I'm now working on a NEW Merryll Manning novel entitled: "Merryll Manning and the Collar of Gold"!

Here is a complete list of the Merryll Manning series of mystery thrillers, together with the dates of publication in England and Australia:

1. Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island. [Published out of order as a trade paperback  titled "Death Is an  Island" in 2001].

2. Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders. [Published 1985 as a hardcover, reprinted 1986 and 1987. No paperback edition].

3. Merryll Manning: Beachfront "Holiday". [Published 1985 as a hardcover titled "The Beach-Front Murders", reprinted 1988. No paperback edition].

4. Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven. [Published as a hardcover 1986, reprinted 1990. No paperback edition]. 

5. Merryll Manning Has His Price. [Published as a hardcover 1987, reprinted 1988 and 1990. No paperback edition].

6. Merryll Manning Meets the Last Generation. [Published as a hardcover 1986, reprinted 1991. Paperback edition: 1999].

7. Merryll Manning Has a Brush with Death. [Published as a trade paperback 1999, reprinted 1999 and 2000].

8. Merryll Manning Is Dead Lucky. [Published as a paperback 1987, reprinted 1999]. 

9. Merryll Manning: Death at His Private Zoo. [Published as a paperback 1991. Revised edition: 1998].

10. Merryll Manning: Joye Divided. [Published as a paperback 1991 as "Beyond Vengeance"].

11. Merryll Manning: Fast Times in Paradise. [Published 2001 as a trade paperback by Rastar Press, reprinted 2002 as a mass-market paperback by Jacobyte Books]. 

12. Merryll Manning: Go for Gold! [The twelfth book was never published, as Jacobyte moved into e-book publishing and this was not the way I wished to proceed].

Extracts from original reviews:

1. Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island: John Howard Reid is one of this country's foremost mystery thriller writers. -- The Times.  

2. Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders: An inventive mystery, set in a thinly-disguised Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. The author displays a very fertile imagination and considerable powers of invention... Worth our strong commendation. -- Leonard Ward in The Canberra Times.

Most exuberantly conceived... The author shows a firm grasp of character, incident and suspense... A very good mystery indeed! -- Anthony Puxty in The Newcastle Herald.

Dynamic action in generous measure, convincing characters, intriguing plot... The Health Farm Murders is a classic thriller. -- Gordon Pittaway in Writers' World.

Agatha Christie isn't the only mystery writer... Set against fascinatingly described, real-life backgrounds in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, John Howard Reid's novel displays all the mastery of a Christie thriller. -- Bookseller and critic, Selwa Anthony, in her Weekly Book Review.

Recommended for light reading, The Health Farm Murders is everything a good mystery should be: amusing, entertaining, intriguing... Above all, skillfully written and conceived with humor, drama and suspense in perfect balance. -- Gilbert Norris in The Third Degree (New York).

3. Merryll Manning: Beachfront "Holiday": Picturesquely set on Sydney Harbour, romance and glamour are important components in this mystery thriller in which a young girl is murdered in a luxury beach apartment. The investigator himself is caught up in a bizarre chain of events. The novel moves fast, with strong plot lines, to satisfying climaxes. -- Unsigned review in Bookseller and Publisher, August 1985.  

Essentially the story of an attractive and lonely country girl come to the city, and the interaction of her emotional instability with the vulnerability of the men in her life, this novel is a tightly written and highly credible account of passion and loneliness, of the lure and isolation of the big city. The murders are kept to a plausible number and the narrator's own character is interestingly developed. -- John Kernick in Book Review (April, 1986).  

A rattling good mystery story with a very involving plot... The author has an intimate knowledge of his background settings. -- William Hawkins in The Manly Daily (9/7/85).

4. Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven: John Howard Reid is one of this country's greatest natural storytellers... Some critics have likened his works to those of Agatha Christie. I find the comparison a little unfair -- to Mr Reid. If Reid's work needs comparing, I would liken it to Graham Greene's... Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven is one book you will find impossible to put down. -- American critic, Richard Deutch, in The Sunday Telegraph.

Compulsive reading... An engrossing thriller. -- John Hyde in The West Australian. 

Solidly real... Fast-moving dramatic action. -- Professor Stephen Knight in The Sydney Morning Herald. 

A well-constructed novel with a thrilling conclusion. -- Judith Green in Between the Covers (1/22/87)

Particularly engrossing and easy to read... The author must be congratulated! -- Neil E. Lomas, editor, Warwick Daily News (2/3/87). 

Highly original... A worthy successor to Reid's earlier novels. The author shows the same lively imagination, yet gives his plot credibility. -- Leonard Ward in The Canberra Times (10/4/86).

5. Merryll Manning Has His Price: John Howard Reid is one of the world's most original and gripping mystery novelists. -- John Champness in The Geelong Advertiser.

The plot of Merryll Manning Has His Price seems to be almost incidental, while Manning gets a chance to pontificate about publishers, agents, academics, writers, politicians and the City of Adelaide... Although the plot is light, the characterization of narrator-hero Merryll Manning is brilliant... As usual, the writing is entertaining and evocative. -- Maria Trefely-Deutch in The Sunday Telegraph.  

In this novel, Merryll Manning Has His Price, dialogue is cut to the bone, and style and plot are tightly controlled. The whole book benefits from the tension so generated. -- Katharine England in The Adelaide Advertiser.

The latest in John Howard Reid's original and intriguing thrillers, this one is set in an imaginary university in Adelaide, South Australia. Reid tells the story in his customary compact, episodic style -- and an exciting, ingenious story it is too! -- Unsigned review in Bookseller and Publisher, June 1988.

6. Merryll Manning Meets the Last Generation: Totally fascinating... John Howard Reid is the best natural storyteller this country has yet produced. Merryll Manning Meets the Last Generation is my selection for Best Novel of the Year! -- Richard Deutch in The Sunday Telegraph.

A tour de force... John Howard Reid has managed to create a remarkable gallery of realistic characters. -- Ray Davie in The Age.

John Howard Reid is original. His plots are cleverly constructed. His characters are so realistic you could have met them yesterday. No wonder he is considered by many to be this country's best natural storyteller in a decade! -- Greig Roberts in The Sunday Mail. 

What a superb book! It deserves to win the best-book-of-the-year award for crime literature, it's such a splendid blend of mystery and humor, set against such vividly unusual backgrounds... Absolutely unbeatable! -- Editor, Alex Auswaks, in Red Herrings (London).  

7. Merryll Manning Has a Brush with Death: No slouch in the art department, Manning is hired by some colorful types to help guard a Rembrandt exhibition. A robust debate provides Manning an opportunity to debate the rubbish passed of as "art" these days. -- J. R. Carroll in Book Review.

John Howard Reid grips the reader's attention from the first page to the last! -- Leonard Ward in The Canberra Times.

Reid writes with such clarity and power, he should indeed make the ranks of this country's greatest novelists. -- Jan Hardy in The Central Western Daily.

8. Merryll Manning Is Dead Lucky: This novel reinforces John Howard Reid's position as the master of this country's mystery writers. -- Richard Deutch in The Sunday Telegraph (4/22/90).

A wry crime adventure, written with fluency, wit, vigor and skill. -- Professor Stephen Knight in The Sydney Morning Herald.

A ripping thriller, Dead Lucky is one of the most original and gripping mysteries I've read. It kept me awake all night. -- John Champness in The Geelong Advertiser (11/22/90).

First-rate entertainment. -- Philip Kahllems in The Sunday Herald.

One of this country's foremost mystery-thriller writers, John Howard Reid succeeds in foiling any attempts by the reader to guess the outcome of Dead Lucky. -- The Times (6/22/90).

9. Merryll Manning: Death at His Private Zoo: John Howard Reid has a bizarre way with plot. Come to think of it, he has a bizarre way with several plots and dozens of characters. The main plot is convoluted and difficult to unravel... Another strange point: This is one of Reid's Merryll Manning mysteries, yet Manning doesn't do very much. He appears only after the action is well under way. -- David Lawrence in The West Australian.

10. Merryll Manning: Joye Divided: Superlatively entertaining, yet there is a marvelous depth to Reid's stories. -- John Hyde in The West Australian.

11. Merryll Manning: Fast Times in Paradise: Brilliant! Reid's novels bear the stamp of an original mind. -- Robin Wallace-Crabbe in The Australian.

The best single word to describe Reid's stories? "Wonderful!" -- David Rowbotham in The Courier-Mail.

Reid is a writer of ruggedly real drive and talent. -- Professor Stephen Knight in The Sydney Morning Herald.