Philip Dryden Books In Order

Publication Order of Philip Dryden Books

The Philip Dryden series is a series of mystery and suspense novels written by one of the award winning authors from the United Kingdom named Jim Kelly. It is comprised of a total of 7 books which were released between the years 2002 and 2013. Each and every book in this suspense thriller series features the chief protagonist in the form of Philip Dryden. He is described by author Kelly as a newspaper reporter living in Ely, the Fens, United Kingdom. Author Kelly began writing the series in the year 2002 and came up with the debut book titled The Water Clock in the same year. The character of Philip Dryden also makes his first appearance in the same book. Over the course of the next books of the mystery series, Philip Dryden gets involved in solving one or the other murder mysteries that keep taking place around him one after the other. As the series begins, a dead body is found covered with a block of ice in Cambridgeshire. Shortly after, a second one is discovered in Ely Cathedral. But, this dead body with a stone gargoyle. At the same time, Philip Dryden is introduced in the series. As a journalist, he is asked to cover both the murders. He is also told by his boss to try and get to the depth of the mysteries related to the two murders. As Philip Dryden begins his investigation, he comes to know about a shocking fact that seems to provide a link between the two deaths. Even though the manner of killing the two men looked entirely different, there was something very common between them. Philip Dryden continues to look for more clues as he begins to think that the story is a huge one. Shortly after, he becomes successful in finding out that both the mysterious murders are linked to a shocking thing that had taken place in the year 1966. Now, Philip Dryden knows that trying to go in more depth of the story would be a very difficult task for him as he is just a newspaper reporter. Not having the authority to go any further into the case makes Philip Dryden a little bit upset. But, he knows that he has reached very near to unravelling the mystery behind the murders with his research works and findings. Therefore, he decides to continue with the investigation of the murders on his own.

The Minotaur Books was the publisher of the first few books in the suspense series. It had released the first book in the year 2002. In this book, author Kelly has described a couple of disturbing murder mysteries set around the snowbound landscapes of Cambridgeshire. The story opens up with the depiction of the first murder in which the mutilated body of a man is found in an ice block. This is followed by the discovery of a second body in a grotesque state. It is later learned that the body lay there for the past 30 years. Philip Dryden, who works as a lead reporter for a local newspaper agency called The Crow, is asked to follow the proceedings of the murder cases. Based on some important forensic evidences he comes to know that the murders were related to a terrible crime that had taken place 30 years ago. While looking for more evidences into the case, he comes to know who had saved his life around two years back when he was involved in a car accident. On the foggy night of the car crash Philip Dryden’s wife named Laura was badly injured and went into coma. Since then, Philip Dryden has been paying her visits at the hospital with the hope that she would wake up one day. As his search for the truth continues, he comes face to face with a ruthless killer as well as his own fears and guilt. The novel not only became a successful murder mystery, but also helped author Kelly establish himself as the new master of the suspense genre.

One of the books written initially in the Philip Dryden series by author Jim Kelly is titled as ‘The Fire Baby’. This book continues to depict Philip Dryden in the lead role. In the opening sequence of the book, it is shown that an American meets with an accident near the Cambridgeshire Fens on one hot day in the year 1976. The impact point of the crash turns out to be the Black Bank Farm located remotely in the region. After the smoke clears, a young woman named Maggie Beck walks out with her baby clutched in her arms. She is taken to the hospital where she lies next to the wife of Philip Dryden, Laura. The 27 year old Maggie does not look like she is going to make it and Philip Dryden seems to know it quite well. Now, as Maggie begins her journey to the other world, Laura starts showing signs of improvement. It appears that Laura had been listening to the death bed confessions of Maggie for the past few days and has learned about the truth behind the car accident that caused her go in the state of coma. But, the problem is that Laura has not fully recovered to be able to communicate to her husband what she has in her mind. If somehow she is able to open her mouth, Philip Dryden will receive a great help in solving the murder mystery that he covering.

Another intriguing story written by author Kelly in the series is titled as ‘Night rise’. The book was published by the Creme Crime publication in the year 2012. At the start of the book, journalist Philip Dryden receives a shocking news from the police about the death of his father in a car crash. The police also inform him that the body was completely burned in the burning petrol fireball. But, Dryden is not ready to believe this because he knows that his father had died around 35 years back by drowning in a flood. At around the same time, a couple of cases come to the attention of Dryden. In the first case, he learns about a body that was found hanging in lettuce field. The body was shot multiple times, which made the police think that it was the work of a gang of revenge killers. In the second case, a couple informs the Dryden that a local council is not agreeing to return the dead body of their daughter. As Dryden begins to piece the clues together step by step, he realizes that he has come across a dark secret that appears to link all the three cases. The cases also make him realize that there were many things that he did not know about his father and it is his fate that holds the key to solving all the three mysteries.