Minette Walters Books In Order

Publication Order of Black Death Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Award-winning crime fiction author Minette Walters was born on September 26, 1949, to Captain Samuel Jebb and his wife Colleen in Bishop’s Stortford. She spent most of her early childhood moving from one army base to the other in England. Her life changed when her father passed away because of kidney failure in 1960. Minette was eleven and studying at Abbey School in Reading, Berkshire. Shortly thereafter, at the age of twelve, she received a full scholarship to attend Godolphin boarding school in Salisbury. Schooling at Godolphin was one of the pivotal influences in Minette’s life. It was there that she learnt, amongst other things, the importance of academic achievement and the rewards of being fiercely independent. The school was keen on the proper education of girls and wanted all girls to go to university. This pushed Minette to perform well academically. As head girl, she mastered the art of public speaking, a trait that served her well in the years to come.

Her interest in crime and more specifically crime fiction, developed in her formative years. As a child, she was an avid reader of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. She was completely enamoured by these tales. The thought of wicked stepmothers and other evil characters getting their due fascinated her to no end. Later, she was riveted by James Hanratty A6 murder case in the fifties. The idea that a man could be hanged for a crime most people thought he did not commit, was for her, both dreadful and yet, ceaselessly captivating. She was still a minor at the time of the Hanratty case but it influenced her writing career, unlike any other thing.

Minette took a gap year after school, before joining Durham University to study french. During this time, she went to Israel as a volunteer in a group called The Bridge. For about seven months, she worked in hospitals and on kibbutz in and around Jerusalem. She graduated from Trevelyan College, Durham in 1971 with a BA in French. (She graduated within three years because, much to the irritation of her professors, she refused to go to France for her final year.) During the course of her studies, she met her husband Alec Walters. They married in 1978 and had two sons: Roland and Philip.

Fresh from college, Minette joined IPC magazine as a sub-editor in 1972. She worked on romantic fiction, short stories and 30,000-word novelettes. She later became an editor but decided to turn freelance in 1977; although, she would still write for women’s magazines to make ends meet. When her first son, Roland was born in 1979, she stopped writing for a few years. Philip was born a few years later and most of her time was spent in their care. In the seven years that she didn’t write, she became a school governor, a chairman for PTA and even a candidate for political election.

Early Works:

Minette Walters picked up her pen again in 1987 just when her younger son Philip, was starting full-time education. Her debut novel, The Ice House took her two years to write. After being rejected by numerous publishers, her novel was finally picked up by Macmillan Publishers. And so in 1992, Minette Walters published her first book.

The Ice House follows the story of three mysterious women who live in seclusion in a Hampshire country house. They have long been the center of village gossip. because of this, when a faceless corpse is found in their ice house, the Chief Inspector pounces on the chance to make a case out of it. A tale of friendship, love and small-town rumours, The Ice House became an instant hit with the readers and critics alike. As little as four months after publication, The Ice House won Crime Writers’ Association John Creasy Award for best novel. Within six months from its initial publication, it was being translated into several different foreign languages.

By this time, Minette had already started working on her second novel, The Sculptress, which was published in 1993. Staying true to her themes of isolation, family dysfunction, justice and revenge, Minette wrote The Sculptress – a story about a morbidly obese woman serving a life sentence for brutally murdering her mother and sister. It went on to win the Edgar Allan Poe Award in America and the Macavity Award.

Minette’s writing spree continued and with each novel she released, she won yet another award. In 1994, her novel The Scolds Bridle was published to critical acclaim. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 1994 UK. A year later in 1995, she came out with The Dark Room, which was once again short-listed for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award.

Ever since The Ice House came out in 1992, there has been no looking back for Minette Walters. Her work, published in more than 35 different countries has received countless awards, critical acclaim, and worldwide recognition. Along with full-length novels, she has also made a mark with her short stories and novella. She is popularly known for her short story English Autumn, American Fall. Her novella, The Tinder Box, was not only voted the third favourite in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Poll but also made the best-seller list in Germany.

In 2006, as part of the ‘Quick Reads’ initiative, Minette wrote a 20,000-word novella titled Chickenfeed. The ‘Quick Reads’ initiative was started to encourage adults to read more and more books. Minette’s Chickenfeed went on to win two awards in the ‘Quick Reads’ genre as the best novella and was subsequently translated into many languages.

Walter’s stories revolve around themes of marginalisation, justice, and revenge. Using real events and happenings as background she is able to draw the reader into the story with stupefying dexterity. There is neither a series character nor a specific location that links her books. She glides gracefully from one setting to the other, bringing the thrill and the mystery of a classic whodunit along with her.

Her first five books were adapted for television by BBC. In 2008, Minette appeared as a tutor and a judge on Murder Made Famous – a five-part TV talent contest series which was aired on BBC2.

7 Responses to “Minette Walters”

1. Helen Chadwick: 2 years ago

   Read all Minette Walters books over the years. Love that they all have different characters, plots & so on. Am now reading The Last Hours after a gap of not reading novels. Will read both books & move on to her next two about the civil war. From North London originally but emigrated to Adelaide South Australia in 1981. Avid crime & historical book reader who has read most current writers total output ( libraries produce bookmarks of if you like THIS author try these writers!) . I’m rather spooked that she wrote about the worlds most massive pandemic that not only killed a third of all the worlds population but because of that changed the trajectory of the future of ‘the common man’ ie the end of serfdom due to the lack of workers. And that came within 2 years of the start of COVID!

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2. Bernadette: 2 years ago

   Have just read Acid Row and now reading The Last Hours. Both excellent reads and very different. Will definitely read more.

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3. GEERTJE: 2 years ago

   I have 12 of minette’s books and love it that every story is unique. Unlike some authors who follow the same formula and bore me to death when I read the second one.

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4. jean fountain: 3 years ago

   My favourite book is The Last Hours, a story about The Black Death. I have also read the sequel. Will there be any more of these historical novels? I prefer them to her Crime novels.

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   • What is the name of the sequel, please?: 2 years ago

     I also love the historical novels. Please send the name of the sequel

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     • Graeme: 2 years ago

       It’s listed above. The Turn of Midnight.

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5. Roger Dunmow: 3 years ago

   Thanks for info. I have just read my first Minette Walters novel – “The Shape of Snakes” and am hungry for more.

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