Recommended Reading Order: Where to Start?
For the best reading experience, it is highly recommended to read the D.I. Charlotte Savage series in publication order. Starting with the debut novel, Touch, allows you to experience the characters and their personal lives exactly as author Mark Sennen developed them. While there is a prequel short story, The Boat House, it contains backstory that is far more satisfying to uncover once you already have a sense of Charlotte's character and the trauma that shapes her career.
However, if you are a purist who prefers to follow a character's timeline from the absolute beginning, starting chronologically with The Boat House is a viable alternative.
DI Charlotte Savage Books in Publication Order
The core series consists of seven full-length novels and one companion prequel novella. Here is the order in which they were originally published:
1. Touch (2011)
The debut novel introduces Detective Inspector Charlotte Savage of the Plymouth CID. She is tasked with hunting down a vicious group of attackers who are targeting, drugging, and leaving young women for dead. The stakes skyrocket to a murder inquiry when a victim's body washes up on a local beach. As Savage hunts the perpetrators, she is also forced to confront her own personal tragedies and deep-seated grief.
2. Bad Blood (2013)
The discovery of a young girl's body buried under a garden patio opens up old wounds in the community. Soon after, a known local sex offender is murdered, followed by the abduction of one of Savage's colleagues. Savage finds herself in the crosshairs of a ruthless psychopathic killer who has a personal vendetta against her, forcing her to make impossible choices.
3. Cut Dead (2014)
When three headless, mutilated bodies are discovered in a wasteland grave, Charlotte Savage is confronted with a horrifying copycat killer mimicking a series of unsolved crimes from ten years earlier. She must dig into the dark history of the force and the victims to uncover whether a ghost from the past has returned or if a new monster has emerged.
4. The Boat House (2014)
Released alongside Cut Dead, this prequel novella takes readers back in time to chronicle Charlotte Savage's very first case as a newly minted detective. It offers critical insight into her early police career and the origins of her relentless drive for justice.
5. Tell Tale (2015)
Charlotte Savage is consumed by a thirst for vengeance as she finally learns the identity of the person responsible for her daughter's tragic death. However, her personal quest is interrupted when a woman's body is found near an isolated Dartmoor reservoir and her flatmate disappears. Savage must battle internal police corruption and her own moral conflicts to solve the case.
6. Two Evils (2016)
A young boy goes missing, and another is found dead, but Charlotte is inexplicably pulled off the case by her superiors and reassigned to a cold file. Meanwhile, a self-righteous vigilante known as "the Pastor" begins letting the public vote online on which criminals to execute. Savage must find the hidden links between these events before time runs out for the missing child.
7. The Boneyard (2017)
Malcolm Kendwick, a suspected serial killer whose US confessions were thrown out due to being obtained under duress, returns to the UK. Shortly after his arrival, a woman is murdered in Devon. Although Kendwick has a seemingly airtight alibi, Savage is convinced of his guilt. The discovery of multiple bodies at a local vehicle dump site—known as the Boneyard—sets off a tense cat-and-mouse game.
8. Puppet (2021)
Returning from a suspension, DI Savage is thrown into a high-profile investigation involving the murder of a senior police officer's daughter. The trail leads to a former asylum occupied by a secretive religious sect. As another DI's drug operation collapses due to a murdered informant, the two investigations collide, centering around the legacy of a deceased Hungarian toy maker known for his hyper-realistic puppets.
Chronological Reading Order
For readers who want to follow Charlotte's career from the absolute beginning of her timeline, here is how the books fit chronologically:
- The Boat House (Prequel Novella)
- Touch (Book 1)
- Bad Blood (Book 2)
- Cut Dead (Book 3)
- Tell Tale (Book 4)
- Two Evils (Book 5)
- The Boneyard (Book 6)
- Puppet (Book 7)
What to Know Before You Start
Mark Sennen's series is set against the atmospheric backdrops of Plymouth, Devon, and the rugged, moody terrain of Dartmoor in South West England. The setting acts as a character in its own right, with windswept coastlines and urban grit mirroring the dark tone of the investigations.
Prospective readers should be aware that the D.I. Charlotte Savage books are known for their graphic violence, intense procedural detail, and heavy psychological themes. The series heavily features continuous character arcs—specifically Charlotte's unresolved grief over her daughter's death, police corruption, and her personal vendettas. Therefore, skipping books is not recommended, as the overarching plotlines develop significantly from one novel to the next.
Companion Works and Standalones
While the D.I. Charlotte Savage books are Mark Sennen's signature works, he has also written in other thriller subgenres. His espionage thriller series, Holm and da Silva (consisting of The Sanction and Rogue Target, both published in 2020), is completely separate from Charlotte Savage's universe. He has also authored standalone thrillers such as The Sum of All Sins (2018) and Three, which do not cross over with the Savage series.