The Estate Books in Order

The Estate series is set on the fictional Mitchell Estate, a place of tower blocks, walkways and small front gardens where you are never far from your neighbours' business. Rather than focusing on detectives, these books stay close to the residents themselves, blending crime, domestic drama and social issues in what Mel Sherratt calls grit lit.

In Somewhere to Hide, Cath Mason has turned her house into a refuge for women in trouble. Widowed and carrying a secret of her own, she takes in everyone from victims of domestic abuse to young women escaping addiction. When threatening notes start arriving, valuables go missing and a homeless teenager is murdered, Cath begins to fear that something from her past is reaching into her present, putting both her and the women she shelters in danger.

Behind a Closed Door shifts the focus to housing officer Josie Mellor, who loves the sense of community on the estate when it is not overshadowed by aggression and crime. Through Josie's visits we meet tenants like Kelly, struggling alone after her partner is jailed, and Charlotte, who has run from her violent ex more than once. As Josie's own marriage grows more controlling, the line between her professional role and her private fear starts to blur.

In Fighting for Survival, the simmering tensions of Stanley Avenue boil over. Caren Williams returns to the estate she once fought to leave, only to find herself living opposite her old enemy Gina Bradley. Gina's daughters run a girl gang, the Mitchell Mob, and when an old leader comes back looking for her crown, rivalries, jealousy and peer pressure erupt into street battles that not everyone will walk away from.

Written in the Scars widens the lens again, following single mum Donna, traumatised soldier Lewis, and women like Megan and Mary, who carry scars that are not always visible. Each character is dealing with the past in different ways, from grief and post-traumatic stress to shame, and the estate itself becomes a kind of pressure cooker where their stories collide.

There is also a companion volume, Secrets on the Estate, with diary entries, extra scenes and new characters who lead into Written in the Scars. It deepens the sense that this is a living, breathing community where stories overlap and no one's life is entirely separate from their neighbours.

The tone is sometimes dark and often emotional, but there are moments of humour, loyalty and kindness threaded through the violence and hardship. If you like character-driven fiction that does not look away from poverty, abuse or addiction, Somewhere to Hide is a strong place to start on the Mitchell Estate.