Jackman and Evans Series Books in Order

The Jackman and Evans Series is a British police procedural crime thriller series written by Joy Ellis, set in the Fenland landscape of Lincolnshire — one of England's most distinctive and atmospheric regions, a flat, watery expanse of reclaimed marshland, dykes, and isolated communities that Ellis renders with genuine topographic and cultural specificity. The series follows DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans, two Lincolnshire detectives whose professional partnership and deep mutual respect form the emotional core of the series, alongside a well-drawn supporting cast of colleagues at their Fenland police station.

Ellis writes in the tradition of the best British regional crime fiction — the Fens are not merely a backdrop but an active presence in the stories, shaping both the crimes that occur there and the psychology of the people involved. Isolated farms, fog-shrouded waterways, and tight-knit communities with long memories provide settings that are simultaneously beautiful and threatening. The crimes Ellis constructs tend toward psychological complexity rather than pure procedural puzzle, and the personal lives of Jackman, Evans, and their colleagues develop meaningfully across the series.

Spanning 14 novels published from 2016 through 2023, the Jackman and Evans series has built a devoted readership among fans of British regional crime fiction, comparable in its appeal to Ann Cleeves's Vera series and M.J. Arlidge's Helen Grace books. Best read in order for the full development of the characters and the evolving dynamics of the Fenland police team. Begin with The Evil That Men Do (Book 1).