Gordon Ferris
Gordon Ferris has published 7 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with Truth Dare Kill (2007).
Gordon Ferris is a Scottish author who writes historical crime fiction and thrillers, perhaps best known for his Douglas Brodie series. Before turning to novels, Ferris worked in vastly different fields, including computer programming, a role within the Ministry of Defence, and as a consultancy partner in Price Waterhouse’s banking division. He chose to set his first six novels in post-war Britain, an era he felt was relatively unexplored by other authors, focusing on the period of the late 1940s. His debut novel, Truth Dare Kill, was published in 2007 and introduced the character Danny McRae. The following year, The Unquiet Heart was released, completing the duology. Ferris's writing is characterized by the same precision and deliberateness found in his earlier careers, offering readers crime fiction that delves into the complexities of survival and morality in a unique historical setting.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Danny McRae Books
- Tagshistorical-fictionmysterycrimeDescriptionWhat happens when a journalist's pursuit of truth collides with the violent machinery of organized crime? Gordon Ferris plunges Danny McRae, a reporter hardened by years of chasing stories through Glasgow's grittiest corners, into a world where asking the wrong questions can be fatal. When McRae begins investigating a seemingly straightforward murder, he uncovers threads that lead deeper into the city's criminal underworld—a place where loyalties shift like smoke and every answer breeds three more dangers. The stakes escalate quickly: what began as professional curiosity becomes a matter of survival, and McRae must navigate a treacherous landscape where the line between observer and participant dissolves with each new revelation. Ferris writes with the economy of a seasoned crime novelist, his prose sharp and unsentimental, perfectly suited to Glasgow's rain-soaked streets and shadowed alleyways. This is noir territory, but grounded in the specific textures of Scottish urban life—the pubs, the accents, the particular codes of honor and violence that govern the city's hidden hierarchies. McRae emerges as a compelling protagonist: cynical but not defeated, resourceful but vulnerable, a man whose profession demands he look closely at what others prefer to ignore. The result is a taut thriller that understands journalism and crime as mirror trades, both built on secrets, sources, and the dangerous art of knowing too much.Publication date2007Amazon rating4.1/5LanguageEnglishPublisherAtlantic Books (UK)
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionThere are places where the past refuses to stay buried, where old wounds fester beneath the surface of everyday life, and Gordon Ferris knows how to find them. In "The Unquiet Heart," he introduces us to Danny McRae, a man whose world is shaped by shadows and secrets, where every choice carries weight and consequences ripple outward in ways that can't be undone. This is a story that understands the cost of loyalty and the burden of memory, set against a backdrop that feels both intimate and expansive. McRae is the kind of protagonist who draws you in not through perfection but through his flawed humanity, his struggles rendered with the kind of detail that makes you feel the grit under your fingernails and the tension in your chest. Ferris writes with a precision that never sacrifices atmosphere for pace, building a narrative that moves with purpose while allowing moments to breathe and resonate. The world he creates feels lived-in and authentic, populated by characters who exist beyond the page, each carrying their own histories and motivations that complicate the central mystery. What makes this book linger is its understanding that some hearts can never truly be quiet, that the echoes of what we've done and what's been done to us shape everything that follows. It's crime fiction that trusts its readers to sit with complexity and ambiguity, offering no easy answers but plenty of reasons to keep turning pages.Publication dateDecember 1, 2013Amazon rating4.2/5Print length290LanguageEnglishPublisherCorvus
Order of Douglas Brodie Books
- Tagshistorical-fictionmysterycrimeDescriptionGlasgow, 1946. The war is over but the city is still reeling. Douglas Brodie returns home to find his world unrecognizable—bombed-out streets, rationing, and a darkness that won't lift. Brodie is a former policeman trying to rebuild his life as a private investigator. But the past won't let him go. When a case pulls him into the city's underbelly, he discovers that some wounds from the war run deeper than anyone wants to admit. The hanging shed of the title isn't just a place—it's a symbol of all the violence and secrets Glasgow is trying to bury. The investigation spirals into something far more sinister than Brodie anticipated. He's up against powerful forces who want the truth to stay hidden. The stakes are personal now. Every lead brings him closer to answers he's not sure he wants to find. Ferris writes post-war Scotland with grit and authenticity. The atmosphere is thick with smoke and desperation. Brodie is a compelling lead—haunted, determined, flawed in all the right ways. This is noir with a Scottish accent, and it doesn't pull its punches. If you like your crime fiction dark and your heroes damaged, this one's for you.Publication dateOctober 10, 2012Amazon rating4.2/5Print length392LanguageEnglishPublisherCorvus
- Tagshistorical-fictionmysterycrimeDescriptionDouglas Brodie is back in Glasgow, and the city he once knew has turned stranger and darker in his absence. The war is over, but peace hasn't settled—not for him, not for the broken men who haunt the streets, and certainly not for the women turning up dead in the Clyde. The murders are brutal, methodical, and someone wants Brodie to take the fall. He's a former cop, a man who knows how investigations work, but now he's on the wrong side of the law, scrambling to prove his innocence while the bodies keep surfacing. The deeper he digs, the more tangled the conspiracy becomes—corruption, old grudges, and secrets that reach into the highest corridors of power. Ferris writes post-war Scotland with a gritty authenticity that feels lived-in and unforgiving. This isn't noir for atmosphere's sake; it's a world where survival demands cunning, where trust is a luxury, and where the line between justice and vengeance blurs with every choice Brodie makes. The prose is sharp, the pacing relentless. Bitter Water is a thriller that refuses to let you look away. Brodie is a flawed, compelling protagonist—haunted, determined, and utterly human. If you crave crime fiction with moral weight and a protagonist worth rooting for, this delivers.Publication dateSeptember 1, 2013Amazon rating4.3/5Print length362LanguageEnglishPublisherCorvus
- Tagscrimemysteryhistorical-fictionDescriptionCan a man outrun his own death notice? Douglas Brodie's obituary has already run in his own newspaper. The evidence is damning. A banker kidnapped, a ransom drop gone wrong, and Brodie waking up with a smoking gun in his hand and a corpse at his feet. The bullet matches his revolver. The banker's wife claims she's never met him. His pockets bulge with ransom notes. Then comes the final act: suicide in his prison cell, a desperate man choosing the noose over the gallows. Case closed. Except nothing about Douglas Brodie suggests a man who would crumble this way—not a decorated soldier, not a former copper with a reputation to protect. Ferris constructs a trap so tight you can feel the walls closing in. This is noir with teeth, set in postwar Glasgow where honor means little and survival means everything. The setup is brutal and efficient: a frame job so perfect it almost feels like fate. But Brodie isn't the type to go quietly, and neither is this story. What starts as a locked-room mystery becomes something darker—a question of whether justice can exist when every fact points to guilt. Taut, unforgiving, and impossible to put down.Publication dateJune 1, 2014Amazon rating4.4/5Print length360LanguageEnglishPublisherCorvus
- Tagscrimemysteryhistorical-fictionDescriptionWhat does a man owe to the ghosts of his past? Gordon Ferris asks this question with precision and grit in *Pilgrim Soul*, another entry in his Douglas Brodie series. Brodie is a detective who knows the weight of history. He carries it in his bones. The war left scars. The cases pile up. And now, something from long ago demands his attention. Ferris writes with the economy of a noir master. His prose is lean. His Scotland is rain-soaked and unforgiving. Brodie moves through a world where loyalty is currency and betrayal is cheap. The plot coils tight around questions of identity, memory, and the debts we can never fully repay. Every revelation costs something. Every answer opens another wound. This is crime fiction that refuses easy comfort. Ferris doesn't traffic in tidy resolutions or redemptive arcs. He gives us a protagonist shaped by violence and loss, navigating a landscape where justice is provisional at best. Brodie is compelling precisely because he's compromised—haunted, stubborn, and unwilling to let the past stay buried. If you want atmospheric post-war noir with a protagonist who feels lived-in and real, *Pilgrim Soul* delivers. It's dark, deliberate, and deeply satisfying for readers who like their mysteries shadowed by moral complexity.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2014Amazon rating4.3/5Print length400LanguageEnglishPublisherCorvus
Order of Money Tree Books
- Tagsthrillersuspenseliterary-fictionDescriptionIn 1947, the world is still reeling from the aftermath of war, and nowhere is the chaos more palpable than in the shadowy corridors of post-war finance. Gordon Ferris plants us firmly in this morally ambiguous landscape, where fortunes are made on the backs of ruin and every transaction carries the weight of desperation. The air is thick with cigarette smoke and suspicion, the kind of atmosphere where a man's word means nothing and his ledger means everything. At the center of this murky world stands a protagonist caught between survival and complicity, navigating a labyrinth of black-market dealings and financial machinations that blur the line between entrepreneurship and criminality. Ferris has a gift for rendering the texture of this era—the rationing, the rubble, the sense that civilization is being rebuilt one shady deal at a time. His prose moves with the unhurried confidence of someone who knows exactly how much pressure to apply, letting tension accumulate in the spaces between what's said and what's understood. This is noir territory, but Ferris brings a distinctly British sensibility to the genre, trading American hard-boiled cynicism for something more quietly devastating. The Money Tree doesn't grow from honest soil, and Ferris makes us complicit in watching it flourish, roots spreading through the cracks of a broken world. It's a novel that understands how easily desperation becomes justification, and how quickly justification becomes habit.Publication dateAugust 1, 2014Amazon rating4.2/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherMerula Books Limited
Frequently Asked Questions about Gordon Ferris
Gordon Ferris writes crime novels. His books are organized into distinct series. For the Order of Danny McRae books, the order is Truth Dare Kill (2007) and The Unquiet Heart (2013). The Order of Douglas Brodie books are The Hanging Shed (2012), Bitter Water (2013), Gallowglass (2014), and Pilgrim Soul (2014). He also wrote Money Tree (2014) as part of the Order of Money Tree Books. Reading the books within each series in the order they were published is recommended to follow the character development and plotlines.
A good starting point for Gordon Ferris's books is with the Order of Danny McRae series. Begin with Truth Dare Kill, published in 2007. This series introduces the character of Danny McRae. Alternatively, readers might begin with the Order of Douglas Brodie series, starting with The Hanging Shed from 2012. Both series are crime novels, and beginning with the first book of either series will provide an introduction to his writing style and the worlds he creates.
It is generally advisable to read the books within each of Gordon Ferris's series in the order they were published. The Order of Danny McRae books, for example, follow a narrative progression that is best experienced sequentially. Similarly, the Order of Douglas Brodie books are best read from The Hanging Shed through Pilgrim Soul to appreciate the character arcs and plot developments. While some readers may find individual books understandable on their own, the full impact of the storytelling is usually achieved through sequential reading within a series.
Gordon Ferris writes primarily in series. His notable series include the Order of Danny McRae Books, the Order of Douglas Brodie Books, and the Order of Money Tree Books. Each series features a distinct set of characters and narrative threads. The books within these series are designed to be read in sequence to fully appreciate the character arcs and unfolding storylines. While there are distinct series, each book within a series is part of a larger, interconnected narrative.
Gordon Ferris has written a total of seven books across his published series. This includes two books in the Order of Danny McRae series: Truth Dare Kill (2007) and The Unquiet Heart (2013). He has written four books in the Order of Douglas Brodie series: The Hanging Shed (2012), Bitter Water (2013), Gallowglass (2014), and Pilgrim Soul (2014). Additionally, he wrote one book in the Order of Money Tree series, titled Money Tree (2014).
The first book Gordon Ferris wrote that has been published is Truth Dare Kill, which was released in 2007. This novel is the first in the Order of Danny McRae series. It introduces readers to the character of Danny McRae and sets the stage for the subsequent books in that particular series. Following this, The Unquiet Heart was published in 2013, continuing the story of Danny McRae.
The most recent book published by Gordon Ferris is Pilgrim Soul, released in 2014. This is the final book in the Order of Douglas Brodie series. Prior to this, Gallowglass was also published in 2014, part of the same series. The Money Tree book was also published in 2014. His earlier work includes Truth Dare Kill (2007) and The Unquiet Heart (2013) and The Hanging Shed (2012) and Bitter Water (2013).
Gordon Ferris writes crime novels. His work is characterized by a focus on suspenseful plots and character-driven narratives within the crime genre. The series he has published, such as the Order of Danny McRae Books and the Order of Douglas Brodie Books, fall squarely within this genre. Readers can expect stories involving investigations, mysteries, and the darker aspects of human nature, all presented with a steady narrative pace.
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We verified the reading order for Gordon Ferris's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Gordon Ferris Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/gordon-ferris