Eric Ward Books in Order

Where to Start Reading the Eric Ward Series

For the best experience, readers should start at the very beginning of the series with A Certain Blindness (reissued by Joffe Books as The Sedleigh Hall Murder). Unlike typical procedurals where cases are completely isolated, Eric Ward’s personal life, physical health, and professional relationships evolve continuously. Beginning with the first book establishes his origin story: a principled police inspector forced into early retirement due to a glaucoma diagnosis who decides to retrain and practice as a solicitor in Newcastle, England. Reading the books sequentially allows you to appreciate his ongoing struggles with failing eyesight, his complicated, high-society marriage, and his growth from a green lawyer into a highly sought-after legal counsel.

Publication Order vs. Chronological Order

Fortunately for readers, the chronological timeline of the Eric Ward series matches its publication order exactly. The books follow Eric's life sequentially over a span of thirty years, from his first legal assignments in the early 1980s to his final cases in 2010. The only major point of confusion for readers is the extensive renaming of the novels. When publisher Joffe Books acquired the rights to Roy Lewis’s bibliography, they reissued the entire series with new, uniform titles ending in "Murder" to align with modern crime fiction packaging. The original titles, often featuring more literary or abstract phrasing, remain widely circulated on secondhand book markets and library catalogs. Checking a dual-title list is essential to avoid accidentally purchasing the same book twice.

The Complete Eric Ward Reading List

Here is the complete chronological list of the 17 Eric Ward novels, displaying both their original publication titles and their updated Joffe Books reissue titles:

• 1. A Certain Blindness / The Sedleigh Hall Murder (1980): Eric Ward begins his legal career and is drawn into a high-profile inheritance dispute involving a wealthy family estate and a decades-old manslaughter case.
• 2. Dwell in Danger / The Farming Murder (1982): Ward is hired to sort out a bitter, complex family dispute over land ownership, which quickly escalates to violence and murder on a local farm.
• 3. A Limited Vision / The Quayside Murder (1983): Investigating a London developer’s local financial dealings, Ward finds himself in the crosshairs of ruthless business interests in Newcastle's harbor district.
• 4. Once Dying, Twice Dead / The Diamond Murder (1984): What begins as a straightforward estate planning inquiry sends Ward to Marseilles, France, where he is caught in a dangerous web of international fraud and diamond smuggling.
• 5. A Blurred Reality / The Geordie Murder (1985): Ward must clear a client accused of a brutal murder, diving deep into the Newcastle underworld and exposing police corruption along the way.
• 6. Premium on Death / The Shipping Murder (1986): A marine insurance fraud case turns deadly when a cargo ship sinks under suspicious circumstances, forcing Ward to untangle a web of corporate greed.
• 7. The Salamander Chill / The City of London Murder (1988): Ward expands his practice to London, where he investigates financial irregularities in a major merchant bank, discovering that white-collar crime is just as lethal as street violence.
• 8. A Necessary Dealing / The Apartment Murder (1989): A dispute over a luxury apartment development leads to murder, pulling Ward into a complex corporate conspiracy involving blackmail and elite property developers.
• 9. A Kind of Transaction / The Spanish Villa Murder (1991): A client's investment in a lavish villa on the Spanish coast becomes the center of a homicide investigation, taking Ward abroad once more.
• 10. A Form of Death / The Marriage Murder (2001): After a decade-long hiatus in the series, Ward returns to handle a messy divorce case that exposes a deadly conspiracy, mirroring the rising tensions in his own marriage.
• 11. The Nightwalker / The Wasteful Murder (2002): Ward defends a wealthy landowner accused of a late-night killing, uncovering dark family secrets hidden beneath rural respectability.
• 12. Phantom / The Phantom Murder (2003): An apparent suicide at a local chemical plant raises Ward's suspicions, leading him to uncover a trail of corporate espionage and toxic cover-ups.
• 13. Dead Man Running / The Slaughterhouse Murder (2003): When a prominent local businessman goes missing, Ward is hired to protect his estate, only to discover that the man was running from a lethal past.
• 14. Embers of the Dead / The Tattoo Murder (2005): An old friend's past catches up with them, and Ward must investigate a cold case that has suddenly turned hot, with a distinctive tattoo serving as the primary clue.
• 15. Death Squad / The Football Murder (2007): The murder of a professional soccer player draws Ward into the lucrative and high-stakes world of sports management, contracts, and illegal gambling rings.
• 16. Guardian of the Dead / The Tutankhamun Murder (2008): A theft at a local museum exhibiting ancient Egyptian artifacts turns into a murder investigation, testing Ward's knowledge of heritage law and art fraud.
• 17. Design for Murder / The Zodiac Murder (2010): In the final installment of the series, Ward investigates a series of murders apparently inspired by astrological symbols, forcing him to solve a complex puzzle before the killer strikes again.

What to Know Before You Start

The Eric Ward series stands out in the crowded crime fiction market due to its unique protagonist and authentic legal focus. Roy Lewis, drawing on his own background in law and higher education, imbues the books with realistic legal maneuvers and corporate intricacies. The setting of Northern England, particularly the city of Newcastle and the surrounding Northumberland countryside, acts as a character in its own right, transitioning from the heavy industrial decline of the early 1980s to the modern, regenerated city of the 21st century. Ward’s glaucoma is a central element of the series, introducing physical vulnerability and a race against time as his eyesight progressively degrades over the books. Furthermore, his marriage to Anne, a wealthy, independent businesswoman, creates ongoing personal conflict that contrasts sharply with the cold legal problems he solves professionally.

Are There Any Spin-offs or Adaptations?

There are no television, film, or radio adaptations of the Eric Ward series, nor did Roy Lewis write any direct spin-offs featuring secondary characters from these books. However, fans who complete the Eric Ward mysteries can explore Lewis's other successful series. He wrote the Arnold Landon mysteries, which follow an archaeological surveyor solving historical and architectural-related crimes in England, and the Inspector John Crow series, which offers a more traditional police procedural experience. Both series showcase Lewis's signature blend of rich settings and intricate plotting.