Zailer & Waterhouse Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Zailer & Waterhouse Mysteries Books

Sophie Hannah is a British novelist who began her writing career as a poet at 24 years of age. Her style is one of humour, wit, and personalization with a love for rhymes and making you feel the word she has written, and the emotions that come along with her beautiful flowing vocabulary. Before writing this beloved crime series, Sophie wrote two successful children’s books as well as several fiction novels. She continued publishing poetry for over a decade and was quite successful. This laid the foundation for her amazing writing skills which bring her stories to life. In 2006 she began writing a crime series that would span a decade and 9 books.

There are 9 books in the Zailer & Waterhouse Mysteries Series by Sophie Hannah. This hugely popular book series began with Little Face in 2006 where Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse came to life and began gripping readers from around the world with their crime solving abilities, and interesting personalities. Since then 8 more books have been product in this series. The first book in the series set the cornerstone for another set of great novels like the Alex Cross Series. You will see dual names for some of the books in this series. Some of the novels were released under different names when they hit North America. I hope this clears up any confusion you may experience when looking at the Zailer and Waterhouse Mystery series.

The series begins with a psychological thriller called Little Face. It is about Alice Fancourt who comes home one day after leaving her newborn home alone for only two hours with her husband and comes home to find that her the child at home is not hers. She is convinced that someone has switched children on her, but to her surprise, nobody believes her. The police arrive at the home and neither they or her husband David believe that she is telling the truth. She is frustrated and David is becoming hostile.

We meet Detective Simon Waterhouse for the first time for this big case. He finds that he has a liking for Alice but has his doubts when it comes to her story as well. He wants to believe her but he has his own suspicions about the case and fears that it could be depression causing her to suffer delusions. David, the husband, starts to become angry and Alice appears to become more delusional, believing that the death of David’s first wife may have something to do with the disappearance. Will Detective Waterhouse be able to help Alice? If the baby does not belong to them, who baby is it? You will have to read the book to find out!

In book 3, you are faced with a suspense novel that won’t let you put the book down once you get started. It is title ‘The Wrong Mother’ and it will intrigue your senses and send a chill up your spine. Sally Thorning has a big secret that she would rather keep hidden. One night while watch the news with her husband, she hears a name that she does not only recognize, it sends a chill up her spine. Mark Bretherick was man who she had a secret week long affair with last year. This was something she had thought was in the past and never thought she would have to think about it again. Boy was she wrong!

When she had a business trip cancelled last year, she decided to take a vacation away from her life and that is where she met Mark. He had two daughters named Geraldine and Lucy and he seemed life a normal family man. The news stated that they were both dead and the man she had met was looked nothing like the man she saw on TV, even though she knew it to be him. This will be another great mystery for Zailer and Waterhouse to solve. With mind gripping suspense and chilling plot twists, you will not want to put this book down.

The ‘Point of Rescue’ of rescue which was released in 2008 before being re-released as ‘The Wrong Mother’ was turned in to a 2-part TV drama called Case Sensitive and it registered 5.4 million viewers. This was an exiting step for Sophie in this series and likely gave an extra push to keep moving forward with this awesome book series. She was on the verge of a set of books to rival the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Book 4 in the series, ‘The Other Half Lives’ became the basis for a 2-part story a few years later as well.

Zailer and Waterhouse have become beloved characters who have provided excitement, intrigue, suspense, humour and so many other emotions while reading this wonderful series by Sophie Hannah. The first book alone sold over one hundred thousand copies. This certainly has all of the earmarks of another Hercules Poirot Series and Agatha Christie would be proud of this series. Speaking of that, Sophie has written two Hercules Poirot mysteries, one in 2014 named ‘The Monogram Murders’, and then in 2016 with ‘Closed Casket’.

Sophie Hannah has a style that is all her own. Her dynamic plot twists keep you guessing throughout the books and will keep you on the edge of your seat right until the end. You never know where she will go next in her psychological crime thrillers and she creates a real challenge for any reader who thinks they can solve the case themselves first. Her background in poetry has given her the fine writing style of education literature with the awesome flow of narrative that draws you in and makes you want to keep on reading.

If you have been looking for a new crime series to read and have not come across this one yet, you should start reading it now. You will be entertained with 9 books that will keep you busy for a while, with hopefully more to come in the future. Each book just seems to get better and better. You will be delighted by your choice to read the Zailer and Waterhouse Mystery series and it will be well worth your crime reading time!