Nathan Hawk Mystery Books In Order

Publication Order of Nathan Hawk Mystery Books

“Nathan Hawk” is a series of mystery and crime fiction novels by Douglas Watkinson who is better known as the author of “Midsomer Murders,” the popular ITV crime drama. He is an English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist who specializes in mystery and crime. His flagship “Nathan Hawk” series is about Nathan a soft-centered and hard-bitten police officer that was asked to retire because he could not control his temper. He is now one of the most effective private detectives and is known for his fiery temper and wit. Watkinson wrote his first novel, “Haggard Hawk,” in 2013 and has never looked back since. Watkinson’s father was in the army and fought in the Second World War before he was killed in 1947 by “The Stern Gang” in Palestine. The death of his father inspired “The Wall,” one of his most popular plays in which a middle-aged man goes to the Ramleh military cemetery in Israel and meets a thirty-something British soldier that is his father. He went to Haberdashers’ before attending East 15 Acting School which is where he got some of his earliest plays performed. It was at the college that he also met Lesley his wife who is still with him decades later. They have four grown-up children and Watkinson still writes from an old shed in the backyard.

Douglas Watkinson has said that over the past fifteen years he has come to know his audience working in hospitality and writing screenplays and novels. Running his businesses, he learned that there was a thirst for all things English from the people to the landscape, the architecture and the history, the homicides, the victims, and the detectives. This is one of the reasons why he chose to write the “Nathan Hawk” series of novels. He discovered that while there was all manner of literature out there, there was a dearth in the variety of fundamentally English detectives that people could read. Many professional policemen did not act very professionally and plenty of amateur sleuths were unbelievable. There was no rogue English detective with the wit and attitude that would take over the world by storm by being quintessentially English.

Nathan Hawk, the lead of the “Nathan Hawk” series of novels is forced to retire early since he has a hot temper he cannot control. Nonetheless, he is a man with four grown-up children and biting wit who always keeps a positive outlook on life. Hawk has tried dealing with his anger issues but it has been hard and he just wants to do what he does best. He used to be the head of a Murder Squad and made a name for himself ferreting out and hunting down killers. Over the years, he had brought dozens of killers to justice and solved more than thirty-five murders. He had also survived a troubled marriage until his wife died a few years ago. In “Haggard Hawk,” the first novel of the series, Nathan is sticking his nose in a lot of other people’s business. He now does not have to adhere to rules or what his boss says. At the opening of the novel, Julie and Jim Ryder who own “The Plough” are coming home from their business when things go wrong. They are carrying $25,000 in the trunk when they turn a corner and see a car parked crosswise on the road. In “Easy Prey,” the second novel of the series, Nathan has been approached to search for the daughter of a man that has disappeared and has not been seen in three months. But he becomes interested when Ellie his daughter goes missing and begins investigating the strange case. “Scattered Remains” the third novel of the series opens with Hawk spending time with his friend when he finds a long and wide titanium plate. It is something that resembles what is used to heal broken bones and Hawk believes it must have belonged to someone. They now need to find the man to whom it belonged as Hawk smells an interesting mystery.

“Haggard Hawk” the first novel of the “Nathan Hawk” mystery series is an excellent introduction to the lead protagonist. Hawk is an intelligent man with four children, a recently deceased wife, and a job that he loved dearly before he lost it. At the opening of the novel, he is just coming off a period of mourning for his wife who died two years ago. As a police officer, he was known as an effective man who resolved dozens of cases, even though he had a hot temper that resulted in him being requested to retire. Even though he is now officially retired from the police, he still has a hunger for mystery and loves to stick his nose whenever he smells something interesting. The best thing about being fired is that he no longer has to answer to anyone and he works without any rules. In the story, Jim and Julie Ryder who own “The Plough” are coming back home. They have had a very good evening and are carrying twenty-five thousand dollars in the car. They turn a corner to find an ambush on the road. Shots are fired and both Julie and Jim are hit with the latter dying on the spot and the former left bleeding profusely. Laura and Nathan are not far behind and when they get to the scene, Laura rushes to help Julie as she is a physician while Nathan begins searching for clues.

“Easy Prey” the second novel of the “Nathan Hawk” series has Hawk working on the case of the disappearance of an elderly barrister’s daughter name Teresa Stillman. She had been a very successful woman that has found her niche working as a landscape architect that restored ancient-style English gardens and designed beautiful Japanese gardens. Hawk believes the girl is dead and gently declines the job until his wayward daughter disappears and he thinks that there is nothing better than keeping hope alive. He decides to find the missing girl and his quest takes him across the UK and to the Hebrides, where he encounters a dangerous world of violent revenge and lies. Tom Gibson who was working for Stillman had a record boosting cars and had been to prison. The next suspect on the list is a respected art dealer that she had designed a garden for. Further investigations reveal that John the girl’s father had sent him to prison for fraud a few years ago. Hawk has seen everything in the world of investigations. But even for a man that has worked on more than 35 homicides, the outcome is shocking.

“Scattered Remains” the third novel of the series opens with Hawk and Martin Falconer his farmer friend stumbling upon a titanium plate. Martin believes it is the type that is usually affixed on broken bones and says that it must have belonged to somebody. Hawk agrees to investigate despite his better judgment. In the meantime, Jaikie his egotistical but charming son is in town since the Hollywood film in which he got a starring role is about to premiere. Even though he is in town to promote the movie, he seems very interested in the body that Falconer and Hawk believe could have been dumped on some public field. Dr. Laura Peterson who is Hawk’s new girlfriend has found some strange engravings on the plate that indicate that it was ordered by The Chiltern Clinic. She calls the clinic up and is informed that it was fitted for Patrick Scott, a young man that was in a skiing accident and broke his metatarsal. When they search the NHS database, they find that there is no evidence of Patrick Scott ever-existing and believe that maybe it was because she had started asking questions. Could he have been murdered?