J.R. Ellis
J.R. Ellis has published 12 books. The recommended reading order starts with The Body in the Dales / The Body in Jingling Pot (2017).
J.R. Ellis is a Yorkshire-based author who writes murder mysteries. His Yorkshire Murder Mystery series is set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire countryside, a landscape and community that deeply informs his work. Ellis spent many years as a teacher, during which time he wrote plays for students and occasional ghost stories. Upon retiring, he dedicated himself more fully to his writing. He is a member of a writers' group in Otley, an association he credits with providing significant inspiration for his stories. The author's deep affection for Yorkshire is evident in the settings and atmosphere of his crime novels.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionThe Body in the Dales is a crime novel in which a corpse discovered deep in a Yorkshire cave launches an investigation led by DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Carter, a detective newly arrived from London. The victim is Dave Atkins, a man known throughout the village but disliked by nearly everyone in it. Suspects are plentiful, but the crime itself makes no sense: how did Atkins's body end up in such a remote section of the cave system beneath the Dales? Before Oldroyd and Carter can answer that question, someone with vital information turns up dead. The killer is willing to murder again to keep the truth buried, and every answer the detectives uncover generates new questions. Secrets and lies begin surfacing in the close-knit community, and the mystery grows darker and more tangled than the caves below. First in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, the novel asks whether Oldroyd and his team can untangle the truth before the killer strikes again.Publication date2017
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionDetective Chief Inspector Oldroyd watches a violin player murdered mid-concert at the Red Chapel Arts Centre in Halifax, and the killer disappears from the building without a trace. The Quartet Murders is a locked-room mystery and the second in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, first published in 2017. The victim's priceless instrument points Oldroyd toward the cutthroat world of wealthy collectors, where rare violins command fortunes and obsession. As he and DS Carter dig deeper, the case pulls them away from simple greed and into something older — connections to dark events that someone believed were buried for good. The question is not just who killed in a room with no exit, but what past crime made this murder necessary.Publication date2017
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionLord Redmire is drowning in gambling debt, so he stakes his reputation on a locked-door illusion broadcast live from Redmire Hall. The trick is meant to put the estate back on the map. Instead, as the cameras roll and DCI Jim Oldroyd watches from the audience, the lord vanishes into the locked room — and reappears dead, a knife in his back. The Murder at Redmire Hall, first published in 2018 as part of the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, is a detective novel built on a double puzzle: not just who killed Lord Redmire, but how anyone could have entered or left that room. Oldroyd and DS Stephanie Johnson soon learn that nearly everyone at the event had reason to resent the eccentric aristocrat. Then the only other person who knew the secret behind the illusion is murdered. Now the case teeters on the edge of the impossible. The detectives can list the motives, but without the method — the how — the killer remains out of reach.Publication date2018
- TagscrimeDescriptionDCI Jim Oldroyd faces a locked-room puzzle when crime writer Damian Penrose is found strangled at the Victorian baths in Harrogate during the town's crime writing festival. The killer left no trace and no apparent means of escape, vanishing as if the murder were lifted from one of Penrose's own novels. Oldroyd and his team soon learn that the victim's success came at a cost: feuds over money, accusations of plagiarism, and a string of affairs left a trail of embittered rivals, each with reason to want him dead. The Royal Baths Murder, first published in 2019 as part of the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, turns into something darker when Penrose's death proves to be only the first. A calculating killer is working through a list, and each new victim brings Oldroyd closer to understanding the motive driving the murders: revenge. The question is which of Penrose's many enemies is willing to kill again and again, and whether Oldroyd can identify them before the body count rises and the truth becomes more chilling than any fiction.Publication date2019
- TagscrimemysterythrillerDescriptionA retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill, and there's a witness who saw everything. The Nidderdale Murders, a 2020 mystery in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, should be an open-and-shut case for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the gunman had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead, and no trace of him can be found. Fraser wasn't short of enemies in Niddersgill. As the wealthy owner of a grouse moor, he'd clashed with farmers, debtors, hunt saboteurs, and blackmailers. None of them were at the scene. Then a local shopkeeper is gunned down in a second senseless attack, and the pattern becomes clear: these killings are anything but random. Oldroyd faces a race against time to connect the crimes and find who's behind them, but every lead sends him down a dead end. The question is whether he can get one step ahead before the killer strikes again.Publication date2020
- TagscrimehorrormysteryDescriptionA well-liked rector is found bludgeoned to death in her own church in the depths of a Yorkshire winter, and the murder weapon has vanished. Murder at St Anne's is a mystery in which local superstition offers an immediate suspect: the ghost of a medieval monk believed to haunt the building. DCI Jim Oldroyd and Sergeant Andy Carter take on the case, but deepening snow and the threat of the supernatural hamper them at every turn. Even as motives and opportunities begin to surface, Oldroyd struggles to find a better suspect than the hooded phantom. The question is whether Oldroyd has stepped into a Gothic ghost story or whether a very real killer is at large. Then it becomes clear the murderer is not yet finished. For Oldroyd, the case is about to become personal — and the answer to whether spectre or human is responsible may arrive too late.Publication date2021
- TagscrimehorrormysteryDescriptionDCI Jim Oldroyd's daughter Louise witnesses a murder inside a Whitby escape room during a Halloween goth festival — a man stabs his girlfriend and runs, three people saw it happen, and Louise refuses to believe her own eyes. The Whitby Murders, part of the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, opens with what looks like a straightforward crime of passion and turns it into something far more tangled. Oldroyd and DS Carter take the case while Louise works from the sidelines, and the deeper they dig, the more the web of deceit spreads. The killer is still out there, and when the violence turns toward Oldroyd's own family, the case stops being professional. He has to uncover the truth, keep his daughter safe, and stop the killer before the next strike.Publication date2021
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionA film star is shot dead inside a locked train carriage while cameras roll outside, and nobody went in or came out. The Railway Murders is a 2022 locked-room mystery that sends DCI Oldroyd into a seemingly impossible crime during what was supposed to be a quiet countryside visit with his partner Deborah. The victim's past reveals heartbroken lovers and unpaid debts, but the real puzzle is how anyone could have pulled the trigger. A link to an earlier tragedy offers Oldroyd a thread to follow, until the killer makes it clear they will silence anyone who gets too close. When a railway worker begins connecting the pieces, they are murdered before they can speak. Oldroyd pushes closer to the truth, and the killer responds with a warning: back off. Deborah, who came along for an idyllic trip to Wharfedale's vintage railway, is no longer somewhere safe. The question is whether Oldroyd can solve the locked-room puzzle before the person he loves becomes the next target.Publication date2022
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionDCI Oldroyd faces a murder in a town where two breweries, a family feud, and a stolen recipe have turned deadly. The Brewery Murders is a 2023 crime novel set in Markham, a Yorkshire town steeped in award-winning ale. Richard Foster runs one brewery; his sister Emily and her partner Janice run the other, and the resentment between them runs deep. Then Brendan Scholes returns — the town's former bad boy, now claiming he has found the long-lost secret recipe that made their father famous, and he wants money for it. Before anyone can pay, Scholes turns up dead in a fermentation tank, his head caved in by a hammer. Oldroyd and Andy Carter arrive to find no shortage of suspects: bitter siblings, a business partner, and a town full of people who had reason to want Scholes gone. As rumours of the recipe spread and tensions over homophobia and misogyny rise, Markham's beer industry hangs in the balance. Oldroyd must identify the killer before the town's thirst for blood claims another victim.Publication date2023
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionDS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter are on a canal holiday when retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge. The Canal Murders is a locked-room mystery in J.R. Ellis's Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series: nobody else boarded Annie's boat, so how was she killed from behind? DCI Oldroyd arrives from Harrogate to untangle the impossible crime, and the suspect list grows quickly. Annie clashed with a young cyclist over towpath access, fought repeatedly with an arrogant local developer, left behind an estranged husband, and carried unresolved tensions with her former bandmates — most of whom live along the canal. Then a second murder strikes the waterway. Locals begin whispering about a curse, and it becomes clear the killer will do whatever it takes to stay hidden. Oldroyd must sift through years of grudges and fresh lies to find who turned the peaceful canal into a hunting ground, and whether anyone else is already in their sights.Publication date2024
- TagshorrorDescriptionDCI Oldroyd is finishing a peaceful evening on a ghost tour in the ancient city of York when the guide makes a discovery that is no theatrical performance. Murder in York is a mystery novel that begins with the body of Henry Marlow, a notorious local landlord, lying in the doorway of a derelict building. Suspects arrive quickly: a resentful ex-wife, angry tenants, and the tour guide himself, who knows every secret passage of the old city. Snow dusts the cobbled streets as tourists flock to the Christmas markets, but for Oldroyd the festive season has turned deadly. Then a second body appears in the shadow of the ancient cathedral. Darkness gathers below the narrow passageways even as festive lights sparkle above, and the killer seems to be planning a Christmas to remember. Oldroyd must untangle a web of secrets and lies before anyone else dies, but in a city built on centuries of hidden passages and buried history, the truth may be as elusive as the killer.Publication date2025
- TagscrimeDescriptionA serial killer DCI Oldroyd put away ten years ago escapes from jail vowing revenge, and hours later a body turns up in a Yorkshire market town with a message written across the forehead: vindicta. The Otley Murders is a crime novel in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series, set in motion when Adam Blake — the murderer only Oldroyd could see through — breaks out on a crisp autumn morning. The victim is found strangled inside the old courthouse in Otley, and when Oldroyd answers his phone, Blake's voice is on the other end: I'm coming for you. Oldroyd has spent years getting inside the minds of killers, but this time the hunter is the hunted. He must solve the case and catch Blake again before Blake catches him first.Publication date2025
Frequently Asked Questions about J.R. Ellis
J.R. Ellis writes the Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series. The books are best read in the order they were published to follow the overarching narrative and character development. The first book in the series is The Body in the Dales / The Body in Jingling Pot, published in 2017. Following this publication order will provide the most coherent experience of the unfolding mysteries and the relationships between the recurring characters. The series has a consistent cast of investigators and a developing setting, which makes chronological reading particularly rewarding.
A good starting point for J.R. Ellis's books is the beginning of the Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series. The first book, The Body in the Dales / The Body in Jingling Pot (2017), introduces the setting and main characters. Reading this first will allow you to understand the context and the progression of the mysteries presented in subsequent novels. The series is designed to be read sequentially, with each book building upon the last.
While it is possible to pick up individual books in the Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series and understand the immediate plot of that specific novel, it is not recommended. The series features recurring characters and ongoing storylines that are best appreciated when read in publication order. Reading them out of sequence might lead to confusion regarding character relationships and the broader narrative arc. For the full experience, start with the first book.
J.R. Ellis writes series novels. The primary series is the Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries. Each book within this series focuses on a distinct crime but contributes to the ongoing development of the characters and the overall atmosphere of the Yorkshire setting. While individual mysteries are contained, the interconnectedness of the series suggests a chronological reading approach for the most complete understanding.
J.R. Ellis has written at least 15 books, all part of the Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series. The series began in 2017 and has continued with multiple releases each year. The most recent books listed include titles from 2020, and the series has continued with seven more installments beyond those initially listed, bringing the total to more than fifteen novels.
J.R. Ellis's first book was The Body in the Dales / The Body in Jingling Pot (2017).
The most recent books listed for J.R. Ellis are from 2020, including The Nidderdale Murders. However, the series has continued with seven more installments beyond those initially listed, indicating that later books were published after 2020. Without specific publication dates for the most recent seven titles, it is difficult to pinpoint the absolute latest entry. The series continues to add new mysteries.
J.R. Ellis writes mystery and crime novels, specifically within the subgenre of police procedurals or detective fiction. The books are set in Yorkshire, England, and focus on solving murders. The Order of Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series features investigations into various criminal cases within this specific geographical and thematic framework.
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Drew Chapman
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We verified the reading order for J.R. Ellis's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “J.R. Ellis Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/j-r-ellis