The Costa books in chronological order

I’ve been to a number of pleasurable library events of late, the last two being in Port Talbot and West Mersea, Essex. One question seems to be cropping up a lot these days. In what order are the books written? And does it matter of you read them out of sequence?

Let me deal with the easiest part first. You can see the books order if you just look in the left hand column here.

In terms of UK publication the order runs…

• A Season for the Dead (2003)
• The Villa of Mysteries (2004)
• The Sacred Cut (2005)
• The Lizard’s Bite (2006)
• The Seventh Sacrament (2007)
• The Garden of Evil (2008)
• Dante’s Numbers (October 2008)

Does it matter if you read them out of order? Not really. These are separate stories, and none of them rely on knowledge of the other books in order to work (I hope). But there are underlying back stories running from book to book, some of which will reveal their elements out of sync if you start at book five, for instance, and then go to book one. So I guess the honest advice is: if you intend to read the lot, then it’s a good idea to start at book one and work your way through the chronological sequence. But it’s not essential at all… Also I should say these are all very different books too. The first is much darker and more violent than the others, for example (because, in part, it was written in the wake of 9/11 and everything that followed). So please bear in mind that they are separate novels.