Martyn Waites Books In Order

Publication Order of Joe Donovan Books

Publication Order of Stephen Larkin Books

Publication Order of Tom Killgannon Books

Publication Order of The Woman in Black Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Big Finish Doctor Who Monthly Adventures Audio Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Martyn Waites is a renowned actor and writer hailing from the United Kingdom. He is best known for writing hard-boiled fiction novels of mystery, thriller, and suspense genres. The popular book series written by him include the Stephen Larkin series, Tom Killgannon series, and Joe Donovan series. Additionally, Waites has penned a couple of standalone novels and a nonfiction book called Great Lost Albums in collaboration with authors such as David Quantick, Stav Sherez, and Mark Billingham. Author Waites was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963 and was brought up in his hometown. During the post-university years, Waites was involved in selling leather coats, doing stand-up comedy, and waiting tables in pubs. He started pursuing a career on the stage following a stint in a drama school. Soon after, he started performing in theaters all over England.

With commercial and TV work pouring in, Waites switched over to acting full-time and continued to do so until the initial years of the 1990s. By then, he had started dividing his time between his writing and acting interests. Waites’ first novel was a noir mystery that was set in Newcastle, his city of birth. Titled Mary’s Prayer, the book was released in 1997 and became the first installment of his widely popular Stephen Larkin mystery series. Waites followed this novel with three more books, each featuring the same central character that featured in his debut book, Stephen Larkin, who was depicted as an investigative journalist. Following the successful release of the last Stephen Larkin novel in 2003, he got indulged in developing another central character in the form of a journalist. Waites’s second chief protagonist is a troubled journalist named Joe Donovan, who was seen for the first time in the 2006 book called The Mercy Seat.

Starting from 2018, Waites began a new series featuring the lead character Tom Killhannon. As of now, Waites is enjoying his dual careers and gives enough time to each one of them. He is happily married and lives in Hertfordshire with his lovely wife and kids. The 2014 book Great Lost Albums was Waites’ attempt to venture into the genre of music journalism. He worked on this project with Stav Shereez, Mark Billingham, and David Quantick. It was actually a comedy story that took root on a train journey while Waites and Billingham were trying to entertain one other to kill time. By the time the train reached London, they had come up with the idea of writing a book. Stav and David join later, both of whom were popular music journalists at that time. Waites also writes under the pen name of Tania Carver. He says that the books that he writes using the pseudonym are different from his other books. Also, he feels that having a female name provides a different touch to his novels and makes the readers see them with a different perspective.

The works of crime fiction from the nineties have influenced Waites greatly. When his acting career was in full flow, he developed a love for reading. Authors like Ross MacDonald, Chandler, James M. Cain, and Hammett were his favorites at that time. Waites was not a fan of the British crime writing of that era. He considered them boring and dull. But, his views began to change when he came across the works of some neglected British authors such as Gerald Kersh, Ted Lewis, Patrick Hamilton, etc. Their works made him go through American crime fiction as well. Some of his favorite American writers of crime fiction include Andrew Vachss, James Ellroy, Walter Mosely, James Lee Burke, Sara Paretsky, James Crumley, etc. Waites is grateful to all the critics for giving genuine reviews and helping him become a successful author. He hopes to continue doing the writing work and managing his acting work on the side.

A well-known series written by author Martyn Waites is known as the Joe Donovan series. It is comprised of a total of 4 books released between 2006 and 2009. Every book of this series features the main protagonist in the role of an investigative journalist named Joe Donovan. He hails from Northumberland village. Other important created by Waites for this series include Jamal, Michael Nell, Trevor Whiteman, Anne Marie Smeaton, etc. Waites has set this book in Newcastle. The debut book of the series is entitled ‘The Mercy Seat’. It was released in 2006 by the Pegasus publication. The book opens by showing that a research scientist has disappeared mysteriously. Also, a renowned newspaper reporter has gone missing along a mini-disc that contains important evidence.

A professional killer called the Hammer is on the pursuit of a teenage hustler named Jamal, who keeps changing places to save his life. The skin-headed killer has a tooth made of blue sapphire and is notorious for committing brutal murders. Joe Donovan is seen as a heartbroken man, who is not able to get over the mysterious disappearance of his 6-year-old son a couple of years ago. As the story proceeds further, the destinies of Jamal and Joe Donovan get entwined as they come together to face the professional killer.

The second installment of this exciting series is called ‘Bone Machine’. It was also published by the Pegasus publication in 2007. This novel begins with the discovery of the dead body of a young lady. The killer mutilated the victim ritualistically and sewed her mouth and eyes shut. Michael Nell, the victim’s boyfriend gets framed as the prime suspect by the local authorities. Nell is known for having a bad temper and has previously faced charges for violence against women. But, his lawyer claims that he has not killed his girlfriend. Joe Donovan learns about this case and begins to investigate independently. His inquiries take him deep into the murky underworld of Newcastle that deals with prostitution and child-trafficking. When another dead body shows up, Joe Donovan knows the culprit is more than just local gangsters. The killer keeps leaving cryptic clues for the police to find and plays dark mind games with them. Joe Donovan races against time to catch the culprit before another young, innocent victim ends up dead.

One Response to “Martyn Waites”

1. Dawn Barnes: 2 months ago

   Just read all 8 Brennan/Esposito books in 3 weeks! Please tell me there will be more? Now going to read all you Martyn Waites books from the beginning 😀

   Reply