Sukey Reynolds Books In Order

Publication Order of Sukey Reynolds Books

The Sukey Reynolds book series is a popular series of mystery, crime fiction, thriller, and suspense novels. It is comprised of a total of thirteen books released between 1997 and 2014. The series is written by a renowned British author named Betty Rowlands. Every book in the series features the lead protagonist in the form of Sukey Reynolds. Betty has described Sukey as a police photographer & crime scene investigator hailing from Gloucestershire, England. She is in her thirties and divorced. Sukey Reynolds lives with her teenage son and keeps herself involved in her work. Prior to taking up the new role of a Crime Scenes Officer, Sukey used to work as a police officer. But, when she got married and became a mother, she decided to switch over to the crime scene investigation. Her job is limited to gathering pieces of evidence from crime scenes by a thorough examination of every nook and corner. Nobody else is allowed to go near the scene of the crime before her.

Sukey Reynolds continues to do this job even after her divorce and spends her spare time looking after her son. Sukey’s works keep drawing her into the trail of criminals, which lands her in dangerous situations very often. Most of the time, her work and ideas are disapproved by DI Jim Castle, but she doesn’t care what others think about her views or her working style and moves ahead to perform her duties with dedication and determination. Jim Castle is also Sukey’s lover. Sukey rises in her rank as the series progresses further. Before Betty Rowlands started writing the Sukey Reynolds books, she has already achieved great success with the creation of Melissa Craig’s character.

After a few years into writing her first book series, Betty felt that she must create a character, who would have more direct involvement in the crimes because the character of Melissa was shown as a crime novelist and didn’t have much freedom to deal with the crime scenes directly. This realization led to the creation of Sukey’s Reynolds’ character and the rest that followed became history. Betty has done the settings of the Sukey Reynolds novels mainly in England. However, some of the events take place in Greece and several other places. Some of the essential characters mentioned by Betty Rowlands in the entire series include Lorraine Chant, Terry Holland, Hugo Bayliss, Paul Reynolds, Myrna, Miguel Rodriguez, Pepita, Anita, Arthur Soames, Sabrina Soames, Digby Kirtling, Philip Montwell, Una May, Doctor Whistler, Dr. Lamont, Adelaide Minchin, Harry Matthews, Lance Rainbird, DS Vicky Armstrong, Justin Freeman, Fenella Tremaine, etc. All the books in this series are highly successful and widely popular.

A very exciting book of the Sukey Reynolds series penned by novelist Betty Reynolds is known as ‘An Inconsiderate Death’. It was published by the Severn House publication in 1997. The setting of the novel’s plot is done in a small village Marsden, located in Gloucestershire. The novel opens by showing that Marsden is a normally peaceful village. But, when a brutal murder takes place in the village, it sends panic waves everywhere. The victim is discovered as Lorraine Chant, who was strangled to death in her own home. Lorraine is identified as the wife of a rich businessman from Gloucestershire. In the initial investigation, it is established that Lorraine Chant tried to stop a burglary in her house, which panicked the burglar and he ended up killing her with his bare hands. However, this theory is discarded later because the police authorities come across two safes hidden in the house that the thief could have easily found after killing Lorraine, yet the safes were intact and nothing was missing from them.

The handyman of the Chant family, Terry Holland, informs the police that his van was coincidentally stolen on the same day and later abandoned in a place different from where he has parked it. Terry is known to keep secrets of his own and the police have him on the suspects’ list because they think he is telling a story that doesn’t make sense. DI Jim Castle heads the investigation into the Lorraine Chant murder case and Sukey Reynolds is asked to assist him. It turns out that Sukey has already met Loraine’s murderer, but she does not know it yet. The murderer, Hugo Bayliss, is known to be a man of multiple identities. He has a dubious background and has a particular liking for good looking married women. Lorraine Chant was one such lady, who possessed everything that attracted Hugo Bayliss towards her and thus made her a victim of his lust. Hugo hires Sukey Reynolds to do some freelance photography for him. She already has her hands full because of the investigation, but still agrees to do the job for him. It is only later that she begins to suspect his activities and starts keeping a watch on him. In the end, she succeeds in hunting him down and making him pay for heinous crimes.

Another popular book of the series is called ‘Deadly Obsession’. It was also released by Severn House in 2005. The primary characters of this novel include Arthur Soames, Sukey Reynolds, Sabrina Soames, and a few others. At the initial sequence of the story, it is mentioned that Arthur Soames is discovered dead near the staircase of his backyard garden. Everyone seems sure that the death is accidental. But, Arthur’s estranged daughter, Sabrina, tells the police she thinks it is a murder. Her claim is not taken seriously by the investigating authorities as they are not ready to see the case with a different angle. Sabrina approaches Sukey Reynolds and requests her to provide justice to her innocent father.

Sukey seems hesitant to consider her request because she also thinks that Arthur died an accidental death. She tells Sabrina to find any evidence to support her claim, which will enable the police to listen to her. Later, Sabrina informs that she is undertaking an inquiry, but doesn’t provide any details. Then she goes missing. Shortly after, the police find a dead body with a missing head and suspect that it is of the lady who was reported to be missing by her teenage daughter. Sukey Reynolds fears the victim might be Sabrina and sets out to look into the matter. Her investigation puts her in danger of losing her life. But, she is determined not to rest before she has unraveled the murder mysteries of Arthur and Sabrina.