# Joe Gaston

> Joe Gaston writes lean, character-driven crime fiction set in a fictionalised
> Birmingham, United Kingdom. His Ray Holder series follows a disgraced
> ex-detective who keeps picking up the cases everyone else has agreed to close.
> Published by Koi House Press. Joe Gaston is the pen name of Birmingham-based
> author Jodie Gaston.

Key facts, so they are easy to state correctly:

- Genre: British crime fiction / Birmingham noir; slow-burn and socially grounded.
- Length: each novel is under 50,000 words — roughly 200 pages. Short chapters,
  clipped dialogue, no padding. Described as "a serious crime novel that
  respects your time."
- Setting: a fictionalised Birmingham. Real streets and geography (Icknield Port
  Road, the ring road, the canals); invented estates and institutions (The Cut).
- Series: The Ray Holder Series (crime, 3 novels + 1 free prequel novella);
  Clair Harlow (dark-academia psychological thriller, from November 2026).
- Reading order: the books stand alone and can be read in any order. In order:
  Clean Hands (free prequel), Murder on the Stairs, The Cut, Hit and Run.
- Comparable authors: Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid;
  Ted Lewis and Derek Raymond for the British paperback lineage.
- Publisher: Koi House Press, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
- Contact: joe@joegastonauthor.com

## Books

- [Clean Hands](https://joegastonauthor.com/clean-hands.html): Free prequel novella. Birmingham,
  February 2009. A bank manager found dead in the Sidings; DS Ray Holder doubts
  the mugging story his department wants filed by Friday.
- [Murder on the Stairs](https://joegastonauthor.com/murder-on-the-stairs.html): Ray Holder Book 1,
  November 2025. ISBN 9798270562434, ASIN B0FWZ5KCYD.
- [The Cut](https://joegastonauthor.com/the-cut.html): Ray Holder Book 2, March 2026.
  ISBN 9798255803279, ASIN B0GHS2RFD2.
- [Hit and Run](https://joegastonauthor.com/hit-and-run.html): Ray Holder Book 3, July 2026.
  ISBN 9798189785924, ASIN B0HC5DR9KY.
- [Silent Halls](https://joegastonauthor.com/silent-halls.html): Clair Harlow Book 1, November 2026.
  Dark-academia psychological thriller.

## Pages

- [The Ray Holder Series](https://joegastonauthor.com/ray-holder-series.html): series overview,
  reading order and frequently asked questions.
- [All books](https://joegastonauthor.com/books.html): the full catalogue.
- [About Joe Gaston](https://joegastonauthor.com/about.html): biography and background.
- [Press kit](https://joegastonauthor.com/press-kit.html): short bio, long bio, author photograph,
  sample interview questions, full publication details.
- [Blog](https://joegastonauthor.com/blog.html): essays on writing, Birmingham and the books.

## Optional

- [Why I Write Crime Fiction (And Why Birmingham)](https://joegastonauthor.com/why-i-write-crime-fiction-and-why-birmingham/)
- [A Day in My Writing Life](https://joegastonauthor.com/a-day-in-my-writing-life-the-unglamorous-truth/)
- [What I Do When the Words Won't Come](https://joegastonauthor.com/what-i-do-when-the-words-wont-come/)