen attend a troubled Derbyshire wedding where poison strikes the bride and several guests. Family grudges, a vanished father, and more sudden deaths turn the country house celebration into a knotty case.
Say Goodbye to Archie
by CS Challinor
2013
Rex heads to the Sussex village of Woodley to investigate the killing of Archie, beloved cat and muse to children's author Patricia Forsyth. It is a small case on paper, but neighborhood feuds and bruised egos make it anything but simple.
Say Murder With Flowers
by CS Challinor
2013
In this short Rex Graves case, a cabinet minister asks him to solve his daughter's hit-and-run death in London. The victim's fashion world circle offers no shortage of suspects, from her ambitious partner to her charming fiance.
Murder at Midnight
by CS Challinor
2014
A New Year's Eve party at Gleneagle Lodge turns deadly when the power fails at midnight and two guests are found dead. Storms, old grudges, and rumors of Jacobite treasure leave Rex with a house full of suspects.
Murder Comes Calling
by CS Challinor
2015
Rex travels to Bedfordshire to help an old university friend after four neighbors are killed in a quiet community. Local gossip, tampered evidence, and buried secrets make this village case more dangerous than it first appears.
Prelude To Murder
by CS Challinor
2015
A glamorous young couple are found dead on Helen d'Arcy's street, and Rex cannot resist getting involved. What looks like a perfect life starts to crack as he digs into the pair's past and the tensions around their home.
Judgment of Murder
by CS Challinor
2016
After the death of his old mentor, Lord Murgatroyd, Rex heads to Canterbury when the judge's daughter suspects murder. A missing girl and a list of old enemies turn a quiet condolence call into a dangerous investigation.
Upstaged by Murder
by CS Challinor
2018
Rex Graves and his new wife, Helen, attend opening night of a murder mystery play in Derbyshire. When the leading actress is shot backstage at intermission, Rex must sort through a cast full of masks, secrets, and old-fashioned sleuthing games.
Rex Graves Mysteries books in chronological order

Christmas is Murder
by CS Challinor
2008Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 1
Murder in the Raw
by CS Challinor
2009Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 2
Phi Beta Murder
by CS Challinor
2010Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 3
Murder on the Moor
by CS Challinor
2011Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 4
Murder of the Bride
by CS Challinor
2012Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 5
Murder at the Dolphin Inn
by CS Challinor
2012Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 6
Say Murder With Flowers
by CS Challinor
2013Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 7
Say Goodbye to Archie
by CS Challinor
2013Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 8
Murder at Midnight
by CS Challinor
2014Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 9
Murder Comes Calling
by CS Challinor
2015Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 10
Prelude To Murder
by CS Challinor
2015Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 11
Judgment of Murder
by CS Challinor
2016Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 12
Upstaged by Murder
by CS Challinor
2018Rex Graves Mysteries, Book 13
Series background & context
The Rex Graves books follow a Scottish barrister who keeps stumbling into murder, even when he is supposed to be off duty. Rex lives and works in Scotland, but the series likes to send him into enclosed little worlds where everyone knows more than they are saying. Holiday hotels, country houses, private colleges, inns, villages, and theater companies all become pressure cookers once a death upsets the room.
Rex is the sort of sleuth who notices what does not fit.
He is not a hard-boiled detective. He is a lawyer with a trained eye for motive, timing, and weak alibis, and that gives the books their shape. He asks patient questions, listens to gossip, and keeps circling back until the story people tell about themselves starts to crack. His legal background helps, but so does plain stubbornness.
The tone is cozy and traditional, though the setups vary a lot. Christmas is Murder opens with a snowbound manor in Sussex. Murder in the Raw drops Rex into Saint Martin and an exclusive nudist resort. Phi Beta Murder heads to a Florida campus, while Murder on the Moor and Murder at Midnight use the Scottish Highlands for stormy, cut-off puzzles. Later books move through Derbyshire weddings, Key West guesthouses, sleepy English neighborhoods, and a backstage killing at a play.
The scenery changes, but the engine stays the same.
Each book gives Rex a fresh circle of suspects, but there is also a gentle running arc underneath. Helen d'Arcy starts as a romantic interest and becomes an important part of his life, adding warmth and wit to the series. Friends, colleagues, and family drift in and out, including Rex's son Campbell and old acquaintances who sometimes bring trouble with them. The shorter entries, Say Murder With Flowers, Say Goodbye to Archie, and Prelude To Murder, work as side cases and give the world a little extra room.
What you should expect is a modern take on the classic whodunit. These books care about clues, suspects, hidden grudges, and the moment when a neat social occasion turns sour. They are more about puzzle-solving than violence, though greed, jealousy, betrayal, and old family damage are never far away. If you like mysteries where place matters, the suspect list is manageable, and the detective wins by thinking things through, Rex Graves is a comfortable series to settle into.
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