The Recommended Reading Order for Dr. Clare Burtonall
For the absolute best experience, you should read the Dr. Clare Burtonall series in its original publication order. Because the books follow a continuous timeline where the relationship between Clare and her street-savvy partner, Bonn, evolves significantly from one case to the next, jumping around will spoil key personal developments. Fortunately, the chronological order matches the publication order exactly, making your reading path straightforward.
Dr. Clare Burtonall Books in Order
The series consists of five main novels published between 1997 and 2006. Below is the complete list of books with summaries to help you track Clare's investigations:
- Different Women Dancing (1997): The story that starts it all. Dr. Clare Burtonall, a dedicated physician, witnesses a suspicious fatal road accident. Her investigation leads her to suspect her own husband's involvement in a web of corporate corruption. Needing access to the underworld, she hires Bonn, a high-class male escort, who becomes her guide and partner in crime-solving.
- Prey Dancing (1998): When a dying patient leaves Clare a cryptic message, she is pulled back into the danger zones of the city. Together with Bonn, she must navigate escalating gang conflicts and track down a missing woman, showing just how deep her detective instincts have grown.
- Die Dancing (2000): Following a painful divorce, Clare discovers that her charitable medical clinic is funded by the very agency Bonn works for. The stakes rise when a corporate fixer with political connections is murdered, followed by the death of one of the escorts. Clare and Bonn must untangle a conspiracy involving real estate, high-class prostitution, and police corruption.
- Bone Dancing (2002): The partnership is pushed to its limits when Clare investigates the murder of a street girl linked to a powerful crime syndicate and the disappearance of a young boy from a children's home. As Clare's professional medical career is threatened, she and Bonn must dive deeper than ever to survive.
- Blood Dancing (2006): The gripping series finale. A vigilante is targeting local criminals using lethal poisoned darts. At the same time, Clare faces an ethical and emotional crisis over whether to withdraw life support from an attacked young prostitute, while Bonn tries to protect street workers from an impending release of a dangerous offender.
Publication Order vs. Chronological Order
There are no prequels, side novellas, or complicated timelines in this series. The order in which John Grant (writing as Jonathan Gash) published these books is the precise order in which the narrative unfolds. Reading them out of order is not recommended, as Clare's transition from a naive physician to a seasoned investigator who can navigate the criminal underworld is a major focal point of the series.
What to Know Before You Start
Before diving into Dr. Clare Burtonall's world, there are a few key details to keep in mind:
The Author Behind the Pseudonym
Jonathan Gash is the pen name of John Grant, a former physician and major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His authentic medical background heavily informs Clare's professional life, giving the clinical and forensic aspects of the books an impressive level of detail and realism.
A Departure from Lovejoy
If you are familiar with Jonathan Gash's famous Lovejoy series, you should prepare for a major shift in tone. While Lovejoy is a lighthearted, cheeky antiques dealer operating in cozy, rogue-filled environments, the Clare Burtonall books are much grittier, darker, and focused on the bleak realities of urban crime, exploitation, and medical ethics.
The London Setting (and Database Confusions)
The series is set in the seedy, atmospheric streets of London. If you look up the series on secondary database websites, you might occasionally see the setting listed as Manchester. This is a common listing error; the novels themselves explicitly take place in London, capturing both its high-society boardrooms and its dark, hidden alleyways.
An Unconventional Partnership
The heart of the series is the chemistry between Clare, a moral and structured cardiologist, and Bonn, a charismatic and pragmatic male escort. Their relationship is complex, shifting between mutual professional reliance and personal intimacy, making them one of the most unique duos in detective fiction.