Ed James reading order (August 2021)

[Updated 11-Aug-2021: Added the graphic to show the current state of play]

Where do I start?

The tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) version is:

1. Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
2. For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 0, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book or in order.

Here’s a link to my Amazon page featuring all of my books:
https://geni.us/EJHAuthor

Here for the long answer? Okay, settle in.

At the time of writing (14th July 2021), I have published a lot of books. Eight Scott Cullen novels, seven Simon Fenchurch, three Craig Hunter, two Vicky Dodds, and six Cullen and Bain short novels (with the six out in November). And three Max Carter FBI thrillers. And Senseless. And that’s not even mentioning the two vampire books (which are currently unpublished) or the three practise novels.

That’s 30 novels, with an eighth Fenchurch out in December.

And it’s further complicated by the continuity between series, both hard and soft.

So let’s start with the easy stuff. The Max Carter books are out of continuity with the rest of my books. Easy.

Next, Senseless and the Fenchurch books share the easter egg of Charlie the Seahorse, but nothing else.

The Fenchurch books feature some easter eggs with the Scottish ones, e.g. Fenchurch 3 features a bottle of Dunpender whisky from Cullen 3. You can surmise that the gap in the criminal market created in Fenchurch 6 led to some antics in Hunter 3.

(You could also link events in Fenchurch 6 to events in the Carter books, if you want. I haven’t, but if you want to, it’s totally cool.)

Now for the hard stuff, and Scott Cullen’s messy tales.

The first novel I published was Ghost in the Machine, back in April 2012, quickly followed by another three in just over a year (Devil in the Detail, Fire in the Blood and Stab in the Dark, originally published as Dyed in the Wool), then a fifth in 2015 (Cops & Robbers, originally published as Bottleneck), which I heavily edited recently (read: rewrote virtually from scratch) and added Craig Hunter to the book. Then I published a sixth in 2015 (Liars & Thieves, originally Windchill), followed by a seventh (Cowboys & Indians).

There was a three-year gap between the seventh and the eighth Cullen books, during which time I published two Craig Hunter books, Missing and Hunted, which feature Cullen in a somewhat adversarial role (and also could feature Alan from the Dodds books and Liam from the Fenchurch books covering the big news story).

Also, Craig Hunter features in the eighth Cullen, Heroes & Villains. And Cullen again appeared in the third Hunter book, The Black Isle. Then Hunter appears in all of the Cullen & Bain books (City of the Dead, World’s End, Hell’s Kitchen and Gore Glen). The fifth Cullen & Bain is a prequel, basically when Cullen met Bain, and could be read as the first or the penultimate (book 6, The Last Drop, is out in November).

Okay, so that sound complicated, right? But it’s actually straightforward. The optimal way to read them is in publication order, so:

1. The first seven Cullens, then
2. The first two Hunters, then
3. The eighth Cullen, then
4. The third Hunter, then
5. The six Cullen and Bain books.

The next hard continuity is in the Vicky Dodds books. The first one, Tooth & Claw, came out in 2015 as “Snared”, but I heavily edited it back in 2018, though didn’t introduce any continuity with other books. Vicky features in a very brief cameo in Heroes & Villains (yes, that’s her on the training course). But there’s a lot more continuity with the Cullenverse in the second book, Flesh & Blood. And the third, Skin & Bone, features a lot more continuity and is set just after the second Cullen and Bain book, World’s End. One of the characters in that features in the fourth. And there might be other characters appearing in Cullen & Bain 6, The Last Drop.

So, to summarise:

• Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
• For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 0, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the books.

Final note is that I’m committing to make the first books in all of the main series I publish at the lowest price Amazon will let me, which is currently 79p/99c, and also all of the books I publish are available in Kindle Unlimited to read free.

Again, here’s that link to my Amazon page with all of my books:

https://geni.us/EJHAuthor

Cheers,
Ed