The other day, MJ posted a comment that caught my eye. She had attached it to the bottom of her monthly recommendations, but I thought it was such a good comment, that I wanted to be sure ALL of us would see it.
MJ:
We’ve had discussions on this blog about whether to read books in a series all at once, or space them out yearly, as they are published. I’ve noticed that when I start a new series, I lose track of the characters a whole year later when the second book is published.
So I’ve been contemplating waiting until the second book is released before starting to read the first one. Then if I read them a week or two (or even a month) apart, I’ll at least remember the characters and will be able to get into successive books much more quickly. Does anyone else have these same ‘memory’ problems when starting a new series, or is it just me?
MJ, rest assured, you are not alone! But, let’s see what other Cozy Mystery readers have to say.
How about you, do you have trouble keeping all your new Cozy characters straight? Does it help you to read the first two books in a series consecutively so that you can better remember the characters and settings? Please post a comment. Thanks!
Jude says
Yes it does! I have so many favorite authors and series that I frequently get caught up in one series & when I return to another one, I have trouble remembering not only names but relationships. So many books, so little time!
Jenni says
Interesting as a writer of my first cozy mystery. Makes me wonder if I should publish when I have two ready to go. I have a second one in rough form also.
Judy says
None of that matters as I have a list on my iPhone that keeps me knowing what to read next, who Ienjoyed reading and who I did not.
This helps me at the library, buying a hard copy and or getting something for my Kindle.
All of our input matters in my opinion and thanks your blog it is very helpful and extremely enjoyable.
Thanks
Meg says
Wouldn’t it be great if there was an app for that
Jane says
I run into that problem…. in fact I did not even start Janet Evanovich’s number series until there were 14 out and then read them right in a row. Sometime now, I don’t even attempt a “series” until it is just that, a series – of at least a couple of books so that I can get into the characters a little more.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jane, wow! I wish I could read that many books by an author back-to-back without worrying about ending up not liking the author! I’m afraid that if I tried to read fourteen books by an author consecutively, I’d probably start focusing on the little things the author does that bother me just a little bit, which I would then magnify each time I saw those things happen, and then I’d end up not liking the author. (Being OCD can really be a pain sometimes!)
stellans says
I too put off starting a new author (and sometimes new series by a familiar author) until there is at least a 2nd book, and sometimes a 3rd if I have a backlog to read already. I also keep a kind of database of my favorite authors to help me remember what I’ve read, and what I’ve purchased. It really bothers me to waste what is a slowly shrinking book budget on duplicate purchases!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Stellans, that’s be beauty of me being so far behind with most of my authors >>> By the time I finally read a new-to-me author, they have usually written a few books in their series!
my ^..^ ^..^ says
Due 2 the “maturation process” I create a “scorecard” (notes) as I read. Then I also use it as a bookmark.
Me thinks I’ll consider using my Android “Evernote” app.
“Have a magical day”
Danna - cozy mystery list says
my ^..^ ^..^, I like the idea of a “scorecard”/bookmark.
Margaret StashEmpress says
Oh I have this problem all the time! Its not just a “memory” problem, but probably a result of the bombardment of stimulation we live with today. 30 years ago, I read a book, loved it, by the time the next one came out a year later, I still remembered all the characters & plotting & it was like going back for a visit with friends. Nowadays we’re bombarded by media all day long, plus there are SOOOOOOOO many new cozy series that we’re following — there’s no way our brains can store and recover soooooo much information — not if we’re to remember our children’s names and if we cooked supper or not! Today expecting someone to remember characters in a book from a year ago would be akin to meeting someone at a wedding —- then a year later coming across them in the grocery — and being expected to remember not only their name, but their occupation, name of their pets, name of their spouse, children, grandchildren and next door neighbor. Not gonna happen! 50 years ago, when life was simpler, there was no social media, no blogs to follow, and way fewer books to read — yes, you could remember everything about someone you met a year ago — today — no way.
There are some series that only release a new book every few years — paricularly Martha Grimes’ Richard Jury series — that have so many characters and such involved plotlines — that by the time I get to the next book — I go crazy cuz I can’t remember who a character is — though they seem important — or what happened that that child is living there?? I know I read it — but I don’t even remember which book it occurred so I can’t even go back to reread it! (That particular thing has been driving me out of my mind — who is that child & why is she living there???)
I do appreciate when some authors will “introduce” all of the characters again in each book, in a casual way, so if you’ve never read the previous ones, you will know who is who, and if you’ve forgotten, it will remind you. (One of my bugaboos is actually authors who DON’T do this and if I’ve not read all the previous books, I feel like a stranger at a party where all the ppl know each other and I don’t know anyone there — I’ve actually given up on a couple of popular authors because of that.)
So how does everyone else remember characters/plots from previous books? (particularly where the plot of one is important to the continuing series — such as something happened in one book that caused a character to lose some power — which they have to regain in the next book — or vice versa — why did the boyfriend leave again? what did he have to do before he can come back? its important but I can’t remember….)
Kimmie says
You have some really valid points! Love your insight…..I was nodding my head in agreement while reading your response…..LOLOL!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret StashEmpress, man! Your first paragraph packs a wallop! So true! I also appreciate it when an author “slyly” reminds readers of who is who from previous books.
Rob says
Dear Margaret Stash:
I can recommend a few authors that will “reintroduce” their people and they are: Emily Brightwell, Anne Perry, Laura Bradford and
Avery Aames to name a few. I have read Emily and Anne so many times and re-read when there is a long time between that I can remember those authors people. Some others that I don’t read that often I need a score card. Great ideas on how you keep track. I’ll try those.
Janelle says
Yes..especially since I read so many I get characters confused. So generally I wait til I can read several together.
Carol J says
Agatha Christie used to provide an annotated character list at front of each of her books. If you read books in an e-book form, some readers (Nook & Kindle, at least) provide you with a way to make notes in your books, & you could come up with a character list ala Christie. Unfortunately, most of the tools for e-books are not very portable — that is, you can’t easily copy the text of your notes from one book & paste it into the notes for the new book you’re reading. But it’s better than nothing.
You could also keep the notes in some cloud text app, such as Google Docs. I haven’t exactly had this issue, but if I did have it, I would put the character list in Google Docs, which I’d open on my iPad, & then I would read the book on my Nook e-ink.
Of course, we could all go full analog & create notes about characters on actual paper, & make a series bookmark that we could shift from hard copy to hard copy 🙂
Kimmie says
The last line has me LOLOLOL’ing, but at the same time wondering how come the bookmark idea has not been done??!!……..PURE GENIUS! ?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Carol J, since I try so many new-to-me authors, it means I put off my favorite authors’ books for a while. Sometimes, I find that if I go look at the previous book’s blurb on Amazon, I usually can get my bearings pretty quickly when it’s been a while between books.
Linda MH says
I’m with MJ. It is so hard to keep new characters straight after only reading the first in a new series–mainly because (like everyone else) I read so many different series. I keep track (in my handy dandy binder–LOL) of the book titles, characters, and settings, but lots of times that isn’t enough to help me remember what the book is about. So…..over the past year or so, I’ve been doing exactly what MJ mentions. I frequently hold off reading the first in the series until a month or so before the second book comes out. I find that helps a lot. However, I want to add that I never buy the second book unless I have finished the first because I never know if I will like the series enough to continue. Of course, there are those ‘first in a new series’ books with blurbs that completely grab my attention and I just can’t wait to read them. Ellen Byron’s Plantation Shudders is an example of one of those books. (I’m using her book as an example because you mentioned this book just recently.) No way could I wait for Book 2 before reading Book 1! Great topic, Danna!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
(Linda MH, it’s MJ’s topic, though I’d love to take the credit! 😉 )
Linda MH says
Sorry! MJ, great topic! Thanks for bringing it up. I love reading all the replies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda MH, I think it’s a great topic, too. And, I’ve been enjoying reading all of the replies.
Donna Mc says
Me, too. Sometimes I make notes on a piece of paper and use it as a bookmark so I can keep track of everyone! Glad to know I’m not the only one. 🙂
Sheila in CT says
I also agree with MJ. I read Daryl Wood Gerber’s Final Sentence when it came out in July 2013. Totally forgot that I read it. Started it again a few days ago and the characters/plot sounded familiar. I’m so glad I’m not alone in this matter.
Donna says
I fear I will lose track of some of my favorite characters and miss a book in the series. Kind of like anticipatory withdrawal. Or I mix up authors. Which leads to me finding, eventually, more books in other series I might have Been missing.
Jenni C says
What can a new author do to help overcome this? Would you suggest a character list? Or do you like better to be subtly reminded within the story? Do you ever start in the middle of a series, where this might be construed as “spoilers” for earlier books?
Linda MH says
Jenni C,
That’s a good question but I don’t have an answer for it. I guess if I had to pick between a character list or being subtly reminded, I would go with the subtle reminder. I do know that I NEVER start in the middle of a series because I like to get to know the characters as they are introduced and watch them grow in each future addition. Also, there are a number of authors who will have their protagonist casually mention in their newest book, the name of the murderer in the previous book that held them at gunpoint, or tied them up and threw them overboard, or kidnapped them and stuffed them in the freezer, or….well, you get the picture–LOL. This always makes me crazy because I know a lot of people who don’t read series books in order and when authors do this, they ruin the mystery for those readers.
Jenni C says
Thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate getting a reader’s point of view. I’lol be sure not to spoil!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda MH, I totally agree with you about the subtle reminder being better than a character list. I have found that when an author has characters lists, I read through them before starting the book, and then promptly either get everyone mixed up or forget the characters. When an author provides us with subtle reminders, it actually becomes part of the plot and stays with me.
Also, I only read books in their chronological order >>>> except occasionally I break that rule for some holiday Cozies that I just can’t wait to read, so I am not bothered by spoilers the authors casually mentions in later books. I dropped an author who didn’t mention that the husband of one of the secondary characters was the killer in the previous book. I can see where the author didn’t want to ruin it for people who read her series out of sequence, but since I read the books in their correct order, I found it crazy-wild that she never bothered to mention this killer who had also tried to kill her in the previous book! [The secondary character (and wife of the killer) was simply single in the next book.]
Jennifer says
Good point, Danna. I would think that would take away the feeling of knowing the story line of a series if a glaring fact is so completely ignored. This is very interesting to see from a writing perspective. Maybe a copy and print bookmark on a writer’s web page would be a good “freebie”. Do you think anyone would take the time to print?
Ana K. says
I know a list of characters is very helpful to me, but I’ve mainly used it for new people. I hadn’t thought of using for the regulars, but that is an excellent idea.
Helen Marie says
As Carol J. mentioned in reference to Agatha Christie, Rita Mae Brown also includes a character list in front of her Mrs. Murphy and Sister Jane series. The list has the regular as well as one-off characters, plus the animals/pets. Also, Rita Mae includes a glossary of foxhunting terms after each of the Sister Jane stories.
This helps me a lot since I rarely get to sit and read for extended periods of time. I can quickly check on whatever I need to review. I wish more series authors would do this, too.
Thank you for this site. It’s my cozy bible!
Jennifer says
Thank you for the feedback to my question. I appreciate knowing different reader’s feelings. This is not something that crossed my mind, so this information may save me from alienating anyone. As a new writer, I am very familiar with the repetitive words. Thankfully I have a great writing group that calls me on it. Mine was “froze” and a forms. 😉 It is an editing issue.
Cindy says
It’s especially hard to remember characters when so many cozies have very similar settings. Several I read are librarians with cats so it usually takes a few pages for me to say ‘Oh yeah, this one is so and so’. That’s even after reading several in the series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cindy, I also suffer from these “I should of had a V-8” moments. I like it when an author sort of reintroduces us to their series in a casual manner.
Rob says
Danna;: I remembered an author that does character lists and that is Maggie Sefton. I hope that helps. V8 is great but the V8 fruit and veggie blends are a great way to revive both memory and just feeling good.
Mary g says
Hi. I’m looking at this commentary from a slightly different angle. What would happen to all those authors, and any future works from them, if we didn’t buy/rent/download their first books? It’s harder than ever for any author to get published these days….and publishers want to see results….as in sales. Maybe we could all help the industry by occasionally just starting with a “first” book…….and then of course let Danna know how great it was and spread the news.
Karen says
I read so many books and series that I do get confused with characters.. I always try to find out ahead of time if there’s more books to follow (especially trilogies) and wait until I have them all to read..
Kimmie says
For me, if the first book really draws me in and I feel engaged with the characters, storyline/back story, setting, etc….., then I find that when I go to read the second book I am more likely to bounce right back into the continuation in the 2nd and subsequent books……even if it has been awhile since I read the first book. Granted, it might take me a few pages, but I’m not at a complete loss.
I really appreciate an author who treats their subsequent books as they are, books in a series. I don’t want to read 3 chapters worth of info in books 2 through you name it, as the author tries to get first time readers caught up! I feel like a little blurb is ok, but other than that…..move it along. A series is meant to be a series…….a continuation. Read the books in order, I’m just sayin’! ?
With all that being said, I really wish ALL Cozy Mystery authors would include a character list at the beginning of EACH book (all books in the series), with a brief description about who they are or particular notes about them that they want readers to remember. And…..a map of the cozy location/town/setting……..it’s very helpful when the main character is running to and fro, all over and interacting with a gazillion other characters. For an excellent example, see the beginning pages of Ellery Adams’s series, Book Retreat Mystery….character list and map included! (LOVE HER!!!) Again, I’m just sayin’…….I’m 99.9% positive that the author has a working character list and map outline of the setting in question (aka story board) when writing the book, so why not include a scaled down, to the point list for the reader?!! This way, established readers can get into subsequent books with fewer “what moments,” and new readers that obviously don’t have the “anal gene” can just get in whenever they want. (No offense intended)
Great topic!! I’m eager to read what others have to say, and I would be interested to read thoughts from some of our author friends who follow your posts. ?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kimmie, if the authors start having character lists and maps in each of their books, I’m going to have my husband show me how to access that list on my Kindle, and then how to get back to where I am reading. I haven’t ventured too far off the very basic reading trail on my Kindle, and am pretty sure I’d have to keep going back to look at the list/map over and over.
Kimmie says
I understand. ?
LuAnn says
I have several ‘favorite’ cozy series. When, say, the occupation of the heroines is similar (chef at different restaurants, etc.) it can get confusing to keep them all separate! I do like to read series in order. But when there is a lot of time in between installments … well, let’s just say my memory isn’t what it used to be.
If it’s possible (like it’s the first couple books of a series and there aren’t like 20 billion installments) I will skim over the books previously read to kind of reacquaint myself with the characters.
Cozy Reader says
It’s great when an author puts a “characters” page in the front of the book to tell us who they are and how they relate to each other. That helps a lot! I wish they’d all do that for us.
Deb B says
I’m so far behind now that, when I find a new author, I have at least 4 or 10 books to read to catch up.
The first person to say “so many books and so little time” had it exactly right.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deb B, we’re kindred spirits! I find that as more and more of my favorite authors put out more and more books, I have more and more books in my TBR queue.
Marla says
Sometimes it can be 3 or more years between books in a series, especially if the author writes more than one series! So I go back to the previous book and re-read it to refresh my memory.
Annette says
http://www.dianaxarissa.com/images/bessiecover1.jpg
These are the books I am reading now, and I have been reading them in order. there are 8 books in the series, definitely cozy would highly recommend them and read them in order. Just love Aunt Bessie!
stellans says
Oh, Annette! These are on my “To Be Read” list, and I think I’ll move them to the front of it! I’m on the next to the last book of Lesley Cookman’s Libby Serjeant series (which I’m greatly enjoying) so I’ll look forward to Aunt Bessie. Thank you for the timely post!
Rho says
I enjoy these, too, and have no problem recommending them to my mom! (Can’t do that with some of the books I’ve read!) Definitely read them in order.
S. J. Pajonas says
This was a great thread to read! I’m publishing my first cozy at the end of March but I already knew that publishing the second book quickly would be my goal, so I have the second one planned for summer. I don’t like a lot of time to go by between books for the reason that even *I* can’t remember details or names!
I’m also an author that likes to build my characters over a whole series, so details in the second book will spoil the first book and so on. I guess my series will be a little bit different than the current ones out there (that and it takes place in Japan, so I’m sure I will be way out on the edge!)
Jimmy says
I usually end up reading the earlier book(s), putting me even farther behind. In fact, I’m doing that right now. Sometimes I try, and often fail, to remember certain series that I really enjoyed so I can check for new books. Does anyone remember the series about a girl who was a waitress, had a best friend who was hippie-like, and who was trying not to fall in love with a man who was almost a gangster-type and who had a gambling establishment. She had a little apartment with shabby furniture that he started trying to replace. He had bodyguards, one of whom cooked. Obviously, I remember about everything but the author’s name and the characters’ names and the titles. I would so appreciate any help. This has been bothering me for ages.
Anne says
Maybe, just maybe, you forget the characters because they are forget-able. Nobody ever forgot Poirot, Miss Marple, Sam Spade or Dalziel and Pascoe.
Margaret StashEmpress says
The difference is that the Poirot stories only contain four recurring characters– Poirot, Hastings, Miss Lemon, and the inspector — all with fixed and unchanging roles (detective, assistant/straight man, secretary, policeman) and nothing else you have to remember about them! No spouses, children, parents, siblings,friends, neighbors, love interests, pets. No character development or relationships changing. They are essentially one dimensional characters. If they have a life at all, it doesn’t take place in the pages of the mystery, and nor does it have to since these are detective stories where the emphasis is entirely on the story and not on the detectives’ lives. In short, not much to remember from book to book and no difference in what order you read them.
If a new author today would write a series like that they would probably get terrible reviews and not sell more than two books. Readers today demand a sleuth with a life. That requires a cast of supporting characters including family members, one or more love interests (preferably one that’s a policeman and one that’s not lol), a career complete with coworkers or at least a high maintenance hobby complete with an abundance of cohobbyists, not to mention a lifelike view of their hometown– filled with neighbors, shops, restaurants, places of worship, etc. — and all the people who fill up those places– and that’s a lot for the reader to remember!
Don’t get me wrong– I LOVE Poirot and Marple– but those were written in a different time for a different audience and very much doubt they would gain such popularity if written today.
Anne says
Well, we’ll agree to differ about the old writers, although I think Agatha Christie is a better writer than that, but Daziel, Pascoe, (Ellie!) Inspector Morse, are all modern creations with spouses, love lives and all the other things you mention, as is Wexford and his aide Mike Burden and his town of Kingsmarkham and many other examples I could give. Also the novels of Dickens are absolutely crowded with characters, incident, local colour and all the other things you mention yet who forgets his characters, even the minor ones?
Of course they are the gold standard and there is enjoyment to be got from writers of all capabilities but a lot of “cosies” are formulaic and they may have many characters but they are ALL one dimensional. Doesn’t matter, if that’s what you like, but I’m just trying to make a point that forgetting a book is not necessarily poor memory on the part of the reader but poor writing on the part of the author.
Anyway, each to his own. I know the ethos of this website is praise praise praise and “nary” a critical word but that gets boring so thank you for replying, Margaret. I like a bit of discussion, and I always like your posts too.
Lynn T. says
I do like a character list. The Darling Dahlia series has a list at the front of the book of each club member-their office if any in the club and their occupations. I even copied a map off Susan Wittig Albert’s site that shows houses and businesses that are mentioned in the books.
I often do what you do Danna is look at the reviews and blurbs of the previous book to catch up so to speak. I forget the storyline most of the time besides the characters. I do know if authors try to catch the reader up in the next book that many readers say it contains spoilers and they don’t need to read the previous book-esp if the murderer is named. I think most authors don’t give the murderer’s name from a previous book but I have seen it done.
I sometimes ask my sister what she remembers from a previous book as her memory must be better than mine. When she tells me, I say “Oh yeah! Now its coming back to me.”
I don’t usually read one book right after another. I remember one time when I really liked a book, I did. I thought when reading the 2nd book how nice it was that I remembered everyone and the plot from the 1st book. I do think it could ruin a series for me if I read one book after another in a large series. I would start to see the formula or storyline repeat more and other little things that the author did from book to book.
Even though I can’t remember all characters and story lines from previous books it doesn’t seem to bother me much. I get into the book and start enjoying it. I do remember story lines from books that are different in plotting and ones that I really loved or enjoyed.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lynn T, I have that exact problem >>> I start noticing similarities or maybe, as you say, a formula, or perhaps the author has an odd way of saying things (usually it’s just odd to me!) then I just become fixated! (And, I really mean fixated!)
Lynn T. says
Danna, This is a little off the subject but when you spoke about odd to you it reminded me of the word glowering. It is used in many cozy mysteries. If it is used once in a book, it is usually used more than that in the book. I have never had a friend or an acquaintance while talking use that word. There must be a dictionary for words to use in cozy mysteries and glowering is in it. Besides all of the glowering people, I have read about a glowering house and a glowering dog. Every time I read that word, it takes me out of the story.
One author had everyone howling. After I picked up on that word in her book, I noticed that she overused the word howling in other books.
I suppose to be fair I should say that I read the word glowering in crime fiction too but not as much as in cozies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lynn T, that’s the exact same feeling I was trying to describe. It totally “takes me out of the story”! (Now I’m going to start watching for “glowering” and “howling”!)
Rho says
I had that problem with a certain writer who used so many !!!!!! that it put me right off her books–and I liked her characters, so I was disappointed she did that. Seemed to get worse the more books she wrote in the series.
Suzanne says
I like to read cozies in order, though if only the first book is available I will read it. I find that as I go along in the following books I will remember the characters, backgrounds, and it drives me nuts when a writer will put in first book and second books that money for shop was from an inheritance and third book comes out and all of a sudden money for shop came from parents, divorce or some other place. If a reader can remember backgrounds why can’t writer or proof reader check facts previously given. I have even gone back to double check my memory on facts. Sorry about the rant. If I know a second book will be out soon then I will wait and read in order. If not I found reading the first will save me time because if I don’t care for one I don’t bother with the next.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Suzanne, I totally agree with you! When an author and the author’s editor get so sloppy that they can’t remember the facts presented in previous books, that’s when I leave that series. If the reader can keep track of the details, then why on earth can’t the people who are presenting those details keep track of them? I see that as laziness on their parts!
Margaret StashEmpress says
And not just the author but where are the editors and proofreaders? Isn’t someone somewhere supposed to be checking for continuity? I had read a book in a series that I had previously enjoyed from an author that I liked. In the second chapter, immediately following the murder, the victim’s son goes into another room to call his brother who lives across the country to notify him of mom’s death. Next couple chapters we have the funeral, etc., I’m waiting to meet the brother. Only the one son seems to be at the funeral. Okay maybe brother couldn’t come for some reason? Sleuth enters victim’s apartment. Mention of all the many pictures on the wall– of one son only at every age and stage. Friends of victim praise her for being such a devoted mother– to her one son.
So being a veteran mystery reader, I came to the only logical conclusion– either the son is the murderer or else is involved in some other criminal activity and when he said he was going in the other room to call his brother, he was obviously lying and was really wanting privacy so he could speak to his accomplice.
So I’m waiting and waiting for this to come out– and it never does! Someone else is the murderer and we never hear another word about the brother or that phone call. I finished the book feeling very frustrated and so I emailed the author and asked what that was all about???? She very kindly answered me (and not all authors do answer!!!) and even sent me a small gift certificate to someplace or other. She said there had originally been going to be another character, the brother, who she ended up not putting in. But she said I was the only person who had ever noticed that– nobody at the publishing house, none of the advance readers, none of the people who had read it so far (the book had been out for a year by the time I read it).
Go figure?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret StashEmpress, I would think that with all of the ARCs that are floating around out there, there would be plenty of people who would let authors know about silly mistakes that pertain to the basic set-up of the series. There is no excuse for a son to get lost within the first chapters of a first book in a series. It looks like you, as “a veteran mystery reader” were expecting too much from that particular author!
Margaret StashEmpress says
It wasn’t the first book in the series. I had already read and enjoyed previous books in the series — that’s why I was assuming the best. Though I did have another question for the author — once I already had her “ear”, as it were.
In a previous book in the same series the main clue found on the body, that ultimately led to the murderer, had no legitimate reason for actually BEING there. In real life no thief/murderer would have removed the items from their wrapping and thoughtfully left said wrapping alongside the body to point the way. It was the kind of thing he’d have stuck in his pocket and no one the wiser. So you all know me by now, I figured the clue was a red herring. Um no. It was a clue and pointed straight to the murderer.
I asked the author what that was all about. And the answer was… that it was needed to be there as a clue…. sigh…..
That bothered me more than the case of the missing character. In real life criminals don’t obligingly leave clues that have no reason for existing just to let the detective know what the victim was carrying and where to look for the perpetrator.
I think the author should have found some other, more plausible way of bringing out this information instead of just placing next to the body an object that had no legitimate reason to be there.
Okay, not my favorite author, but I continue to read her books because I do like her characters and at least she DID answer me.
(Unlike a different and very popular author who did not deign to respond when I wrote to ask about exactly how one of her victims was actually killed because she made a great deal about the trajectory of the bullet and that was a major plot point — except that for the victim to have been shot at the angle she claimed, he would have had to have been levitating in midair — horizontally yet. Wonder why she never answered me….
I’m perfectly willing to suspend my disbelief — but only so far….!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret StashEmpress, oh my gosh! If I read that, it probably wouldn’t have registered! >>> I’m not the best when it comes to guessing who the culprit is. And, if I’m able to figure out who the culprit is too early in the book, then I sometimes find myself peeking to the end of the book to see if I’m correct, and if I am, I do my 50 page rule and stop reading. (Which usually translates to about 12% of the book on my Kindle, since almost all of the Cozies these days tend to be 300 pages.)
Linda C says
Danna, Since I have been retired I just don’t have the money to actually buy new books any more so I have to rely on book sales , garage sales and the local libraries now.
If I want to try new to me writers I try to see how many books are on the shelves of whatever particular library I am in at the time.
Then I try to pick up the earliest book in the series. I will then get all the books in the series that that library has at that time.. Then when I get home I normally check your list to see if that writer is on your list anywhere and if you have any comment.
I live in the middle of 3 libraries that have lending libraries that if none of these libraries doesn’t have a particular book I want one of them will try to get it from another library for me. I might have to wait awhile but for me as much as I like to read the wait is worth it. Unless, of course, I get over anxious for the book!!
I read so many series books that I do tend to forget some of the lesser characters but very seldom do I forget the regular characters. Those characters become like old friends to me.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda C, when I just read your comment “Those characters become like old friends to me.” I was reminded of the point StashEmpress made a few comments above >>> about today’s series having more background development than the classics did years ago.
Hilary says
There are so many cozies to read, both new series and existing ones, that I too have a good-sized TBR pile and am way behind on a lot of different series. So yes, it really helps when the author reintroduces you to all the characters in the first chapter of each new book because it’s simply impossible to retain all the character names and info from a whole bunch of different series, especially if long periods of time go by between reading books from a given series. The info you tend to retain is usually from those longer-running series which are your top favorites or have some quirk or ‘hook’ to them that makes them especially memorable.
It also helps when authors choose to give their amateur sleuths an occupation that is different from the typical choices of librarian, bookstore owner or baker/caterer. Or there is some other element that makes a series unique and therefore more memorable.
There’s only one series featuring a domestic diva, and one with the owner of a haunted guest house, one cat quilt designer, one female fire chief, and one who writes for an outdoor adventure magazine. While there are a handful of family farmers, each farms a different crop in a different setting, and the two food truck owners live in very different places and have very different lives. While there are a handful of series featuring librarians, Charlie Harris is the only one who is male. His cat Diesel is a major character in his own right.
It also helps when the setting is a memorable character itself- the Scrapbooking series isn’t just fun to read to see what wacky adventures Carmela and Ava are up to but to experience glimpses of life in New Orleans. Meg Langslow’s hometown of Caerphilly, Virginia is as quirky and colorful as her large extended family. Candy Holliday’s Cape Willington, Maine is a charming coastal town but with a dark undercurrent of old and dangerous secrets related to a longtime feud between two old money families. Broken Rope, Missouri (Country Cooking School series) is an old west tourist town filled not only with living people but with the restless ghosts of people who lived and died there in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hillary, you have made a wonderful point about why we retain more background information about some characters than we remember about others. I hadn’t thought about it this way before reading your comment, but it makes total sense that the series that are unique in some way or another, are the ones that have characters who we remember so much better than the other series’ characters. The same can probably be said for their plots. And of course, our very favorite series’ characters (& plots) stay with us because they are our favorites.
Linda C says
Danna, I think some writers of series just have too many characters in their stories. It makes me wonder if the writer doesn’t forget those characters themselves!
Debbie Macomber’s “Cedar Cove” series, for example, has so many characters it’s hard to keep each character straight. Especially when each of her books are about a different family member.
I love that “Cedar Cove ” series and I will continue to read it but boy a little help with the characters would be a big help!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda C, it sounds like you really enjoy this series, though.
I just started a new-to-me author who I think I will enjoy, but she has the very same problem going on right now. I can’t keep the characters straight. Of course, it probably doesn’t help that the majority of the time I read, I’m in bed, trying to fall asleep!
Linda C says
Danna, Sometimes I think I am just getting to be like some of the other older ladies at the Senior Citizen Center that I attend twice each week in that I am starting to complain way too much. I like to read and I have a great many favorite writers.
As I have said many times before many times I forget these people in these books are fictional characters, people made up out of someone else’s imagination. If while I am reading I could keep that in my head I would be a whole lot better off.
But, as I said before, these characters become old friends to me.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda C, I know exactly what you mean about our favorite characters becoming old friends to us!