Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Murder in Show | 2017 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 2 | Murder at the Vicarage | 2017 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 3 | Murder in the Manger | 2017 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 4 | Murder by the Book / Murder At The Well | 2018 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 5 | Springtime for Murder | 2018 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 6 | Murder Your Darlings | 2020 | Debbie Young | N/A |
| 7 | Murder Your Darlings / Murder At The Mill | 2020 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 8 | Murder Lost and Found | 2021 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 9 | Murder in the Highlands | 2023 | Debbie Young | Buy |
| 10 | Driven to Murder | 2024 | Debbie Young | Buy |
The Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series is Debbie Young’s flagship fiction project, running to ten books from 2017 to 2024. Sophie is a young woman who moves to the fictional Cotswold village of Wendlebury Barrow to work in the local bookshop, and the village’s annual events – a village show, a Christmas fair, a literary festival – provide the backdrop for a series of murders that Sophie repeatedly finds herself investigating.
The series has a strong sense of place and community. Wendlebury Barrow is a convincingly detailed fictional village, and the recurring cast of locals give the series its warmth. The mysteries themselves are in the classic cozy tradition: no graphic violence, an amateur sleuth protagonist, and a resolution that restores order to the village community. The bookshop setting gives the series an additional layer of literary affection, with books and reading as recurring themes.
The ten-book run shows a consistent development of both the central character and the community around her. Best Murder in Show (2017) is the natural starting point. The series is complete as of Driven to Murder (2024), giving readers a full arc to work through.