Martina Cole Books In Order

Publication Order of Maura Ryan Books

Publication Order of DI Kate Burrows Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Martina Cole is one of the renowned authors of England who has written many standalone novels in the mystery and thriller genres. Apart from being a novelist, she is also a successful businesswoman and a television presenter. She was born on March 30, 1959 in Essex, England. Her birth name is Eilidh Martina Cole, but she has removed her first name after becoming an author in order to make it look short and sweet. As a child, she grew up in Aveley, Essex in England. Even though Cole is a British citizen, she belongs to the Irish ethnicity as her parents were Irish Catholic. As of today, she has published around 17 crime and thriller novels. In some of her novels, she has given the description about the real gangster underworld present in London, which carry out secret operations in the criminal world. Four of the novels written by Cole have been made into television dramas which have received high ratings just like the novels themselves.

The novels written by her have successfully achieved the sale of more than 10 million in the United Kingdom alone. The 10 the novel that Cole wrote had featured in the hardback bestseller list of the Sunday Times for seven weeks continuously. Cole’s father was from the Cork City whereas her mother came from the Glasnevin County in Dublin. Hence, she has the Irish ethnicity. A politician of Cork named Denis Cregan is the cousin of Cole. At the age of 15, she left her school studies as she was involved in a love affair which eventually led her to give birth to her first child at the age of 19. It was named Christopher. The unique style of writing of Cole can be seen in all her novels, as most of them feature a female as the main protagonist or as an antihero. And also some of her novels take place within the community of the Irishmen situated in and around the city of London. Her novel The Take was made into a television serial starring Tom Hardy in the lead role as Freddie. The show used to air on Sky 1 channel starting from June 17, 2009. In the year 2008, Cole participated in a drama series in the form of a documentary as an author which was shown on ITV. The documentary went on to break all the audience records set by ITV3.

In the following year, Cole started her own production company called as the ‘2Queens TV’ with the intention of exploring new heights in the world of broadcasting for herself and her interests. In the same year, an investigative documentary was made whose title had her named mentioned and featured the female protagonists of her novels. The main aim of the documentary was to focus on the role of the girls in the gangs, who were responsible for car theft, drug dealing, murder and robbery. One of the other novels written by her, Two Women was adapted into a stage play in the year 2010. The play was shown at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East, London and it was the first time when one of the novels written by Cole was adapted for a theatre play. Another novel written by her titled The Runaway was made into a television series that was telecast on Sky1 and Sky1 HD. Even the Cole’s latest novel has featured on the bestseller list of the Sunday Times. In the later months of the year 2011, an online voting was started by the readers for the best book written by Cole. Her novel The Take won the voting by 780 votes and was listed as top novel written by Cole. The latest novel written by Cole features a new gangster character named Michael Flynn, who is considered to be a very dangerous criminal in the underworld. Later in her career, Cole received the Crime Writers Award for her excellent works in the crime and thriller genres.

One of the initial novels written by Martina Cole was called ‘The Runaway’. It was published in the year 1997 by the Headline publishing house. The plot of the novel revolves around the lives of the main characters Eamonn Docherty and Cathy Connor. In the opening sequence of the novel, the main characters Eamonn Docherty and Cathy Connor are thrown on the streets of London’s sleazy East End and they are left to be on their own. Having grown up as the child of a prostitute, Cathy’s life becomes miserable, which leads to a disturbing ordeal as she does not have any other choice or anywhere else to go. On attempting to run away from her miserable life, she is rescued by Desrae who teaches her how to survive in the society of the criminal underworld. Meanwhile, Eamonn leaves for America along with his father and after some time he becomes one of the deadliest villains of New York. It is believed that when the paths of both of them will cross, they will be a perfect match for each other and it is only a matter of time before this happens. Cathy is beautiful, tough and clever and Eamonn is strong and powerful. Hence, if the two meet they are not going to run away again and will hopefully lead a happy life.

One of the other novels written by Cole was titled ‘The Take’. It was published in the year 2005 by the Headline publishing house. This novel deals with the troubled lives of the main characters Freddie Jackson and his wife Jackie. In the opening plot of the novel, Freddie Jackson is depicted as getting out of the prison. During his stay in the prison, he had made many connections with the people of the underworld and now he has started thinking that he owns the criminal underworld. However, his wife Jackie does not want him to do anything wrong that would land him in prison again and just wishes that he comes back home. But Freddie cannot leave the violence and the girls in the criminal world behind. Eventually, his life begins to become unstable, resentful and bitter. On the other hand, his sister Maggie’s star keeps on rising. She is in love with her cousin Jimmy. Freddie knows the value of staying together as a family, but is also aware of the fact that betrayal and jealousy keep growing behind the doors. In the criminal world, no one can be trusted and everyone is always on the take.

9 Responses to “Martina Cole”

1. Kathylou: 7 months ago

   I have all off martina Cole’s books I love them I think that she is amazing gifted writer

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2. Martie du Preez: 10 months ago

   I love her books. Have read 9. I am afrikaans and live is SA.

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3. Sue k: 2 years ago

   Just started reading martina’s Books, I can’t understand why I have never read them before I absolutely love them what a brilliant writer.

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4. Gail House: 2 years ago

   Started to read Dangerous Lady on holiday couldn’t put it down, had to finish it then bought another on my Kindle. Searching charity shops for more.

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5. Jean Halliday: 2 years ago

   First read a Martine Cole book years ago when I waited at an airport. I could not put it down. After that I was addicted and have almost read them all.

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6. Allison campbell: 2 years ago

   Brilliant absolute genius I am gripped by every book and can’t put it down. Read every book more than once and still gripped. Keep them coming they are really gripping. Thank you

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7. Shanonn Fekete: 3 years ago

   I have read all Martina’s books listed above and now that I am retired I am going to read them all again – love love love them !!

   Are there anymore not listed above ? Any further books coming out in the future ?

   thank you

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   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     She had a book planned for 2020 called Loyalty. Due to illness she had to postpone it until Autumn 2021. That update was last posted in July 2020 on her social media so not sure the status of that or her unfortunately.

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     • Marcelle Couve: 2 years ago

       I have all your books I love them and once started can not put them down.
       You are a brilliant writer and coming from a English family just love the slang which my grandmother said but low and behold we got the kitchen cloth if it was mentioned in her presents. You make me forget about everything and just dive deeper into your books.

       Reply