The Celia Rees Supernatural Trilogy Books in Order

This trilogy follows Davey Williams, a boy whose gran says he is a chime child, born when the clock stuck at midnight. Davey does not want to be special. He would rather get on with ordinary life. But he has second sight, and once that gift wakes up he cannot shrug it off.

The trouble starts on a ghost walk through the old city, when Davey, his sister Kate, and their cousins Elinor and Tom stumble into more than a local spooky story. Rees plays with the idea that a city can hold several versions of itself at once. Streets, buildings, and people from the past keep pressing against the present, and Davey is one of the few who can feel the pressure.

That makes him useful, and very vulnerable.

Across City of Shadows, A Trap in Time, and The Host Rides Out, the haunting grows from a single frightening outing into a year-long battle. Time slips open. Buried things wake up. Old enemies look for a way back. Davey keeps getting pulled toward places where the boundary between living city and ghost city is thinnest, whether he is at school, out with family, or caught up in a storm of psychic forces.

These books are fast and atmospheric rather than sprawling. The stakes are real, but the focus stays on young people trying to understand what is happening before it is too late. Davey is not a swaggering chosen one. He is scared, doubtful, and often slow to trust himself, which is part of what makes the trilogy work. His gift solves nothing on its own. He still needs courage, help, and a willingness to step back into danger.

There is a strong sense of place here. Rees likes old streets, local legends, hidden layers of history, and the way everyday places can turn uncanny after dark. The supernatural elements are vivid, but they are grounded in family dynamics and the practical problem of being a kid who has seen something no one else quite believes.

It is also worth knowing that these three books collect the earlier six-part H.A.U.N.T.S. sequence into longer linked volumes. So if you start with the trilogy, you are getting the full Davey Williams arc in a tidier format. Expect ghostly adventure, time-slip tension, and a steadily darkening struggle between the seen world and the one just behind it.