Liza Cody Books In Order

Publication Order of Anna Lee Mystery Books

Publication Order of Eva Wylie Books

Publication Order of Lady Bag Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Liza Cody is an English author of mystery and thrillers novels. She is the author of thirteen books and many short stories. In 1980, Liza published Dupe which marked the beginning of Anna Lee series that introduced a professional female private investigator to British mystery fiction. Anna Lee series was adapted into a British television crime drama series that premiered in 1993 and aired both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Liza Cody is also the author of a ground-breaking trilogy featuring a professional wrestler named Eva Wylie. Liza ’s short stories have been featured in many magazines and anthologies. She has won an Anthony Award in the United States and CWA Silver Dagger and John Creasey Memorial Prize in the United Kingdom. She has twice been nominated for Edgars and another CWA Silver Dagger Award.

Most of Liza Cody’s work is set in London. Before her writing career, she worked mostly in the visual arts a Madame Tussaud’s Museum. She is a resident of Bath, England.

Dupe

Dupe is the first book in Anna Lee Mystery series by Liza Cody. The winner of John Creasy Award for the best first mystery book in 1980, this is indeed an excellent debut novel- sturdy in every aspect and the most crucial one: mystery.

Cody’s main character Anna is bright. She is a former police officer who is now a private eye working for Martin Brierly’s PI’s firm. So the sleuth dives in vitality when, after several months of shopliftings, she finally gets a real investigative case to handle- after the “accidental” brutal car crash death of Deirdre Jackson who fled London from her rich parents.

Private eye Anna investigation leads her into the seedy underground of London’s film world, a film-developing firm, and a tacky film-appreciation society.
Among Deirdre’s scabby friends and intimate loves, there is one ill-natured fellow who commits suicide after the private investigator questions him. And soon the reason behind Deirdre’s death becomes clear all too soon, without any gratifying twists and turns or authoritative red herrings.

The first book in Anna Lee mystery is a wonderful read. The plotting and characterization are beautifully done. Anna, the private investigator, is brave and un-cutely lovable. Her colleagues at work are an impressive mixed crew while her neighbors are adorable. There is also a wide range of villains expertly sketched in. Written before the widespread of the use of Beta VCR’s and VHS, much of the book’s plot revolves around the trade of black market 16mm films and the extensive use of projectors. Despite the dated feel, the book is very readable, and the main character is a genuinely likable character.

Bucket Nut

In the first book in Eva Wylie series by Liza Cody, we are introduced to Eva Wylie, an ugly, rough and unscrupulous main character. She lives in a junkyard in a trailer where she and her adorable dogs act as guards. Her second career is wrestling while her third side hustle is delivering packages for a Chinese merchant.
Unknown to the wrestler, the Chinese businessman is the leader of a gang fighting a protection war in her neighborhood. One night Eva picks up another job providing extra security at a nightclub- and picks up trouble. The female singer of the band performing in the club passes out on the floor when the cops raid the nightclub.
Eva who is known to the cops in many ways that she would like them to forget intends to escape through a hidden door before they spot her. But on her way out, she picks up the unconscious singer and takes her home. Unfortunately, it turns out that the band had links to a rival gang- and Eva’s good action of saving the young girl’s life is seen as treason by the Chinese shopkeeper.

The next day delivery package has a bomb hidden inside, and she barely manages to escape with several gang members dying as a result of the blast. Now the two gangs are after her dear life- the Chinese merchant wants her dead because of the treason, and the rivals want her dead because of the bomb incident.

Eva’s next professional wrestling match turns into a gang fight, and in the ends, she is out in the street hustling again. Fortunately, she receives an offer to join forces with Anna Lee, a private investigator, and the main character in Anna Lee series by Liza Cody.

Eva Wylie debut novel Bucket Nut is a wonderful series opener featuring an unlikely central character. EVA is young and aspiring professional character with dreams of becoming a star like Klondyke Kate, who was a sensation in the 1980’s England. She is big and strong, and despite her professional wrestling career, she intends on finding her long-lost sister she got separated by children’s services many years ago. Despite Eva’s rough personality, she is quite a likable heroine. If you’ve read Burke series authored by Andrew Vachss, Eva is what Burke would have been had he not been schooled by the Professor.

She is impulsive, angry, emotional, reclusive, kind and complex. Liza Cody does a wonderful job of depicting the emotional and mental processes of a woman whose life has taught her never to trust anyone, a woman who longs for a sense of direction. The part of London underworld where Eva lives is much of a character in the book as well.

Eva Wylie is the complete opposite of Anna Lee. Anna was certainly a step forward in crime fiction world, arriving as a competent and strong female private investigator at a time when such characters were rare to find- even before Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski aka V.I. Warshawski- a character created by Sarah Paretsky. Anna Lee plays a minor role in this book. Comparing them both- Eva Wylie is considered as a wild card while Anna Lee is a self-disciplined and pulled-together character.

However, the real focus of the story is Eva’s voice which comes across as loud & brutish. It’s not obvious to find a crime novel where the point of view character is a woman as Eva.