Mark Hayden's Books
Start with The 13th Witch, book one of The King’s Watch, where Conrad Clarke joins the world of magick…
Did you know the Gods can use mobile phones?
They can, and Odin has a message for Conrad…
Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. Odin has a challenge for Conrad: sign up to protect England from wild magick and get a commission in the King’s Watch.
All he has to do is find a missing witch. Simple.
Explore The King's Watch series so far...
The Thirteenth Witch
Did you know that the gods can use mobile phones …
Conrad is unsure of his new powers, but he’s certainly up for an adventure. He takes his new-found magickal abilities and tracks down the Watch. After all, what could be more fun than a commission to Keep the King’s Peace in the world of magick?
But when he arrives at Merlyn’s Tower, he discovers that his magickal powers aren’t worth squat, and that to join the Watch he has to find a missing Witch…
When you can’t do real magick of your own, you use what talents you’ve got. Armed with nothing but a sense of humour and a willingness to cheat, Conrad embarks on a cross-country hunt for the missing girl and a desperate battle to save his own life.
The thirteenth Witch is available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
The Twelve Dragons of Albion
My name is Conrad Clarke and I claim my reward…
You’d think that staying alive and saving the girl – not to mention saying No to Helen of Troy – would be enough for now. But no…
After proving himself in a desperate magickal battle, Conrad Clarke is admitted to the King’s Watch and given a commission to help regulate the world of magick. And what does the world of magick do? It laughs in his face.
At least Conrad now has a partner and some serious magickal firepower. Vicky Robson (a much better Mage than Conrad will ever be) joins him on a mission to investigate rumours of a Dragon’s egg, and also to get him through his magickal entry test for the Invisible College.
And then Conrad discovers that the Invisible College won’t let him keep his ammunition, and that the Dragon’s egg is all too real.
So what does he do? Conrad grits his teeth and reminds the magickal world that he who laughs loudest laughs last…
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
The Eleventh Hour
Another Day, Another Scar…
Conrad needs a rest, and so does Vicky, his partner in fighting magickal crimes. The universe has other ideas.
Conrad had planned the perfect weekend in the English Lake District – tie up some loose ends before spending the night with his girlfriend. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything is the answer.
An innocent man is murdered to cover up magickal misdeeds, and before they can draw breath, Conrad and Vicky are on the trail of a Mage who hides behind dark magick to kill at a distance.
In the third book of Mark Hayden’s highly praised King’s Watch sequence, Conrad and Vicky have to unlock doors and penetrate the ancient families of the Lakeland Particular to unmask a killer with an agenda of vengeance who doesn’t care who dies on the way.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Tenfold
The new challenge for Conrad, Vicky, Mina and the gang carries straight on from their adventures in The Eleventh Hour and starts with Conrad & Vicky being presented with their medals for slaying the Dragon.
Except it doesn’t. There is a terrible explosion before the ceremony and three fatalities. The King’s Watch is in trouble, and Conrad’s 11xGreat Grandfather is the only one with answers.
The Watch has to Summon Thomas Clarke from his watery resting place in the Clerk’s Well and find out why dark magick is appearing all over England before there are more deaths.
In the fourth book of Mark Hayden’s King’s Watch series, Conrad’s problems have multiplied again.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Nine of Wands
Conrad and the gang face their toughest challenge yet in Nine of Wands.
After the deadly events of TENFOLD, Conrad reckons he and Mina deserve a little quality time with his folks in Spain. Fate has another idea.
A chance visit to a tarot reader reveals that his future is governed the Nine of Wands – trouble, trouble and more trouble is on the way.
Before he knows it, Conrad is plunged into a desperate search for Alchemical Gold. Lots and lots of gold, and he is by no means the only one.
As if that wasn’t enough, he has to get used to two new partners – meet Saffron Hawkins, junior Mage, and Scout the Border Collie with attitude.
When the Nine of Wands is in charge, prepare yourself for a very bumpy ride.
Get the new book of the King’s Watch here:
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Eight Kings
The King is Dead
Long Live the King
The Mage-King of Wessex has passed away, and the stage is set for a battle royal:
The richest Mage in England versus the most powerful Coven of Witches.
And Conrad finds himself in the middle.
The struggle is a civilised one at first – Lord Mowbray and the Daughters of the Goddess meet for a conference in Mowbray’s Mage palace of Pellacombe, with Conrad, Mina and Saffron sent to see fair play.
Until first tragedy and then murder plunge the staff kingdom of Wessex into a dangerous crisis, and Conrad has to draw on all his team’s powers and his own experience to avoid a bloodbath.
The sixth instalment of Mark Hayden’s sage of the King’s Watch is a deep study of power at the sharp end, where families and clans are stretched beyond breaking point in the brutal world of magick.
Grab yourself a copy of Eight Kings and immerse yourself in the addictive world of the King’s Watch.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
The Seventh Star
One Hell of a Party…
Mina’s Bollywood extravaganza is a huge hit – especially when a surprise celebrity makes a dramatic entrance.
While everyone queues for a selfie, Conrad is wondering why a Fae Princess has descended on him.
It turns out she has a problem, and her problem is about to become Conrad’s problem: amidst the dark Satanic mills of Lancashire, something is attacking the Fae.
Conrad has to leave his comfort zone in Clerkswell and break in another new partner. It won’t be long before he is praying for strength from Kratu, the Seventh Star.
Treat yourself to a copy now and find out the truth about Fairies, Gnomes and W*r*e*w*lv*s…
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Six Furlongs
Saddle up for the ride of your life
In Clerkswell, the great and the good assemble for a Samhain party.
In Manchester, Mages prepare for the Warden Hustings.
But on a tree in the Furness Peninsula hangs the body of a man.
Someone thinks they have settled a score, but all they’ve done is start a feud.
A storm is brewing in the Lakeland Particular, and Conrad has to stop it turning into All Out War.
Fate has dealt him a difficult hand – another new partner, the implacable opposition of the Lakeland Mages and having to shield the members of his non-magickal team.
So Conrad does what he does best: grits his teeth and rides into the storm.
Find out how he cracks the case and stays alive. Put a copy of Six Furlongs into your saddlebag now.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Five Leaf Clover
Welcome to Ireland. Now die.
Conrad has a lot on his plate, and recovering from a punctured kidney is only the start…
Top of his to-do list is a trip to Cornwall for an interview with Morwenna Mowbray, Vessel and victim of Fae magick.
Before he can go, Tom Morton has news on the missing book, the Codex Defanatus.
And soon it becomes clear that all roads lead across the Irish Sea, to a country where Conrad has no jurisdiction, no allies, and where his enemies are not one, but two Fae Queens.
He knows that it’s a long road to Galway, and that when he gets to the end, he’ll be alone, but choosing his travelling companions is only the first challenge.
Conrad’s struggle to wash the stain of the Codex from his family name reaches a climax in the Ninth Book of the King’s Watch – Five Leaf Clover.
Grab a copy now and find out if Conrad has the Luck of the Irish.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany
Four Roads Cross
The last time Conrad was unemployed, he got a visit from the Allfather. Look where that got him.
And now the Gnomes of Lakeland want him to be the new Commissioner.
A simple job: sort out the Assessors and put the Grand Union on a stable footing. They’re even willing to pay for an assistant to help him with the difficult magick stuff. What could possibly go wrong?
When you have two powerful factions who both think that they’re above the law, you also have a recipe for trouble when they fall out. Conrad has barely unpacked his suitcase before the Fae Queen of Derwent is in a standoff with the Greenings, and neither side look like they want to back down.
The peaceful fells and dales of Lakeland are about to see an all-out war unless Conrad, Cordelia and his under-strength team can keep them apart. When the walls close in, Conrad will need to make new friends and watch his back.
It all starts with a race down Great Langdale and it ends with an appointment at Lakeland’s oldest boundary marker, the Four Roads Cross. Grab yourself a copy of the new adventure in the King’s Watch and immerse yourself once again in the world of Conrad and Company.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany | Amazon Australia
Third Eye
We all know the sounds of war, but what are the sounds of peace?
Conrad Clarke is about to get married. Could life get any better for the Lord Guardian of the North? The Codex Defanatus is sealed away, peace has been cemented in the Lakeland Particular and as far as he knows, no one is out to get him. Time to relax…
If only.
In the corridors of power, the new Warden is launching her project of change, and not everyone is happy.
Closer to home, Conrad has to deal with the entombed Spirit of the old Warden, and far away on the other side of the Pennines, magick is stirring.
Kathy Metcalfe hates her life at Beckthorpe Abbey, what with having to cook for all the recovering addicts, and she knows exactly how bad they are because she’s one herself. The only person at the Abbey who isn’t an addict is the oldest resident, Don Bell, and Don can’t speak.
And then one night, strange lights drift across the lawn, and suddenly Don is a man with a mission. A mission to be rescued, if only he can find a way to send a letter…
Not that Conrad has any clue about this. As far as he is concerned, getting to the church at all is going to be enough of a challenge, what with three gods insisting on wedding invitations and the mother and father of Hen and Stag parties to go first…
It’s been a long wait since Conrad’s last adventure – catch up with all the news from Mark Hayden’s best-selling King’s Watch universe and meet old friends again. Follow Conrad, Mina and the gang as they prepare for the Wedding of the Century and grab a copy of the latest adventures in the King’s Watch.
Also to be available on Audiobook from Audible in autumn 2023.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany | Amazon Australia | Amazon Canada
Three Ring Circus
What’s it like to live forever?
Alicia is about to find out…
Just because you don’t grow old, it doesn’t mean you won’t die a violent death at the hands of your broodmates. Or the Queen who laid your egg.
From the moment she hatches in the Derwent Sídhe, Alicia is fighting. For her life. To gain position. To become an adult. And then, the moment she drops her wings and emerges, the fun really starts.
Alicia is the youngest Squire in the service of Princess Faith, and she is propelled into the heart of the biggest wedding in the world of magick this century: the joining together of the Dragonslayer and his consort. No pressure, then.
She fights to get on top of a bunch of unruly hens’ hairdos and just when she thinks she’s winning, the bottom falls out of her world.
She finds herself on her own, cut off from her People, about to become snake food and with nothing but a hairbrush to protect herself. Can she make a bid for freedom?
Woven in with Alicia’s story, we get a backstage pass to some of the events glossed over in Third Eye. What really happened at the hen do? How did Lucy’s car end up in the canal? And as for Mina and the stripper…
We also check in with Conrad and Mina on their Honeymoon in Valhalla, where Mina is not a happy bride. Not at first, anyway.
Available to buy from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Germany | Amazon Australia | Amazon Canada
Also available on Audiobook.
Explore more of Mark Hayden's books
Short stories from The King's Watch...
The Operation Jigsaw Series
Once Upon a Time…
My first three published novels, the Operation Jigsaw Trilogy, feature both Tom and Conrad. They are slightly more thriller-oriented than crime, and are definitely not fantasy!
You don’t need to read these books to enjoy either A Serpent in Paradise or The Thirteenth Witch. They’re available at a reduced price on Amazon. Hover over the covers to find out more.
A Piece of Blue Sky
A Piece of Blue Sky
A tragic accident and a suspicious transaction: two small pieces of a deadly jigsaw.
DS Tom Morton and his cousin, Captain Kate Lonsdale, are each given one small piece...
GREEN FOR DANGER
Green for Danger
After the shocking climax to A Piece of Blue Sky, the action moves to the small town of Earlsbury in the Midlands.
Patrick Lynch, captain of the golf club and pillar of the Irish Catholic community, is made an offer he can’t refuse: take on the distribution of large quantities of counterfeit cash.
In the Red Corner
In the Red Corner
Following straight on from the climax of Volume II, the characters in this final book return to England where their separate actions lead to a shocking climax on Morecambe Bay.
In Earlsbury, the search is on for the senior police officer who was pulling the strings when DS Griffin was murdered, and Patrick Lynch receives an unwelcome visitor.
The DCI Morton Series
Diffident and always feeling guilty about something, Tom Morton knows that he is a detective with something to prove. His promotion to DCI came with a price — he has to go where he’s sent and make the best of a bad job.
These are Tom’s first solo cases. Hover over the covers for more details.
A SERPENT IN PARADISE
A Serpent in Paradise
ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE
Another Place to Die
The new adventure, The End of Duty will be published shortly.
Mark Hayden's Books in Reading Order
The best place to start! The Stories (novellas) do not contain any major plot elements, but they do have a lot more to say about some of the characters and background. This is the best order to read them:
- The 13th Witch
- The Twelve Dragons of Albion
- The 11th Hour
- Tenfold
- Phantom Stag (1st Story – Vicky)
- Nine of Wands
- Wings over Water (2nd Story – Conrad)
- Eight Kings
- Ring of Troth (3rd Story – Mina)
- The 7th Star
- French Leave (4th Story – Vicky)
- Six Furlongs
- Fire Games (5th Story – Vicky)
- Marshlight (6th Story – Karina Kent, written by Lucy Campbell)
- Five Leaf Clover
- Arrow in the Dark (7th Story – Karina Kent by Lucy Campbell)
- Four Roads Cross
- Third Eye
- Three Ring Circus
These three novels form one continuous ‘origin’ story for Conrad, Mina and Tom Morton. They are thrillers and were published before the King’s Watch. Most readers who have started with King’s Watch and who have gone on to enjoy Operation Jigsaw have recommended reading them either just before or just after Eight Kings.
The Jigsaw books:
- A Piece of Blue Sky
- Green for Danger
- In the Red Corner
In the world of the King’s Watch, Tom Morton makes an appearance in 7th Star. The two Tom Morton novels take place after the Operation Jigsaw stories, so readers have recommended that if you’re up for non-magickal crime you might enjoy the Tom Morton books before 7th Star. However, you don’t need to read any of these books to appreciate the contribution that Tom makes to Conrad’s world.
- A Serpent In Paradise
- Another Place to Die