Jo Spain Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Tom Reynolds Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jo Spain is a bestselling Irish writer of mystery, crime, and fiction books. She is particularly famous for creating the character of Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds. Her debut book, With Our Blessing, was listed among the top 10 bestsellers. It was also nominated for the Richard & Judy prize in 2015. Other than the Tom Reynolds books, Spain has written a standalone thriller called The Confession, which also featured in the bestseller lists at the top spot. All the books written by Spain have been translated into multiple foreign languages throughout the world. Before beginning her career in the field of novel writing, author Spain used to work as a political advisor and journalist. She was born in Dublin, Ireland and completed her graduation from Trinity College. She has held the post of the vice chairman in the business body of InterTrade Ireland.

Spain was involved in playing an important role in the parliament of Ireland while she was a political advisor. Nowadays, Spain enjoys working as a full-time writer of screenplays and novels. In addition to writing novels, Spain has collaborated with another writer for writing the script of a popular TV show called Taken Down. This television show was the first one in which Spain worked as a screenplay writer. It was aired in 2018 in Ireland and was later bought Fremantle for international distribution. As of today, author Spain resides in Dublin. She is happily married and lives with her loving husband and 4 children. As her children are very young, Spain hardly gets any free time from looking after them. But, whatever spare time she is able to manage from her busy schedule, she likes to indulge herself in exciting activities like reading books. The list of favorite authors of Spain includes Liane Moriarty, Louise Penny, Pierre Lemaitre, Fred Vargas, and Jo Nesbo. She says that she has taken a lot of inspiration from the works of all these authors.

Spain likes to watch detective series on TV and considers herself a big fan of shows like TRapped, The Missing, and The Bridge. She has the habit of going for long runs in the nearby woods because she believes it helps her to get interesting ideas about the plots of her books. Spain is always supported by her husband and children. She considers them the first critics of all her novels. Over the years of her writing career, Spain has seen huge growth and improvement in her writing style. She seems quite satisfied with the amount of success she has achieved so far and hopes to do better in the years to come. The day she successfully signed her first publishing deal was the happiest day of her life. She believes that people have started looking at her strangely since then.

The Inspector Tom Reynolds series written by author Jo Spain is comprised of 5 books in total, 4 of which have been released between 2015 and 2018, while the 5th one is expected to be published in mid-2019. Every book of this series contains the main protagonist in the role of Tom Reynolds. The other essential characters mentioned in the novels include Father Seamus, Ryan Finnegan, Fiona Holland, Luke Connolly, etc. Throughout the series, Tom Reynolds is seen chasing serial killers, rapist, and other criminals in order to bring justice to the innocent victims. Author Spain has done the settings of the plots in different rural and urban areas of Ireland. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘With Our Blessing’. This book was released in 2015 by the Quercus publication.

This book begins by introducing Tom Reynolds as a detective inspector. He gets involved in the investigation of a murder case when the dead body of an older woman is discovered in a park in Dublin. The killer cut out the tongue of the victim and left a message on her body. The woman is identified as a nun. Tom and his team get shocked to find out something so gruesome done to a nun, especially when Christmas is very near. With further investigation, the detectives find that the victim was an order’s member and was residing in Magdalene Laundries that also constituted a mother & baby home. As the convent is located in the far countryside, Tom Reynolds decides to visit the place to look for clues and more information. But, the harsh winter tends to make things difficult for them.

Tom discovers that very few nuns are left at the convent. He thinks of staying back for some days, to know more about the place and its members. Shortly after, Father Seamus is also murdered and the investigation becomes more complex. Tom Reynolds digs deeper into the history of the Catholic Church to get to the killer and the truth. However, they are faced with many more difficulties and challenges. In the end, Tom succeeds in unraveling the identity of the killer and the reason behind the gruesome murders. This story appears to be a vivid and wonderfully written thriller. Author Spain has explored the dark depths of the State and Church in Ireland. She was praised for her brilliant research for writing this book. The critics liked the detailed explanation of the plot and the various aspects that lead the story forward. They also enjoyed the complex, twisted plots, and intriguing mystery of the story.

Another exciting novel of this thrilling series is called ‘Beneath the Surface’. It was also released by Quercus in 2016. This novel starts by showing that 2 powerful men set up a meeting at a secret place late in the night to discuss the possibility of an important plan coming to fruition. One of the men shows the desperation of knowing that nothing is going to come in the way of their plan and the other man assures that all the things have been taken care of. Several hours later, Ryan Finnegan is murdered brutally in Leinster House, which is a parliamentary seat and considered the most secure structure in all of Ireland. As Ryan was a high-ranked government official, his murder becomes a high-profile case. Tom Reynolds is called in to take charge of the investigation and find the culprit as soon as possible. The initial evidence points towards the crime being politically motivated. But later, Tom Reynolds discovers surprising evidence that turns the investigation in an altogether different direction dramatically. And it is also revealed that the motive of the murder was purely personal. Tom makes a list of all the suspects who would benefit from Ryan’s death and begins the hunt for the murderer.

One Response to “Jo Spain”

1. Christine Chadwick: 1 year ago

   I have just discovered your 1st novel and I am really enjoying it. Being an avid reader of this genre I love finding new authors to me. I will be back in our local library tomorrow and will be ordering the 2nd book in the series plus the 1st stand alone novel. Looking forward to many hours of thrilling reading. Thankyou

   Reply