The Diamond Brothers
mystery
Series · cozy mystery
George and Molly Palmer-Jones
The George and Molly Palmer-Jones series by Ann Cleeves has 8 books and is best read in publication order, starting with A Bird in the Hand (1986).
- Books
- 8 books
- First published
- 1986
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: A Bird in the Hand (1986) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Bird in the Hand
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Bird in the Hand - Book 2:
Come Death and High Water
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Come Death and High Water - Book 3:
Murder in Paradise
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Murder in Paradise - Book 4:
A Prey to Murder
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Prey to Murder - Book 5:
Another Man's Poison
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Another Man's Poison - Book 6:
Sea Fever
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sea Fever - Book 7:
The Mill on the Shore
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Mill on the Shore - Book 8:
High Island Blues
Alternative text for cover: Cover of High Island Blues
About the George and Molly Palmer-Jones series
George and Molly Palmer-Jones are Ann Cleeves's first series detectives: a retired Home Office civil servant and his social-worker wife who take up amateur investigation together, usually with a birdwatching connection, since Cleeves and her husband were keen birders themselves when she started writing. Across eight novels published between 1986 and 1996, the Palmer-Joneses work cases that lean on Cleeves's own knowledge of Britain's birdwatching subculture and its remote coastal and island settings — the same fascination with isolated communities and specific, well-researched landscapes that would later define Shetland and Vera Stanhope, worked out here for the first time on a smaller scale.
This is Cleeves's earliest sustained series, largely out of print for years before renewed interest in her later work brought it back into circulation, and it shows a writer still finding her voice: more classically cozy in structure than her later series, with the Palmer-Joneses' marriage and George's semi-retirement giving the books a gentler, more companionable tone than Vera's solitary gruffness or Jimmy Perez's Shetland melancholy. This is the series for Cleeves completists and readers who want to see the birdwatching-and-remote-landscape fascination that runs through her whole career in its earliest form.
Frequently asked questions
How many George and Molly Palmer-Jones books are there?
Eight novels, published between 1986 and 1996, starting with A Bird in the Hand and ending with High Island Blues.
What order should I read the Palmer-Jones books in?
Publication order, starting with A Bird in the Hand. Each case is largely self-contained, but George and Molly's life together develops gradually across the series.
Is this Ann Cleeves's first series?
Yes — the Palmer-Jones novels were her debut series, published before Inspector Ramsay, Vera Stanhope, or Shetland.
Do I need to be interested in birdwatching to enjoy these books?
No, though it helps set the mood — many of the mysteries unfold around birdwatching trips and communities, reflecting Ann Cleeves's own background as a birder, similar to how her later work draws on close knowledge of Shetland and Northumberland.
Is there a new Palmer-Jones book coming?
No. The series concluded with High Island Blues in 1996 and has not been continued.
If you like the George and Molly Palmer-Jones series
Reading order last verified .