Below is the complete list of Elly Griffiths books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Ali Dawson Books
- The Frozen People (2025)
The Frozen People was published in 2025 and is listed as book #1 in the Ali Dawson series. - The Killing Time (2026)
Published in 2026, The Killing Time is listed as book #2 in the Ali Dawson series. - The Case of the Christmas Card (2026)
The Case of the Christmas Card is a 2026 release and appears as book #3 in the Ali Dawson series.
Publication Order of Brighton Mysteries Books
- The Zig Zag Girl (2014)
The Zig Zag Girl was published in 2014 and is listed as book #1 in the Brighton Mysteries series. - Smoke and Mirrors (2015)
Published in 2015, Smoke and Mirrors is listed as book #2 in the Brighton Mysteries series. - The Blood Card (2016)
The Blood Card is a 2016 release and appears as book #3 in the Brighton Mysteries series. - The Vanishing Box (2017)
In the Brighton Mysteries series, The Vanishing Box is book #4 and was published in 2017. - Now You See Them (2019)
Now You See Them was first published in 2019; within the Brighton Mysteries series, it is listed as book #5. - The Midnight Hour (2021)
The Midnight Hour was published in 2021 and is listed as book #6 in the Brighton Mysteries series. - The Great Deceiver (2023)
Published in 2023, The Great Deceiver is listed as book #7 in the Brighton Mysteries series.
Publication Order of Ruth Galloway Books
- The Crossing Places (2009)
The Crossing Places was published in 2009 and is listed as book #1 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Janus Stone (2010)
Published in 2010, The Janus Stone is listed as book #2 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The House at Sea’s End (2011)
The House at Sea's End is a 2011 release and appears as book #3 in the Ruth Galloway series. - A Room Full of Bones (2011)
In the Ruth Galloway series, A Room Full of Bones is book #4 and was published in 2011. - Ruth’s First Christmas Tree (2012)
Ruth's First Christmas Tree was first published in 2012; within the Ruth Galloway series, it is listed as book #5. - A Dying Fall / Tomb of the Raven King (2012)
A Dying Fall / Tomb of the Raven King was published in 2012 and is listed as book #6 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Outcast Dead (2014)
Published in 2014, The Outcast Dead is listed as book #7 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Ghost Fields (2015)
The Ghost Fields is a 2015 release and appears as book #8 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Woman in Blue (2016)
In the Ruth Galloway series, The Woman in Blue is book #9 and was published in 2016. - The Chalk Pit (2017)
The Chalk Pit was first published in 2017; within the Ruth Galloway series, it is listed as book #10. - The Dark Angel (2018)
The Dark Angel was published in 2018 and is listed as book #11 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Stone Circle (2019)
Published in 2019, The Stone Circle is listed as book #12 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Lantern Men (2020)
The Lantern Men is a 2020 release and appears as book #13 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Man in Black (2020)
In the Ruth Galloway series, The Man in Black is book #14 and was published in 2020. - The Night Hawks (2021)
The Night Hawks was first published in 2021; within the Ruth Galloway series, it is listed as book #15. - The Locked Room (2022)
The Locked Room was published in 2022 and is listed as book #16 in the Ruth Galloway series. - The Last Remains (2023)
Published in 2023, The Last Remains is listed as book #17 in the Ruth Galloway series.
Publication Order of Justice Jones Books
- A Girl Called Justice (2019)
A Girl Called Justice was published in 2019 and is listed as book #1 in the Justice Jones series. - The Smugglers’ Secret (2020)
Published in 2020, The Smugglers' Secret is listed as book #2 in the Justice Jones series. - A Ghost in the Garden (2021)
A Ghost in the Garden is a 2021 release and appears as book #3 in the Justice Jones series. - The Spy at the Window (2022)
In the Justice Jones series, The Spy at the Window is book #4 and was published in 2022.
Publication Order of Harbinder Kaur Books
- The Stranger Diaries (2018)
The Stranger Diaries was published in 2018 and is listed as book #1 in the Harbinder Kaur series. - The Postscript Murders (2020)
Published in 2020, The Postscript Murders is listed as book #2 in the Harbinder Kaur series. - Bleeding Heart Yard (2022)
Bleeding Heart Yard is a 2022 release and appears as book #3 in the Harbinder Kaur series. - The Last Word (2024)
In the Harbinder Kaur series, The Last Word is book #4 and was published in 2024.
Publication Order of Short Story Collections Books
- The Man in Black: And Other Stories (2024)
The Man in Black: And Other Stories was published in 2024 and is listed as book #1 in the Short Story Collections series.
About Elly Griffiths
Elly Griffiths is the crime-writing name of Domenica de Rosa, and one of the most useful ways to understand her bibliography is to see how neatly it divides into distinct but related phases. On her official site, she explains that she was born in London in 1963, moved to Brighton as a child, studied English, worked in publishing, and first wrote under her own name before adopting Elly Griffiths for crime fiction. That background matters because her fiction is deeply shaped by place, atmosphere, and a long affection for mystery. Brighton, the sea, old stories, and hidden histories all feel native to her work rather than borrowed scenery.
The clear center of her reputation is the Ruth Galloway series. Griffiths’ official site presents her first and still best-known identity as the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, and that makes sense. Ruth is one of the more distinctive recurring detectives in modern British crime fiction, not because she is a police officer, but because she is a forensic archaeologist. That profession gave Griffiths a strong original angle from the start. The books are not just about catching killers. They are about bones, landscapes, burial grounds, old beliefs, and the way the deep past keeps colliding with the present. Griffiths has said that Ruth was partly inspired by her archaeologist husband and by an aunt on the Norfolk coast who filled her head with local myths and legends, which helps explain why those books feel so rooted in both scholarship and atmosphere.
Her bibliography, though, is broader than Ruth alone. Griffiths’ official site currently identifies three main adult crime strands under the Elly Griffiths name: the Ruth Galloway books, the Brighton Mysteries, and the Ali Dawson Mysteries. The Brighton books, beginning with The Zig Zag Girl, move into 1950s crime and performance culture through DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto, while the newer Ali Dawson line opens with The Frozen People and adds time-travel elements to cold-case investigation. Seen together, those series show that Griffiths is not a one-formula writer. She has a recognizable interest in hidden histories, performance, secrets, and the persistence of the past, but she is willing to shift era, structure, and tone to explore those interests in different ways.
Another major branch of her work is the Harbinder Kaur line. Official and reference sources place The Stranger Diaries, The Postscript Murders, Bleeding Heart Yard, and The Last Word together as the Harbinder books, and those novels show a slightly different kind of Griffiths strength. They are less tied to one atmospheric regional setting and more interested in metafiction, literary culture, and ensemble mystery. Harbinder herself is a particularly memorable creation: sharp, observant, dryly funny, and quietly resistant to cliché. These books helped confirm that Griffiths could move beyond one beloved detective and still retain her audience and authority.
There is also a children’s side to her bibliography. Her official and interview material notes the A Girl Called Justice series, and more recent coverage has mentioned the Justice Jones books as well. That matters because it shows how naturally her sense of mystery extends beyond adult crime fiction. Even outside the murder shelves, she remains drawn to hidden wrongs, determined young investigators, and the pleasures of uncovering what adults would rather keep concealed.
Her work has also been recognized at a high level within the genre. Reference sources note that The Stranger Diaries won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2020, and her official pages consistently present her as an established, award-winning crime writer rather than simply a bestselling series author. That matters because Griffiths’ books are popular, but they are also admired for craft: strong atmosphere, intelligent plotting, and recurring characters who feel lived-in rather than formulaic.
The best way to understand Elly Griffiths’ bibliography, then, is as the work of a writer who keeps returning to the same deep fascination from different angles: the past breaking into the present, performance masking truth, and ordinary people discovering that history is never as finished as it appears. Whether she is writing Norfolk salt marshes, postwar Brighton, literary murder, or time-bending detection, she writes with the same instinct for mystery as atmosphere and atmosphere as story. That consistency is what holds her shelf together and why her bibliography feels richer than a simple list of detective series.