DUNDEE. LONDON. BEIJING.
Everyone leaves
a shadow.
Harriet Keel follows the people.
Hamish MacNair follows the patterns.
Neither likes what they find.
Crime. Intelligence. A very human kind of trouble.
One series. A world of consequences.
BEGIN WITH TWO SHADOWS
Angus
St AndrewsTRY THE FIRST BOOK
Meet Harriet.
Hear the shadows.
Start with Two Shadows. Read the opening, or hear the actual audiobook narration before you choose.
TWO SHADOWS · AUDIOBOOK
Someone is listening.
Now it’s your turn.
Opens the actual five-minute Audible preview in a new tab. No purchase is needed to try it.
Get the full audiobook ↗THE HUMAN ELEMENT
Different minds.
Shared consequences.
Behind every data point is a person. Meet the investigators, intelligence officers and ordinary lives at the heart of the series.
Select a portrait to meet the character.
THE SERIES CHRONOLOGY
Start here.
Then look back.
Two Shadows is your first encounter with this world. The prequels reveal how Harriet and Hamish became the people you meet there. The Eastern Mirror takes the team’s story forward into China. The Last Instruction opens another dangerous chapter.
St Andrews takes place approximately five years before Two Shadows. The precise date of the Angus case remains open.
EAST COAST. GLOBAL REACH.
The world is connected.
So is the danger.
From the Tay waterfront and the streets of Angus to St Andrews, London and Beijing, these are stories about the things we give away without noticing — and the people who notice for us.
Surveillance, loyalty and financial manipulation. With enough warmth and dry humour to remind us what is worth protecting.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
One world.
Many connections.
Explore the characters, relationships and timelines that connect the Harriet Keel novels — from St Andrews and Angus to Dundee, London and Beijing.
Read the series map as text
Reading order and chronology
The illustrated map covers the original three novels. Some supporting-character labels are from an earlier draft; use the current character profiles on this page for those relationships.
Recommended reading order: Two Shadows, The Angus Leverage, The St Andrews Exception, The Eastern Mirror, then The Last Instruction.
In story chronology, Hamish’s St Andrews case comes first, followed by Harriet’s Angus case. Two Shadows brings the four central characters together; Eastern Mirror and Last Instruction continue their story.
The central relationships
Harriet Keel is the investigator; Hamish MacNair is her trusted colleague and pattern finder. Their professional bond begins at St Andrews. Mei Lin and Jun Wei are Chinese intelligence officers with seventeen years of shared history and complementary skills. The four move from opposing sides towards trust and shared purpose.
Hamish’s family includes his father Euan, mother Elspeth and grandfather Patrick. Fiona is an important companion in his St Andrews story. Daniel Reeve’s connected life exposes the personal cost of surveillance. Marcus Crane, Malcolm Dunmore, Director Zhao and Arthur Clough connect policing, finance, intelligence and the evidence trail.
Places and themes
The map connects St Andrews, Angus and Dundee, London, Beijing, wider Scotland and international financial networks. Its central themes are surveillance and privacy; technology and human behaviour; crime, corruption and power; loyalty, trust and betrayal; shared dilemmas across cultures; and individuals facing the system.
BEHIND THE STORIES
Chris Hughes
A product designer based in Dundee, Scotland, Chris brings a designer’s eye for systems and a storyteller’s interest in the people caught inside them.
The Harriet Keel novels combine crime, technology and dry British humour, rooted in the streets and landscapes of east Scotland.
Explore the booksTHE HARRIET KEEL READER CLUB
Stay close.
There’s more to come.
New books, audiobook news and a look behind the scenes in Dundee. A place for readers and listeners who want to stay with Harriet, Hamish, Mei and Jun.
Sign-up is optional. Reader-club requests go directly to Chris, and you can unsubscribe by replying to an update.
WHAT WOULD YOU LOVE TO HAPPEN?
Your favourite characters.
Your next adventure.
A new location? More of Mei and Jun? Something unexpected for Harriet and Hamish? Tell Chris what would make you reach for the next book.
Explore the reader room ↗FOR TEENAGE READERS · THE EARLY HAMISH
Before the shadows.
A very different Hamish.
Computers make sense. School, best mates and Jennifer Fraser? Still working on those. Step inside Hamish MacNair’s illustrated diary.
Warning: contains penguins and questionable advice.
