Clare Francis Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Clare Francis is a mystery fiction novelist who has authored at least eight international bestsellers and three nonfiction works about her travels.

The author was born the younger of two siblings in Thames Ditton, Surrey. She remembers the many Christmas holidays she used to spend in the Yorkshire Dales with her grandparents.
It was there that she would come to love the landscapes that have become an important feature in most of her fiction novels.

Clare used to spend much of her summer holidays on the Isle of Wight which is where at only the age of nine she learned the art of sailing.

After getting her education at the Royal Ballet School where she spent half a decade she went to Oxford for her A levels. She would then proceed to get her degree in Economics from University College London.
Following her graduation, she started working as a marketer where she spent about three years before she started traveling and ultimately discovered her real calling as a writer.

What initially started as a personal journey would then become a five-year-long unplanned career as a sailor. During this time, Clare Francis had an unsung and unsponsored solo voyage across the Atlantic which she found very refreshing.
It was while she was on her sailing odyssey that she became hooked on writing as she used to read and listen to music whenever she was not actively involved in the sailing.

Soon enough, she got interested in writing and thought that maybe she had it in her to one day become a fiction author.

Not long after she came back from her voyage, she got a much-needed sponsorship in which she was to work with Even Bonha, in a Round Britain Race.

This was followed by the “Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race,” the “Azores,” and the “Back Singlehanded Race,” and alongside an eleven-man crew, she also participated in the “Whitbread Round the World Race.”
She would then pen three nonfiction works about her experiences starting with the 1977 published “Come Hell or High Water.” Half a dozen years later, she published her debut work of fiction “Night Sky,” which would launch her fiction writing career.

In addition to her writing endeavors, she is a Fellow and MBE at University College London and a UMIST Honorary Fellow.

She has also served as the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Rights chairman for three years and was a Society of Authors Chairman for two years between 1997 and 1999.

Clare Francis has been afflicted with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome for many years. As such, she has been a member trustee and president of the Council of Management for the Action for ME charity for the past two decades.
She currently makes her home in the Isle of Wight and London and when she is not writing, she can be found walking or enjoying herself at the opera.

“Wolf Winter” by Clare Francis tells the story of Hal Starheim, a Norwegian explorer who took part in a military operation that had gone wrong.
While it had all happened during the Cold War years, he cannot forget the death of Jan Johansen his friend who was killed by guards at the Russian border.
Even though there was a thorough investigation, the reason Jan crossed into Russia has never been released.

Ragna his young widow vents her loneliness and rage, as she works hard to prevent the installation of a top-secret military base on communal land that belongs to the Lapp – a nomadic tribe.
She fights alongside Hal and soon bumps into a very narcissistic Soviet spy.

Despite everything, Francis writes a John LeCarre-like work in how fun and realistic it is. LeCarre is known for straying just far enough from the beaten path so that his works do not feel like movie scripts while James Bond has always felt like the opposite.
This work hits the sweet spot between the two as it feels like a blockbuster, even as it pokes around the spy’s psyche to get you to care about what is happening beyond the next crime.

Clare Francis’ novel “A Dark Devotion” is set in the village of Deepwell in the salt marshes of Norfolk, England.

One of the village’s favorite residents is Grade Dearden who has just gone missing. She has a reputation for being compassionate, generous, and elegant and in all respects was the perfect wife.

Alexandra O’Neill is a feisty lawyer from London who gets a call from Will Dearden his old friend, asking that he help to deal with the police who think he knows something about his wife’s death.
When she was in her teens, Alex had a huge crush on Will but is now married to an unethical and drunkard lawyer named Paul, who defends the vilest criminals for money.

The circumstances conspire to lure Will and Alex back to their childhood home where Alex has fond memories of her early love and life, and also meets a bunch of suspects who have a motive for killing Grace.
Francis creates quirky character sketches that come to life on the page making for an excellent traditional whodunit as you follow Alex as she brings to light the dark secrets and revelations hidden by the waters of the wild marshes.

“Betrayal” by Clare Francis is a fascinating story of a businessman known as Hugh Wellesley.
While dealing with the tension around the takeover of the glass-making company left to him by his father, he is informed that Sylvie his mistress has been murdered.
Since he is not willing to come clean with Ginny his devoted and sickly wife, Hugh lies to her and law enforcement regarding his activities on that fateful day.

When he is finally arrested, his wife is very good at covering for him and the police arrest her convinced that she is the guilty party. Hugh’s brother David who is a doctor also tells lies for him alongside his wife Mary.
With the trial coming ever closer, it is soon evident that the only way they can save Ginny is if they can get to the bottom of Sylvie’s murder.

The author explores betrayal on several levels: There is doctor versus patient, lover versus lover, husband versus wife, brother versus brother, and business partner versus partner.