I started thinking about a comment Susie made two days ago. The comment was about how some of the authors on the March 2012 Mystery Book New Releases list are so prolific. It’s especially gratifying when one of your favorite authors is highly productive. When I finally “catch up” with a favorite author, I wonder what is taking them so long to write the next mystery in their series.
That started me thinking about the “newbies” amongst us. When a newbie hears that a mystery writer is really, really good at his/her craft, how does the newbie decide which one of the author’s several mystery series he/she should start with.
So, I decided to take a look at the March release list, pick out a few authors, and see what we can come up with to help all of the newbies decide which series to begin with?
This entry will only be about Laura Childs. In the following days I will highlight some of the other mystery authors from the list.
Laura Childs is one of the most popular (bestselling New York Times) Cozy Mystery authors today. She has been writing the following three mystery series since the very early 2ooos.
Tea Shop Mystery Series features the owner of a Charleston Tea Shop.
Scrapbooking Mystery Series stars the owner of a scrapbooking shop in New Orleans.
Cackleberry Club Mystery Series is set in a midwestern cafe that specializes in food, knitting, and even has a book section.
I will start the ball rolling: I think I would recommend the Tea Shop Mystery Series to a newbie Cozy Mystery reader. It not only was Childs’ first mystery series, but it is also my favorite.
Which one of Laura Childs‘ three series would you recommend a newbie to the Cozy Mystery genre to begin with? (And, would you mind telling us why?)
Andie says
Being a tea fancier and a dedicated foodie, I prefer the Tea Shop Mystery series first and the Cackleberry Club Mystery Series second.
I’ve been drinking and “collecting” teas (and tea things) for several decades and I love reading about it in any setting.
The only dichotomy is the character of a “master tea blender/taster” in a small shop. I’ve met a couple of these experts and could never picture one in such a setting.
It does make the stories more interesting.
I really haven’t been able to get into the Scrapbooking Mystery Series as the subject does not appear that much to me and the one I read was somewhat transparent, at least to me.
I can see that for crafty folks, it would be more appealing as she does get into some particular details about the process that would appeal to many.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Andie, I always think it’s fun to read a series that has a touch of a craft I enjoy. I’m a tea drinker, but stick with my decaf “Sleepytime” tea… which really doesn’t make me sleepy, but I love the minty taste.
Stephanie says
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to get around to reading any books by Laura Childs yet. So, I can’t really comment on that. But, needless to say, I’ll be watching this space carefully to figure out where to start!
But, completely off topic… Happy Valentine’s Day! I was kind of surprised not to see one of your cheerful little clipart pictures today – I always love your site around holidays because of your good choice of clipart. 🙂
Any particular recommendations for Valentine’s Day cozies? Either from your list (https://www.cozy-mystery.com/Valentine's-Day-Mystery-Book-List.html) or not yet on your list?
Thanks!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Why, thank you, Stephanie! I just put a cute little clip art Valentine’s Day puppy below the current entry.
I don’t think I could just recommend one of the Valentine’s Day mysteries. I have read several on the list.
Kristi aka FiberFool says
I’ve only read the tea shop series. Somehow, despite knitting as my profession I had missed the Cackleberry Club series completely. I knew about the scrapbook one, but hadn’t felt terribly interested in that hobby so haven’t bothered to read it at this point.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kristi, the good news is that you now have not one, but two more of Laura Childs’ Cozy Mystery series to read!
readerdiane says
I like all three, but the Cackleberry Club ranks third.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
readerdiane, I’m with you. Which would mean, since I enjoy Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery Series the most, I guess my second would be the Scrapbooking Mystery Series. It’s a tough call, though…
Sunny says
I’d recommend the Tea Shop series to start, then the Scrapbooking series. (I haven’t read the Cackleberry books yet). But I really like the Charleston setting. As bonus though, in either series you get yummy recipes in the back of the book!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sunny, it looks like all of us would recommend starting with Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery Series… so far, anyway!
alfred says
Hi all I recommend the Tea Shop mysteries to others. This is the first series that I started to read when I started to read mysteries. I haven’t tried the other two series yet but hope to. Has anyone had trouble getting into Scones and Bones The Pirate stuff is giving me a hard time getting into the book. Was wondering does anyone know what book Drayton was either hooked on or against tv but finally got it and started getting hooked thanks.
Danna says
Alfred, it sounds like several people found how much they enjoy Cozy Mystery books after reading the first of Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery Series.
Karen says
My recommendation to Sunny is to start with the Cackleberry series. Since it is the newest series, she has fewer books to read. Also, because it is set in a fictional location and does not revolve around a specific craft or hobby, the emphasis is on the characters. Whichever series she chooses, I think she will enjoy it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Karen. You make a good point – The Tea Shop Mystery Series has a lot of Charleston local color, and the Scrapbooking Mystery Series has a lot of New Orleans woven into the books. Also, when you don’t have a craft/hobby thrown into the mix, more time can be spent on the characters.
Deb says
I’m going to chime in with basically the same recommendation. I loved the tea shop mysteries from the beginning because of the characters and the mysteries. I was happy when the scrapbooking series came out because I spent a whole lot on scrapbooking supplies when I was working. Of course I didn’t have time to scrapbook, and now that I’m retired I can’t seem to get around to it, but I enjoy it vicariously and I love the New Orleans setting. It took me several tries to get into the Cackleberry Club, but she won me over for the same reasons – believable, pleasant characters (except the villains, of course), interesting mysteries and a fully realized setting.
I think it doesn’t really matter where you start with Laura Childs, as long as you try all three series, because you’ll get hooked on at least one of them!
Lynn T. says
Since there are three different themes-tea shop, scrapbooking and cozy cafe with a knitting and book center, think one should probably start with the subject matter that interests them the most.
I started with the tea shop series. The Cackleberry Series wasn’t written yet. Have read all three of the Cackleberry and several of the first Tea series. I like them both. Have the first scrapbooking one here to read but haven’t picked it up yet because the scrapbooking theme doesn’t interest me as much.
I never read straight through a series. Read a book and then go on to another author. So if a person liked the Laura Childs’ style of writing, they could try the first book in several of her series.
If I had to chose just one, it would be the tea series. Do think the Cackleberry series reads faster though.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lynn, your idea of not reading an author back to back makes a lot of sense. I did that with one of my (previously) favorite authors, and sort of got turned off by the books.
MJ says
I do like Cackleberry Club because it is set in Minnesota, as is Laura Childs. And, it’s always fun to recognize areas in a book you are familiar with. In the second book she put in the name of a lake which I’ve been to numerous times. She didn’t write a Cackleberry Club book in 2011, so perhaps she isn’t writing that series anymore. However, I like the Tea Shop series the best, even though I’m not a tea drinker. I also enjoy the Scrapbook series. Before she started writing the Cackleberry Club, she told a group of people (gathered in a tea shop) an author sometimes gets ‘burned out’ with a character and therefore, to keep fresh, needs to develop something new.
I think we make a HUGE mistake if we only read the books that have hobbies/activities we enjoy. I don’t drink tea or coffee. I don’t knit, crochet, embroider, quilt, scrapbook, make cards, decoupage, or make soap. I don’t have an herb garden. I don’t have any pets. I don’t collect antiques or renovate homes/inns. I’m not a judge, lawyer, beautician, or real estate agent. I don’t dance or do judo. (GUESS I’M BORING!!!)
However, I would MISS OUT on most of the series I enjoy, if I hadn’t read many, many of these books because I didn’t like the hobby, craft, activity, or occupation. If the story line includes details of the craft within it, I skip over those paragraphs. To me the most important part of the story is the development/interaction of the characters and, of course, the mystery. It is important to me that the story is well written and moves along quickly, keeping my interest. I think Laura Childs develops appealing main characters in interesting settings. There are other authors I like better, but I still wouldn’t miss any of Ms. Childs’ books in these three series. I also like the fact that her publisher allows her to write three series under ONE name (instead of many pseudonyms).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
MJ, I think it’s great that all three of Laura Childs’ mystery series are published under one and the same name. Keeping track of all the pseudonyms that current authors are (I’m guessing” required to have is a real drag to me.)
Wow! When you put it this way, I don’t do a lot of the things my favorite sleuths do, either. Most of all, I don’t follow murderers on nights, without my cell phone, into isolated, dark areas!
Lynn T. says
Good post MJ. You raise some interesting points. The really good books seem to have good casts of unique and/or quirky characers plus the main person. When that happens the hobbies/activities don’t matter as much. It is like TV shows when one likes most of the cast of characters a lot like The Closer, Cheers, and NCIS.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
So true, Lynn T. The characters are of the utmost importance in a good Cozy Mystery.
linda says
Lynn T. I just read this old reply of yours concerning the TV shows. There have been quite a few old TV shows that had good runs until one or more of the actors or actresses wanted off the show in order to further their career. After these people left the show the show didn’t seem to last very long. Also we seldom have seen many of these actors and actresses either. Except for John Boy we seldom see any of the Walton’s. I can’t remember ever seeing any of the gang on “Eight Is Enough.” I wonder how many of these people realized the mistake they made by wanting off these shows?
Julia says
To the point of whether we should ignore or embrace books that detail a hobby or activity we don’t enjoy, I have a slightly different opinion. I love learning new things from books – call it a taste developed from years of reading Dick Francis mysteries, where I learned various bits and pieces about photography, computers, good Scotch, weather patterns and arbitrage, to name just a few. But if I actively dislike a hobby or activity (and I’m afraid I really do actively dislike scrapbooking thanks to an overzealous friend determined to share her new passion) I really don’t want to learn anymore about it and all the good characters in the world aren’t going to make up for the author trying to foist his or her interests off on me. Life is just too short.
A lot of it depends, of course, on whether that hobby is background noise, like Miss Silvers’ knitting, or a focal point of the book, as in Ms. Childs’ mysteries. I think for her stories you actually need to have either an interest or at least no opinion at all about the craft her heroines practice, because those crafts are designed to be an integral part of who those characters are.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, I like your description of Miss Silver’s knitting as “background noise”! It would be totally out of the nature of Patricia Wentworth’s books to describe the yarns’ textures, colors, weights, ETC.
Judith says
I sometimes wonder how much our preferences are shaped by what we first encounter. I also prefer the Tea Shop mysteries over the Scrapbooking ones (the Cackleberry are on my TBR pile) – but would it be different if I had read the Scrapbooking ones first and then read the Tea Shop books?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hmmm, Judith. Perhaps we do cling to what we know. A lot of us might have started reading Childs’ Tea Shop series in 2001 >>> years before the Cackleberry series was even a blip on the radar…
(I know I that’s when I was first introduced to Childs’ Cozy Mysteries. One of the women in an online mystery reading group I belonged to suggested Death by Darjeeling as our pick one month.)
Margaret says
I discovered Laura Childs through her Cackleberry Club Mysteries-BEDEVILDED EGGS. I don’t like starting a new series in the middle, I do prefer to start from the beginning but I was not looking for a new series when I read this book. I had finished all of my Halloween books and this one looked cute. I read it and fell in love with it. I purchased the earlier two (but have not read them yet). Then I looked into the Tea Shop Mysteries and started to buy them (again have not got into them yet). I like my mysteries set along the East Coast so this series fits into my reading taste, where as the Cackleberry Club is in the Mid West (an area I am not so familiar with). I like to read books that take place in places (real or imagined) that I have a personal connection with.
I think for me, how I pick books/series is more random. Here I was just looking for another Halloween book to take me through the season and I found a new author to love.
I really think it is a matter of taste. I do like to hear recommendations from other people, and I have never been given bad advice.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret, you discovered the Cackleberry Club Mystery Series the exact way I discovered Kate Borden’s Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series. I started with Death of a Trickster because I wanted another Halloween mystery to “get me through” the season. I quickly read the other two in the series… one which was set during the next month’s Thanksgiving season.
Margaret says
Yes Danna, and because you recommended Kate Borden to me, I purchased all three of them. I’m going to start them in the Fall. But since I have all of them I can read them in order.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret, I hope you like her as much as I do. I sure wish she would put out more in that series! (Maybe someday she will put them out in e-book format…)
Sue says
Tea Shop first then Cackleberry. I always read all her books but the Scrapbooking series is 3rd for me.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
OK, Sue, so you decided to “shake things up” for the newbies!
susie says
I was so excited to see my comment sparked your post today! 🙂 I have to admit, I often select authors who are new to me if I can see they’ve already written a few books in the series. I’m so impatient, I don’t like to wait a year to find out what happens to the characters. (Although as an author just starting out myself, I hope all readers don’t feel that way!) 🙂
And I’m lucky enough to have a sister who passes me a few books in a series, so I read whatever she sends me!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lucky you for having a sister who shares her mystery books with you, Susie. My sister reads self-help books all of the time, which I do not want. (Not because I’m perfect and don’t need them, but because I can’t abide reading them!)
PS>>> Please let us know when your first historical mystery is published!
susie says
oh thanks! I will! It’s coming out in Fall this year, but I don’t know the exact date yet.
Yikes! Self-help books! No, I’d pass on those too.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susie, can’t mess with perfection!
Judy says
Recommend in this order:
Tea
Scrapbooking
Cackleberry
For some reason, I have not been able to read the Chamomile Mourning book in the Tea Series because it is never available at the two closest libraries. Is it extremely popular or something? Just curious.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Judy, I’m guessing that all of Laura Childs’ mysteries are extremely popular. Hopefully the copies of that particular Tea Shop Mystery haven’t disappeared from your libraries…
Barbara Thompson says
I too enjoy the tea shop mystery series and am anxiously awaiting her new one. Along the way you not only learn about tea but some of the history of the Charleston area.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Barbara, I have to admit that I tend to not really “learn” about the teas… Perhaps because I’m just not adventurous with my choice of teas, I don’t pay as much attention as I should…
Being able to visit Charleston (and not just read about it) is just another wonderful benefit of living on the East coast!
Kathryn says
I’d start with Tea Shop Mystery Series. I found Laura Childs years ago and love this series but never could get into the other two. I have never been interested in second series by any author except M. C. Beaton/Marion Chesney.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I have that same problem, Kathryn. Actually, until very recently, I thought I almost never enjoyed more than one series by an author. However, upon reflection, I am seeing that I don’t have that problem as much as I thought I did…
Angela H says
I am a big Laura Childs fan and own every book that she has written. I am partial to the scrapbooking mysteries and would recommend those first. I did have mom start with the tea shop ones and although she ended up liking it she said the names of the teas confused her a little. Laura was my first cozy writer I read and I now have over 120 cozies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angela, don’t you wonder what you did before you discovered Cozy Mysteries?!? It sounds like you have a lot of reading in store for you!
Lynn T. says
Danna,
I smiled when you said that you don’t follow murderers on nights, without your cell phone etc. How many times does one think,”I can’t believe they are doing that!”
I know it is common in cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths but I do prefer the sleuth using a modicum of sense when detecting. Otherwise, am thinking “I can’t believe it” I then think the sleuth is somewhat of a ditz and completely implusive.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lynn T., I have dropped several Cozy Mystery authors from my favorite authors list based on the “I can’t believe it” scenario that we are supposed to believe… especially if it’s a reoccurring theme in their books … Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Deb says
I call it TSTL – Too Stupid To Live.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deb, I guess it’s an author’s prerogative to have (as you say) TSTLs in their books. I just don’t particularly care for some of the (as Ebert & Siskel used to say) “idiot plots.”
ginger says
i prefer tea shop first. scrapbooking second. i read the tea shop since it first came out. scrapbooking because it is a good series and i live in louisiana.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ginger, it sounds like you are in the majority here!
Arlene says
I too began with the tea shop books and love them because I spent 3 whole days in beautiful Charleston and it is almost like a visit to a very beautiful city. The Cackleberry is ok but although I also enjoy New Orleans, I just couldn’t “get into” the books. Maybe interest or lack thereof matters, I knit, but do not scrapbook. However, whle I enjoy learning about it, tea can stay in the shop.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Arlene, this is quite an endorsement of Laura Childs’ ability to flesh-out her Tea Shop Mystery Series’ Charleston setting!
Regina says
Danna I like the Tea shop mysteries the best. I enjoy the descriptions of Charleston, and I like the idea of a mature sleuth. The recipes make me drool but I would never attempt the goodies myself.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, a lot of my sleuths are “mature”>>> Miss Marple, Hildegarde Withers, and Betsy Devonshire are great examples…
Angela says
This post has brought up another interesting thought for me (and maybe a new post discussion??). I was wondering what most of the site users do when faced with an author who has multiple series, you try one of the series and decide you don’t like it, do you give one of the authors other series a try? I’m asking here because, although I appear to be in the minority, I tried the Tea shop series when it first came out, read the first 3 books and just couldn’t get into it no matter how much I wanted too. I mean, Charleston and tea, how could I not like it?! Because of that I have not felt the urge to try either of her other series’. With all the wonderful comments here it has me wondering if I should.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angela, your comment about what we do when an author has multiple series, is a great topic. I will post an entry that asks this question…
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I just reread all of the comments, and it looks like we would recommend that newbies to Laura Childs should begin with her Tea Shop Mystery Series. Her Scrapbooking Mystery Series seems to be the second one we would have the newbie move on to, with the Cackleberry Club Mystery Series being third.
Thanks to all of you for your great comments. I hope this is helpful to those of you who have yet to read any of Laura Childs’ mysteries – but are thinking of trying her.
aurian says
I am mostly lurking on this blog, but Laura Childs is my favourite cozy author. I love all of her series, and you certainly don’t have to like scrapbooking to enjoy this series. It plays in New Orleans, that is more than enough as a lure, such a great setting.
Also, the Cackleberry Club is totally different again, with three heroines, and a bit more middle aged.
But yes, the Tea Shop mysteries were my first love.
Cathy says
Like the post above, I love that the scrapbooking books are set in New Orleans. These books are as much if not more about the spirit and the place than scrapbooking. I have only read this series. The first one was given to me by a scrapbooking friend. I enjoy that aspect but I like the mysteries and New Orleans settings even more.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Welcome to the site, Aurian. I’m glad you decided to post!
Cathy, I know that the first thing that drew me to Monica Ferris was that the sleuth owns a needlecraft store. I think that the themes are what draws us to an author’s series, but the writing is what keeps us there.
Edie Dykeman says
I’ve read books from all three, but I like the Tea Shop Mysteries the best. Not sure why because all three are interesting.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Edie, I think it’s a huge endorsement of an author to hear someone say they read all three of their series.
Betsy Bean says
Coming from the world of coffee and tea, I have read the entire Tea Shop series and fell in love with the locale, the quaint shop, the assortment of characters, and the ongoing relationships between those characters. The informational value is a prize for me as I had no idea that this tea blended with that pastry or this tea matches that sandwich. How delightful! The mystery plots were enough to be believable, but enough out of reality to belong in a book. I have enough reality in the real world! I tried the first in her Scrapbooking series but could not get a hook into her characters. It could be a tea thing. Although I scrapbooked for many years, I’m thinking the locale has a bit to do with not getting hooked right away. Perhaps I should give it another chance. I finished off Scones and Bones and missed the descriptions and information on Teas but enjoyed the mystery itself. I may actually like Tidwell. Happily there is one more to go, The Agony of the Leaves, and I can’t wait to visit the Indigo Tea Shop again. That to me is a good cozy – going back to friends and places you wish were real! So enjoy Laura Child’s Tea Shop mysteries and remember that South Carolina gets hot in the summer!
Andie says
I too love that the Tea Shop mysteries have delved into the relationship between certain teas and certain foods. And I love the setting, Charleston is almost magical.
I can also tell you from personal experience that there was a time when any tea, other than the ubiquitous southern “sweet tea” – iced of course – was all that could be found in any commercial establishment in Charleston.
I visited cousins there several times in the ’50s and ’60s and other than at the home of one cousin, hot tea was not an option. Asking for hot tea in a restaurant would attract looks that would make one wish to crawl under the table…
Things have changed greatly in the past fifty years. It is a city that does lend itself well to lovely, cozy mysteries, with a truly historical perspective on almost every corner.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Betsy, it’s neat that you have been able to get some ideas of tea blends that go well with different foods.
shelleyrae @ Book'd Out says
I’m just about to start the Cackleberry Club series though they are all tempting!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Let us know how the Cackleberry Club Mystery Series goes for you, Shelleyrae.
Erin says
I started with the Cackleberry Club series, and adored it–and then my mom pointed out that Childs also authored the Tea Shop series, which I also like. The feel of the two series is so different, but I think the plot and characters are equally well drawn. If you like one of the series, chances are pretty good that you’ll be hooked on the other, too. 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Erin, I’ll be sure to take your vote into account when I tally the votes on which of Susan Wittig Albert’s series we think a “newbie” should begin with.
Carina says
I would recommend to begin with the Teashop Mystery Series. These books are very informative not only concerning everything Tea but also in many other areas. Also I totaly “adore” Theodosia and the series simply draws you in and grabs ahold of you right from the start.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Carina. As it turned out, the tallying came up with Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery Series, also. Even before I asked the question, I figured it would.
Julia says
I haven’t read any of the Cackleberry Club mysteries yet (though the first one is on my TBR shelf). I enjoy the Tea Shop mysteries though, largely because of the way she sets the scene. Charleston is a beautiful city, and she really makes you feel like you’re walking down by the Battery or in a boat out in the marsh. She does a lovely job setting the scene with the Scrapbooking mysteries as well, and I find New Orleans equally appealing. With that series though, I find the heroine rather annoying and I’m afraid I loathe scrapbooking so that series is a struggle I have abandoned.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, Tea Shop was my first series with Laura Childs’ mysteries, with her Cackleberry Club as my second. The settings are so important in a Cozy Mystery series, aren’t they?
[I keep photo albums for both of my children, as well as some for my husband and me. I much prefer the actual pictures over cute cut-outs with clever sayings. I use index cards to write the “who, where, & when” information, and those cards are cut very narrow, so they don’t interfere with the pictures.]
Hrdwlby says
I love all sorts of mysteries and stumbled upon Laura Childs by accident. I like reading books on my iPad and my library has several of her books available as ebooks. I started with the Tea Shop series which I am thoroughly enjoying. Frequenting tea shops is a favorite past time so these books literally hit the spot. I enjoy reading the recipes although I haven’t tried any of them yet.
I went looking for more books by Laura Childs and found the Scrapbook Mystery series. I happen to love New Orleans so reading these books brings back the feel of this exciting series. Although I’m not a scrapbooker, there are some great ideas for other craft projects along with recipes in these books.
I enjoy the character development in the books. The characters fit the cities and settings.
I just learned about the Cackleberry Club and look forward to reading them.
Laura Childs style is engaging and often humorous as she tells her mystery tales. I don’t think anyone could go wrong no matter where they start!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hrdwlby, I hope you enjoy Laura Childs’ Cackleberry Club Mystery Series as much as you do her Tea Shop Mystery Series.
Charlie says
I’ve read all three of the series. The Tea Shop books are my favorites; I started with them and do love the Charleston setting. Thanks so much for the Cozy Mystery site.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Welcome to the site, Charlie. I remember years ago when I was trying to find some Cozy Mystery authors to try out, it was almost impossible! I had to actually go to the library and go through the mystery book shelves to see if anyone “stood out” as a Cozy Mystery author. I think this site is much easier than that!
Helen Criticos says
I have read all of the Teashop, Scrapbooking, Cackleberry series. I think they are great. Can’t get enough.