Bill Slider Books In Order

Publication Order of Bill Slider Books

The ‘Bill Slider Mysteries’ is a novel series consisting of 16 different novels based on the mystery and thriller genres and published from 1991 to 2013. The series is written by the award-winning author from London, England, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. The series is categorized as an internationally acclaimed mystery series by various publishing houses. Author Cynthia says that he started writing the first novel of the series just to divert his mind from her previous books and had no intention of publishing it. But, she decided to keep writing more novels in the series after receiving good reviews from family and friends. She was praised for the detailed prose and likeable characters of the series. The series revolves around the life of the fictional character Bill Slider, who works as a police inspector at the Shepherd’s Bush CID in London, England.

When Cynthia began writing the first novel of the series, she did not have a specific character in her mind. She kept on developing the character of Bill Slider based on whatever description came to her mind. After tasting success from the initial novels of the series, Cynthia started writing the other novels of the series seriously. She has described Detective Inspector Bill Slider as a middle-aged police inspector. He is menopausal and belongs to the middle class. He has an incompatible wife. He finds difficulty in finding the clues because of the constant tension from his personal life. Bill has a close friend in the form of Sergeant Atherton, who is the only person to understand his emotions truly. He is on the verge of finding a new love in his life after getting pummeled constantly by his wife. Although he is always taken advantage of by his colleagues at work, he does not mind it and tries to keep himself engrossed in the investigations. Bill likes to carry out the investigations in his own way and does not care about going on the wrong path to find out the truth. He wishes to get promoted to the ranks of the Scotland Yard but feels as if he is not going to achieve it. However, his friend Atherton believes that the London police needs inspectors like Bill Slider as he is one of the best officers of the department.

The first novel of the Bill Slider Mysteries was published in the year 1991 by the Scribner Book Company, under the title ‘Orchestrated Death’. The plot of the novel is set in London, England, where the main characters of Detective inspector Bill Slider and Sergeant Atherton are introduced. Bill sets out to find the murderer of the violinist, Anne-Marie Austen,when he finds his naked dead body in a rundown flat. He begins the investigation in his own unconventional method. He faces turmoil in his personal life as his wife is not compatible enough to understand his emotions. Bill feels irresistibly attracted towards another lady, who is the key witness of the murder. Left with mixed feelings, Bill tries to put together the missing pieces of the mysterious puzzle. He is in the dilemma of choosing either his wife or his new love as his future depends greatly on his decision. Bill comes to know more about Austen, who did not seem to have a life outside her job as a violinist. He finds a Stradivarius worth of s million pounds, which leads him to a luxurious penthouse in Birmingham.

Bill learns that Austen was pressurizing a fellow musician to have a love affair which might have caused her death. He himself gets romantically attracted to the playing partner of Austen, Joanna Marshall and is on the verge of destroying his marriage and the investigation. More killings take place with the development of the novel as Bill strives to settle everything. The novel keeps its readers interested till the very end with its approachable characters and mysterious plot. It was termed as a masterful debut by Cynthia as various publishing magazines praised her interesting depiction of the story. She received wide appreciations from one and all as the novel went on to sell a number of copies all over the world. With the success of the first novel, Cynthia continued to develop more mysterious stories around the life of the Detective Inspector Bill Slider and kept the readers waiting patiently for her future publications of the series. She was able to complete a total of 16 novels till 2013 and has said that she will be continuing to write more novels in the Bill Slider as and when she will get time from her other projects.

The second novel of the Bill Slider Mysteries was published under the title ‘Death Watch’, by Scribner Book Company in the year 1992. The novel continued from the sophisticated ending and strong characterization of the first novel and depicted Inspector Bill Slider continuing with the investigation of arson and murder. The plot of the novel opens up with the death of a noted womanizer in a sleazy motor, Bill begins to investigate the mysterious circumstances of his death. He wishes to solve the case as soon as possible and go on to put his personal life back on track. But instead, Bill keeps digging deep into the secret life of the victim and brings his murky past to light. He, along with his friend Atherton becomes able to identify the victim as Richard Niel. The lead from the case end up connecting to several other deaths in the past and unveil a strange pattern of crime. The novel is full of excellent dialogues and gritty plots integrated with suspense and romance similar to the first novel of the series. It turns out to be an outstanding mystery novel with elements of artful grace. The New York Times magazine has described the novel as a good mystery containing real life investigation procedures and elegant writing by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. The unpretentious writing of the author has a sense of briskness to it, which is seen in the second novel of the series. The readers enjoyed her excellent narration of the plot of the novel which made it interesting to read. Just like the first novel, this one too became highly successful and motivated Cynthia to continue with her good work and entertain her readers through her writings.

One Response to “Bill Slider”

1. Judy Barton: 2 years ago

   Is there another book planned for 2023? I’ve read them all twice and am awaiting with baited breath for the next.

   Reply