Henrietta and Inspector Howard Books In Order

Publication Order of Henrietta and Inspector Howard Books

Henrietta and Inspector Howard series by Michelle Cox

Author Michelle Cox pens the “Henrietta and Inspector Howard” series of historical mysteries. The series began publication in the year 2016, when “A Girl Like You” was released.

The series stars Henrietta von Harmon, a girl who takes care of her seven younger siblings after her dad died. She works with Inspector Clive Howard in the first book on a case he works that involves the place where she works. After the first book, they continue to work with each other. The series is set during the thirties in Chicago. He comes from money and she does not.

“A Girl Like You” is the first novel in the “Henrietta and Inspector Howard” series, which was released in the year 2016. Henrietta von Harmon works at a corner bar on the northwest side of Chicago as a 26 girl. The year is 1935, but things still have not begun to look up since the huge crash and her dad’s following suicide. It left Henrietta to take care of her antagonistic mom and younger siblings. Henrietta is persuaded to take a job on as a taxi dancer at some local dance hall. Right when she begins to enjoy herself, the floor matron winds up dead.

Aloof Inspector Clive Howard turns up on the scene, and Henrietta helps him out by going undercover for him and gets plunged into the grittier underworld in Chicago. At the same time, she is still a busy bee while playing mother hen to all of her younger siblings, not to mention Stanley, the neighborhood boy that thinks he is in love with her. He pops up in the most unlikely of places, determined the entire time to protect Henrietta from the Inspector, if necessary.

Despite all of his efforts, though, and his talent for wrecking the Inspector’s investigation, the wonderful Henrietta and the impenetrable Inspector find that they are drawn to each other in some rather unsuitable ways.

This is a superb and enjoyable story with some mystery and romance included. These characters that are likable and you wind up investing in them at the same time. Cox does a stellar job of hiding the identity of the killer from the reader, giving the story a nice twist at the end of the book.

“A Ring of Truth” is the second novel in the “Henrietta and Inspector Howard” series, which was released in the year 2017. Clive and Henrietta, who just got engaged, now start the tough task of meeting one another’s family. Tough because Clive has not told Henrietta that he is heir to the Howard fortune and estate, and Henrietta has recently learned that her mom has been hiding secrets about her past, too.

Clive brings Henrietta over to the family estate so that she can meet his parents. They are not all that enthused about the impoverished intended he has brought with him.

Left all alone in this extravagant new world after Clive goes back to the city, Henrietta finds herself much more at home with the servants than his family, which is much to Mrs. Howard’s disapproval. Henrietta quickly gets caught up in an elderly servant’s ring that has gone missing. What she does not realize that in taking this on she has gotten involved in a much darker and bigger plot. While Henrietta and Clive try to find the truth in the two wildly different worlds that are unraveling all around them, they begin to wonder: are they really meant for one another after all?

“A Promise Given” is the third novel in the “Henrietta and Inspector Howard” series, which was released in the year 2018. Anxious to get married, Clive and Henrietta move forward with their plans despite the differences of their families, which is made worse by Oldrich Exley’s efforts to control the Von Harmon family. When their long-awaited wedding day comes, there is more that unfolds than just the vows of love made by Henrietta and Clive. Stanley and Elsie’s relationship gets tested by the mere presence of the rather dashing Lieutenant Harrison Barnes-Smith, and Henrietta’s friend Rose, in a situation that gets confused and dark as things play out.

Clive and Henrietta start their honeymoon at Castle Linley, which is the Howards’ ancestral estate located in England. Here, they come across a brand new cast of characters, including Wallace (Clive’s enigmatic cousin) and the eccentric Lord and Lady Linley. A guy gets killed in the village the same night a house party is held at the Castle, and Wallace is under suspicion. It pulls a reluctant Henrietta and Clive into investigate, despite the anxiety Clive has at involving his new wife and the distracting news from home Henrietta just received.

While they try desperately to work with each other for the first time, Clive and Henrietta try to prove Wallace’s innocence. They uncover while they do some rather stunning truths set to shake both the Linley name as well as the estate forever.

“A Veil Removed” is the fourth novel in the “Henrietta and Inspector Howard” series, which was released in the year 2019. Murder is not all that far from this gorgeous couple. Even during the holidays.

Their honeymoon ended all of a sudden because of Alcott Howard’s untimely demise. When they get back to Highbury, Clive finds that everything is not like it should be. Convinced more and more that his dad’s death was no accident, Clive begins his own investigation, despite his mom’s belief that he has grown “mentally disturbed” with grief. Eventually Henrietta joins forces with Clive on their first actual case together, which gets darker and even deadlier, than they could have ever imagined while they get closer to the truth about Alcott’s troubled affairs.

Elise, Henrietta’s sister, meanwhile, starts to take classes at a women’s college, at Henrietta’s orchestration, in an effort to evade all of her troubles and keep further romantic temptations at bay. When she meets up with a bookish German custodian that works at the school, it makes her force herself to think for herself. Even while she discovers some stunning secrets about his previous life.