THE BOOKS OF SIMON RUDD
Find your next story.
Welcome to my bookshelf. Here you’ll find cosy mysteries, comic fantasy, science fiction and darker tales of haunted places and unfinished business.
Start with a free novel, choose a standalone story, or browse the series by mood. Visit each book or series page for descriptions and a place to begin.
A FREE PLACE TO BEGIN
Come down to Marling Bay.
An elderly elephant arrives on a storm-battered beach, bringing an unexpected mystery into the lives of Kirsteen and her daughter Jodi.
Begin with The Elephant at Low Tide, then return for The Puppy and the Elephant.
COMPLETE STORIES · START ANYWHERE
Standalone novels & novellas
Discover a library beneath the sea, memories kept in glass, a tree finding its home among the stars, or a man sent hurtling through time. Each story stands on its own, so you can begin wherever you like.
Cosy fantasy · Science fiction · Darker journeys
Browse the series by mood
Choose a mood for the series below. Some belong on more than one shelf; the standalone books are featured above.
Showing all 14 series.
Cosy mystery · Bookshop magic
The Blackwater Quay Mysteries
At Finch & Fable, old documents carry more than words. Elowen Finch can sense the emotions left in their ink—a useful, if troublesome, gift when the harbour town’s buried secrets begin surfacing. Expect suspicious paperwork, formidable neighbours and a cat with opinions.
Start with Hexes & Hardcovers.
Cosy fantasy · Seaside ghosts · Found family
The Lingering House
Retired exorcist Abel Crane buys a quiet house by the sea and discovers that its former residents have stayed. With a watchful landlady, a grumbling gargoyle and the baker next door, he begins to make a home for the living and the dead. Follow the household through four seasons of friendship and unfinished business.
Four books · Complete series
Start with The Retired Exorcist Takes In Lodgers.
Cosy romance · New beginnings
The Wrenwick Lights
Stories of love, loss and finding the courage to let life change. Begin with The Winter Light, where ballet and the determination of one woman offer a way forward.
Start with The Winter Light.
Comic fantasy · Unlikely heroes
The Wrong Chosen One
Being the chosen one ought to settle a few things. These books suggest otherwise. A comic fantasy series for readers who enjoy questionable destinies and characters faced with expectations they may have no intention of meeting.
Start with The Wrong Chosen One.
Cosy vampire fantasy · Village life
Amethyst Eyes & Velvet Paws
Count Alaric Dracula has spent centuries running. Lately, he has been living as an unimpressed black cat on the rooftops of an English village. Discover a vampire story with room for warmth, companionship and the comforts of a shared hearth.
Start with A Sorrow of His Own Making.
Folk fantasy · Lake-country mysteries
Orrowmere Stories
In Orrowmere, water has its own ways of answering people. These self-contained stories explore a landscape of living lakes, uneasy secrets and communities whose relationship with magic is deeply personal.
Start with The Lake That Painted Back.
Cosy science fiction · Life aboard a starship
The Good Intent
A generation ship depends on more than its captain. Gardeners, menders, cooks and other overlooked workers keep its communities alive, finding purpose and companionship along the way.
Start with A Manual for Accidental Gardens.
Dark speculative fiction · Vampires · Survival
The Standing Line
Ten years after a vampire plague devastated Britain, a half-turned daylight hero struggles to protect a small community of survivors. A darker series about responsibility, endurance and the cost of keeping people alive.
Start with The False Dawn.
Weird Western · First contact
The Crow Lantern Chronicles
Frontier life meets something unfamiliar in these stories of isolated places and extraordinary encounters. Begin with The Stranger at Crow Lantern Creek, then follow the mysteries beyond the town.
Start with The Stranger at Crow Lantern Creek.
Coastal gothic
The Tidewater Gothics
Explore the darker side of the shoreline through The Tide Cartographer, The Drowning House and The Sea Glass Girls.
Explore the individual book descriptions.
Speculative fiction
The OZ Protocol
Discover The Gray Mass and The Archived Lands. Visit the series page for the descriptions and reading order.
Start with The Gray Mass.
Supernatural fiction
The Unquiet
For readers drawn to unsettling stories, explore Return Policy, After the Ball and The House That Looked Back.
Explore the individual book descriptions.
Art gothic · Supernatural mystery
The Chapel of Wet Paint
Enter the stranger territory where painting and storytelling meet, beginning with The Painting That Watched Back.
Start with The Painting That Watched Back.
Cosy fantasy · Art · Coastal life
The Gallery of Unfinished Goodbyes
Amanda Tomlin opens a gallery in Alderwick with her dog Jim and six second-hand paintings. When the pictures begin changing after they are sold, she finds herself drawn into her customers’ unfinished conversations. A complete six-book series about art, friendship, family and making room for a life of your own.
Six books · Complete series
Start with The Red Child.