This year I started a different type of reading – at least it is different to what I’ve done in the past. Since I enjoy reading holiday Cozies so much during their appropriate seasons, I have started re-reading some of my favorite holiday Cozies >>> out of sequence!
This year had me revisiting Jessica Fletcher in Cabott Cove, Lucy Stone on Red Top Road, Gloria Lamerino in Boston, and Hanna Swenson in Lake Eden. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas felt particularly Cozy with all my favorite sleuths. (This is one time when my not-so-great memory comes in handy!)
I have to admit that it was a little disconcerting re-visiting Toby as a toddler a month after spending time with Toby as a father of a toddler! (Toby comes from Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone Mystery Series.) But, I found that as long as I thought of each book as a total entity rather than part of a chronological series, I was able to submerge myself into the correct mindset.
Now if they would just convert all of my favorite holiday Cozies to Kindle format! I’d love to spend time with Henry Tibbett and Peggy Jean Turner next holiday season!
Margaret StashEmpress says
While I don’t particularly read by season, I do frequently read out of sequence simply because sometimes I can only read them as I find them! I don’t mind the “Toby as toddler” to “Toby as father” type of jump between books. What I do mind is when the author gives “spoilers” to past books — some authors are very careful never to do that — Lillian Jackson Braun was very masterful in that sense I think — for example, she’d mention that a woman had been alone for a few years, or some comment about her husband not being with her any more — without specifying if the husband had died or decamped in previous books — or if he had been the victim or the perp in previous books! Otoh, there are many newer writers who feel they have to give away all the past books just to show you — so they give you all the details of who killed who & who went to jail for what from each of their previous books, just in passing — when it’s really totally not necessary to the current plot for you to know that — and totally spoils all previous books for you if you haven’t already read them. This really bugs me. Its enough to say, “the town was blossoming under the new administration” — no need to say, “the town was blossoming since city councilmen Jim, Bill and Sam went to jail for embezzling town funds, Mayor Tom murdered his secretary, and Sheriff John was found to be having an affair with DA Mary & they ran off leaving their spouses & 15 children behind…” — thus spoiling the previous 4 books!!!!
joQ says
Ooooh, you are SO RIGHT! I don’t often support the “Previously, on Twin Peaks …” format. Unless I’m watching Twin Peaks, of course. Sometimes, a story just happens to grow from book to book in a way necessitating direct references to past events, but sometimes it feels forced. I have a suspicion, though, that it’s not always the author’s idea to include such summaries….
Susy says
I often buy the first book by an author at a used book sale for $1.50, so I will take a book where ever it may fall in a series. I find that I usually don’t decide to buy more books by authors who do that. On the other hand, had I read the first book in the Monica Ferris Needlework series, I might not have read any others. Since I read the second one first, and she did not give away too much of the first book, I went back and read it and have continued to read the series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susy, I guess I like series where whatever happens to the characters (outside of the mysteries themselves) happens slowly. I like series, but I am not looking for rapid changes. So, reading the second book before the first is usually not be a problem for me unless the author decides to make a lot changes (which I generally find disconcerting anyway).
Linda says
Excellent point, Margaret. Subtlety is important in writing and is too often lost when authors feel the need to create a “stand alone” feeling in a book that’s part of a series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret StashEmpress, I love your Mayor Tom/Sheriff John scenario!
Pat says
Oh….the Henry Tibbett mysteries by Patricia Moyes was my first introduction to the “cozy” mystery genre and I devoured them all. I would love to go back and reread them all and wish that they would all be available in the Kindle format as many of them are now hard to find.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Pat, I am waiting for that very same thing to happen. I love this series!
LiterarySnob says
Margaret StashEmpress: You are focusing on what is wrong with the series! I have found that I just enjoy the story the author has to tell. I have read the whole Lucy Stone series and yes, I did have “issues” after the first book, however I just went with the story. I love the Lucy Stone series!
Margaret StashEmpress says
Oh I love the Lucy Stone series too! And that’s not one of the series I was referring to in my “scenario”. Its not that I’m focusing on what’s “wrong” with a series — rather that after I’ve read a book with all those spoilers, when I pick up one of the previous books, and its all about the mayor’s secretary being murdered, well I’m not going to enjoy it very much if I’ve already read in a later book that the mayor himself was the murderer, now am I? Wouldn’t it have just sufficed to have a new mayor with a new staff — and leave it at that? No need to mention in a later book what precisely happened to the previous mayor and/or his staff — who would care? And if I pick up another earlier book in the same series — and there’s some missing town funds being investigated — well I already know which 3 councilmen were the embezzlers – so what’s the fun in reading that book???? My point is that the story is just as enjoyable WITHOUT throwing in all those gratuitous spoilers for previous books — because you know — not everyone in the world reads books strictly in order — so if someone picks up a book in middle of a series and likes it — don’t you think it would be to the author’s best interests that this reader should be interested enough to pick up all the previous books in the series? Instead of spoiling that possibility????
Brenda Maloney says
I totally agree with Margaret. I feel cheated when that happens. One thing I do like is if the past characters are mentioned going on with their lives. For example they are mentioned buying groceries and run into the characters in the current book.
Roger says
I’ve been reading a lot of Amish fiction over the past 5 years. I have created a similar habit. Between Black Friday and New Years Day I read Christmas stories.
Carolyn says
I would LOVE to find some of the older books, like the Henry Tibbett mysteries, on kindle! I have noticed lately that Bookbub & BookSends are offering some of the old authors like Catherine Aird, Mary Roberts Rhineheart, etc. for tablets. Unfortunately it is hard to find these authors in libraries anymore. I don’t usually read in sequence – just as I come across the books. I will sometimes go back & read from the beginning of the series to be able to establish a relationship timeline; such as Emma & Milo in the Alpine mysteries & Debra & Dwight in the Margaret Maron books . Unfortunately, two of my favorite series have recently been discontinued by the author – Margaret Maron’s Bootleggers Daughter series & Nancy Martin’s Blackbird Sisters. I love both these series & it makes me sad to think that there won’t be any more of their stories. I did really appreciate Nancy Martin’a publishing an ebook that wrapped up to some degree the sister’s stories. Still felt like there were more stories to be told.?
MJ says
What? What? WHAT? No more Deborah and Dwight books? Maron is one of my favorite authors and I have been watching for the next release in this series.
I just looked at her facebook page where she explains the decision not to continue with the series is hers. She feels she’s gone as far as she can with the Deborah character. Because of the nature of the stories, I do understand her reasoning, but still wish she’d find a way to continue. Soooo sad. Since she is such a terrific storyteller, I hope she’ll start another series.
The characters in the Blackbird Sister series were VERY complex, to say the least. I sometimes just had a difficult time understanding or even liking them. However, Martin always wrote a good/compelling mystery. She started a new series a year or so ago, but I haven’t read it.
Hanna says
I have discovered several series by picking the first one out of sequence. But it does not always work. I have recently, thanks to comments here, discovered Louise Penny and her books really should be read in sequence. Her Bury Your Dead practically reveals the finding of a previous book The Brutal Telling.
I loved Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael books but she agreed – I had a chance to speak with her at a book signing event – that one has to start with the very first: A Morbid Taste for Bones, where one does not know whether a major character is a friend or a foe.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hanna, lucky, lucky you! I love her Brother Cadfael series…
maggie says
Because I no longer drive, I started buying paperback series….then that got too expensive after a few years, so I started rereading series, a book here, a book there. Amazes me how much I forgot – I would have sworn I knew practically every book thoroughly!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maggie, that’s exactly what I am finding! I mean, when I read about Toby in diapers, I know he’ll graduate to parenthood. But I’m not so good with the actual mysteries’ details…
Sharon says
Thanks for the suggestions, Danna. I just ordered Mistletoe Murder and Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder from the library. I’m still in the holiday spirit! And I’ve never read these authors so I’m looking forward to them.
Jane says
I don’t usually like to read series out of order; in fact right now I’m re-reading the Henry Tibbett series, strictly in order, and really enjoying it. Some books I barely remember; i must not have read them as many times as others.
Tonya Kappes says
Out of sequence is hard for me. Eeck! I admire you!
Ginger g says
I did that with the sue grafton books. I started with great and went backwards
Mary Joy says
Boo hoo. I wish there were more Peggy Jean Turner books. Another author I really enjoyed – three books were not enough!
LuAnn says
That’s part of the attraction of holiday-themed books for me. It’s like another tradition to bring them out each year and re-read them…kind of like we might watch Rudolph, Frosty and It’s a Wonderful Life each Christmas season. :O)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
LuAnn, this is the first year I’ve set out to do this, and I enjoyed it so much that I will probably continue it in the future…
Vivian Conroy says
I love the Brother Cadfael mysteries and I came to the series by way of a later book, and only read the first one much later. My fave ones are: One Corpse Too Many (because Hugh meets Aline there!), The Rose Rent and Brother Cadfael’s Penance (obviously for his own very personal struggle there, but also because the plot surrounding the siege of the castle is excellent). I reread them regularly, out of order, as I know the timeline anyway. They are my fave way to spend a weekend afternoon, with hot tea and snacks at hand.
Happy reading, all!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Vivian, I love those books — and the shows too!
MMJ says
I can be OCD when it comes to reading in order, often leaving a series until I can get the next correct-in-sequence book. Sadly, it’s one of the reasons my TBR boxes are full — I used to get all I could in a series so I would always have the next one handy. (That stopped when I lost my job in 2008. After that, I vowed not to spend money on books until my TBR boxes were empty. Hello, Library and e-freebies! Been very good — not perfect — these past nine years, though TBRs still pretty full.)
Anyway, I don’t have a problem *re-reading* books/series out of order, it’s just new entries I prefer to read in order. I guess unlike most of the posters, I think of cozies as soap operas rather than episodic TV shows, though there are series that don’t rely on previous entries. I like seeing the characters grow and change and don’t mind the odd reminders of what’s happened in the past. I have read series entries out of order, I just prefer not to.
As for theme reading… I mainly do that with cozy Christmas anthologies because I don’t always get them when they’re first issued or because I may not read all the authors included.
As mentioned, I have re-read holiday-themed books from differing series during the holidays. (Is there anything better than curling up with a Clare Cosi Winter mystery and a warm cup of cappuccino on a cold night?)