Amy Myers / Harriet Hudson Books in Order

Recommended Reading Paths: Where to Start

With a career spanning over four decades, Amy Myers (who also writes historical sagas under the pen name Harriet Hudson) has created a remarkably diverse bibliography. Because her series span different historical eras, settings, and tones, the best place to start depends entirely on what kind of story you are in the mood for:

• For Victorian Cozy Mysteries: Start with Murder in Pug's Parlour (1986). This begins the 11-book Auguste Didier series, featuring a half-French, half-English chef solving crimes in the grand kitchens and country estates of Victorian England.
• For Modern Cold-Case Investigations: Start with The Wickenham Murders (2004). This introduces the Marsh and Daughter series, featuring Peter Marsh, a wheelchair-bound former police detective, and his daughter Georgia as they uncover secrets in atmospheric Kentish villages.
• For 1920s Jazz Age Intrigue: Start with Dancing With Death (2018), the first book in the Nell Drury series, which features another talented chef-sleuth navigating the societal shifts and dark secrets of the post-WWI era.
• For Sweeping Historical Sagas: Start with Summer's End (1996), which opens the Seasons of War series (originally published under her Harriet Hudson pseudonym). This emotional quartet follows four daughters of a rectory through the trials of the First World War.

Auguste Didier Mysteries

The Auguste Didier series is Amy Myers' signature work. Combining culinary delights with traditional Victorian whodunits, the series follows master chef Auguste Didier as he navigates the high-class dining rooms and low-class criminal activities of late 19th-century Britain. While each book presents a standalone murder mystery, reading them in order allows you to follow Auguste's professional journey, his personal relationships, and the shifting social landscape of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

1. Murder in Pug's Parlour (1986)
2. Murder in the Limelight (1987)
3. Murder At Plums (1989)
4. Murder at the Masque (1991)
5. Murder Makes an Entree (1992)
6. Murder Under the Kissing Bough (1992)
7. Murder in The Smokehouse (1994)
8. Murder At The Music Hall (1995)
9. Murder In The Motor Stable (1996)
10. Murder with Majesty (1999)
11. Murder in the Queen's Boudoir (2017)

Marsh and Daughter Books

Set against the backdrop of Kent, the Marsh and Daughter series follows ex-cop Peter Marsh and his writer daughter Georgia. Georgia's research into historical cold cases frequently unearths very modern dangers. The dynamic between the wheelchair-bound Peter and the proactive Georgia gives this series a unique emotional core, making it essential to read these books in order to appreciate their developing partnership and family history.

1. The Wickenham Murders (2004)
2. Murder in Friday Street (2005)
3. Murder in Hell's Corner (2006)
4. Murder and the Golden Goblet (2007)
5. Murder in the Mist (2008)
6. Murder Takes the Stage (2009)
7. Murder on the Old Road (2011)
8. Murder in Abbot's Folly (2011)
9. The Maid of Kent Murders (2022)

Nell Drury Books

Returning to her love of culinary protagonists, Myers introduced Nell Drury in 2018. Nell is a talented female chef working at the grand Wychbourne Court in Kent during the glamorous but troubled 1920s. This series is a perfect fit for fans who enjoy the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of historical estates combined with clever detective work.

1. Dancing With Death (2018)
2. Death at the Wychbourne Follies (2019)
3. Death and the Singing Birds (2021)

Jack Colby: Car Detective Books

For a contemporary twist on the mystery genre, Myers created Jack Colby, a Kent-based investigator specializing in rare and classic cars. Part detective novel and part tribute to vintage automobiles, this series is highly recommended for readers looking for lighthearted cozy mysteries with a niche twist.

1. Classic in the Barn (2011)
2. Classic Calls the Shots (2012)
3. Classic In The Clouds (2013)
4. Classic Mistake (2013)
5. Classic in the Pits (2014)
6. Classic Cashes In (2015)
7. Classic in the Dock (2015)
8. Classic at Bay (2017)

Tom Wasp Books

Set in Victorian London, this series stars Tom Wasp, a warmhearted chimney sweep who frequently finds himself helping those in trouble in the city's poorest districts. It offers a grittier, street-level view of Victorian life that contrasts nicely with the grand country estates of the Auguste Didier series.

1. Tom Wasp and the Murdered Stunner (2007)
2. Tom Wasp and the Newgate Knocker (2010)
3. Tom Wasp and the Seven Deadly Sins (2020)

British Stately Home Mysteries

In 2024, Myers launched a brand-new traditional British cozy series centered around historic estates. It stars Cara Shelly, owner of the local Happy Huffkin café, who finds herself solving crimes in the shadow of a grand Kentish mansion.

1. Murder at Tanton Towers (2024)

Seasons of War Sagas (Writing as Harriet Hudson)

Written under the Harriet Hudson pen name, this historical drama series (also known as the Lilley Family series) traces the lives of a Sussex rector's four daughters as they navigate the personal upheavals, losses, and triumphs of the WWI era. Unlike the mysteries, these books are deeply emotional historical family dramas that should be read in chronological order to follow the family's timeline.

1. Summer's End (1996) - originally published as The Last Summer
2. Dark Harvest (1998)
3. Winter Roses (1999)
4. Songs of Spring (2000)

Harriet Hudson Standalone Historical Novels

Under the Harriet Hudson pseudonym, Myers also wrote a vast collection of standalone historical romances and family sagas. These novels do not share characters or direct continuity, meaning you can read them in any order you choose.

• Look For Me By Moonlight (1989)
• When Nightingales Sang (1990)
• Sun In Glory (1991)
• The Wooing of Katie May (1993)
• The Girl From Gadsby's (1995)
• Into the Sunlight (1996)
• Not In Our Stars (1998)
• To My Own Desire (2001)
• Quinn (2001)
• Tomorrow's Garden (2002)
• The Windy Hill (2004)
• The Stationmaster's Daughter (2005)
• Applemere Summer (2005)
• Murder, 'Orrible Murder (2006)
• The Man Who Came Back (2010)
• The Adventure of the Faithful Retainer (2012)
• Catching the Sunlight (2017)

Anthologies and Short Story Edits

In addition to her novels, Amy Myers has edited several noted horror and ghost story anthologies, drawing on her experience as a publisher and editor. Her most notable work in this arena is the After Midnight Stories series, which she curated and edited during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She also has contributed short fiction to various crime anthologies and magazines like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

• After Midnight Stories (1985) (Editor)
• The Second Book of After Midnight Stories (1986) (Editor)
• The Third Book of After Midnight Stories (1987) (Editor)
• The Fourth Book of After Midnight Stories (1988) (Editor)
• The Fifth Book of After Midnight Stories (1991) (Editor)
• Shakespearean Whodunnits (1997) (Contributor)
• Malice Domestic 7 (1998) (Contributor)
• The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 (2011) (Contributor)