Reading Order
Shetland Islandseries.seoTitleShort
Start with Raven Black and continue through all 9 books in the listed reading order.
Start Here
Start with Raven Black
Book 1 by Ann Cleeves • Published 2006
On a snowy New Year’s Day in Shetland, an artist finds the body of a teenage girl lying in a field, ravens circling overhead. Suspicion falls on a lonely outcast, but Inspector Jimmy Perez must look beyond village gos...
Complete List
Shetland Island reading order
Ends with Wild Fire
- 1
Book 1:Raven Black
Ann Cleeves • 2006
On a snowy New Year’s Day in Shetland, an artist finds the body of a teenage girl lying in a field, ravens circling overhead. Suspicion falls on a lonely outcast, but Inspector Jimmy Perez must look beyond village gos...
- 2
Book 2:White Nights
Ann Cleeves • 2008
During the Shetland “white nights,” when darkness barely falls, an exhibition at a remote gallery is disrupted by a stranger who breaks down in tears and claims not to know his own name. Next day he is found hanged in...
- 3
Book 3:Red Bones
Ann Cleeves • 2009
On a small Shetland island, an archaeology dig uncovers human remains that may be centuries old—or not. When an elderly woman is fatally shot soon after, Jimmy Perez must decide whether the past has come violently int...
- 4
Book 4:Blue Lightning
Ann Cleeves • 2010
Jimmy Perez takes his fiancée to his home island of Fair Isle, where a bird observatory packed with visiting twitchers is lashed by storms. Cut off from the mainland, the guests are trapped together when a celebrated...
- 5
Book 5:Dead Water
Ann Cleeves • 2013
When a journalist returns to Shetland to dig into a controversial story and is found dead, an outsider detective, Willow Reeves, is sent to lead the case. Jimmy Perez, still grieving, is drawn back into policing as th...
- 6
Book 6:Thin Air
Ann Cleeves • 2014
A group of old university friends travel to Unst, Shetland’s most northerly island, for a wedding. After claiming to see the ghost of a drowned child, one woman vanishes into the mist; her body later appears in a loch...
- 7
Book 7:Too Good To Be True
Ann Cleeves • 2016
In the Scottish Borders village of Stonebridge, young teacher Anna Blackwell is found dead and police lean toward suicide or accident. Jimmy Perez is asked by his ex‑wife to look again, probing rumours about her new h...
- 8
Book 8:Cold Earth
Ann Cleeves • 2016
During the funeral of Magnus Tait, torrential rain triggers a landslide that tears through a supposedly empty Shetland croft. Among the wreckage Jimmy Perez finds the body of an unknown woman in a red dress, and learn...
- 9
Book 9:Wild Fire
Ann Cleeves • 2018
An English family move to Shetland hoping its quiet will help their autistic son, but gossip erupts when their young nanny is found hanging in their barn. As rumours of an affair spread, Jimmy Perez and Willow Reeves...
Quick Answers
Shetland Island FAQ
What is the best order to read the Shetland Island series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with Raven Black.
How many books are in the Shetland Island series?
There are 9 books currently listed in the Shetland Island series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Shetland Island series?
New readers should start with Raven Black, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Shetland Island series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears likely complete and spans releases from 2006 to 2018.