Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Chemistry of Death | 2006 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 2 | Written in Bone | 2007 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 3 | Whispers of the Dead | 2009 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 4 | The Calling of the Grave | 2010 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 5 | Cat and Mouse | 2013 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 6 | The Restless Dead | 2016 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 7 | Snowfall & Just Another Day | 2016 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 8 | The Scent of Death | 2019 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
| 9 | The Bone Garden | 2026 | Simon Beckett | Buy |
David Hunter is a forensic anthropologist — a specialist in what happens to the human body after death. When police need to identify badly decomposed remains or work out how someone died, Hunter is the person they call. Simon Beckett created the character after visiting the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee in 2002, where he saw firsthand the science of human decomposition.
The Chemistry of Death (2006) introduced Hunter living in a small Norfolk village, trying to leave his past behind. A body is discovered in the marshes, and Hunter’s expertise draws him back into the world he tried to escape. Each novel since has placed him in a different setting — the Scottish Hebrides in Written in Bone, the Body Farm itself in Whispers of the Dead, the Backwaters of Essex in The Restless Dead. The crimes are grounded in real forensic science, and Beckett’s journalism background shows in the procedural detail.
The Bone Garden (2026) is the seventh novel and arrives after a seven-year gap since The Scent of Death. The series also includes the short story Cat and Mouse and the two-story collection Snowfall & Just Another Day.