I recently got a letter from a Cozy Mystery site reader who asked about the books in Barbara Cleverly‘s Laetitia Talbot Mystery Series. Why, she asked, did I have the WWI, archaeology-themed mysteries out of order?
Upon doing a little research, I found that the second mystery in the series was actually written before the first book in the series, so it makes it a prequel to the first book in the series… sort of like George Lucas’ Star Wars first three movies being followed by the prequel years. I mean, how can the 1977 Star Wars movie be part IV, when part I didn’t get released until 1999.
That got me thinking: If you were going to embark on reading a new-to-you author who had a prequel amongst the mysteries in the author’s series, would you cut to the chase (so to speak) and read the prequel mystery first, and then follow it with the rest of the books in their chronological order? OR Would you stick to the publication order and read the prequel wherever it falls in the series… as the publisher intended?
I have to admit that my obsessive compulsive disorder would totally dictate what I would do. There is no way I would be able to stop myself from reading the prequel before hitting the rest of the mysteries in the series.
What would you do?
Petie says
I have to agree with you there – if there is in fact a prequel I, too, would have to read it first just to get a feel for the series to follow.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Petie, I read a Jill McGown Chief Insp. Lloyd & Sgt. Hill Mystery years ago that was written in an every-other chapter type of format. Once I figured out the past-present pattern, I read every other chapter and then went back and read every other chapter until I finished the book. (I was very glad McGown played around with the technique and then decided to not do that again!) I want my mysteries in chronological order!!!
Susan Kathrein says
I would read the prequel, as it is the history leading up to the series, which should come first before releasing a series. Hence the word- Pre-quel..
Maria (BearMountainBooks) says
Prequel first. The character development is so important to me that I don’t want to go back and read what happened “Before.” I want to read it as it develops! Historicals for me are the same thing. I want to read it in the order it happened!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maria, as someone who enjoys the character development perhaps more than the actual crimes, I totally agree!
Ellen says
If given a choice I would read the prequel first BUT in the Nina Reilly series by Perri O’Shaughnessy the prequel was written several books into the series. I discovered the series after the 2nd or 3rd book had been written & OF COURSE I started with the 1st! THEN here comes the prequel. I told my OCD self to think of it as a TV show that has a flashback episode & it was much easier to accept. 🙂
I’m so glad that there are others out there who feel the need to read a series IN ORDER. I know the author usually writes so that you can pick up any book & get filled in on who’s who but reading the books in order is so much more satisfying.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ellen, after reading your comment about prequels that are written after several books, I think I can say that I simply don’t like prequels! You’re right comparing it to a television flashback… unless it’s an incredibly funny sitcom reverting back to the “rocking 70s or the disco-ing 80s” >>> I’ll pass!
Laura says
Interesting question. Ask yourself this: Why did the author write a “prequel”? Does the prequel only make sense after you have gotten to know the characters? I think of a prequel as a flashback. One of my favorite Poirot stories is the one where we find out how he received the silver flower vase he wears on his lapel. It had more of an impact coming later in the series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Laura, I think that your Poirot example is a very good one in favor of prequels.
However, I think that it all depends on the particular series. I have always thought of Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple series as being more like Stand Alone mysteries. Yes, I know that Poirot retires, and that Capt. Hastings and Inspector Japp eventually are gone, but, it seems (to me) that you don’t absolutely need to have read the previous mysteries to know what is going on – if you read them out of sequence. (Except, of course, The Big Four, in which case the reader might be all together mixed up.)
Anne says
I’m afraid my OCD would require the opposite…as published. Love these thought provoking posts…thanks.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anne, I can’t take credit for the idea… Angela’s letter got me thinking…
Stephanie says
I would probably go with as-published…
As Laura says, a lot of times, I feel like authors (or their publishers) decide not to publish the prequel first for a reason.
For example, the prequel may be more character-driven and less action-packed than some of the other books. So the author (or publisher) decides not to publish the prequel first, thinking that readers need to get hooked by the series before they really care about all the character development.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Stephanie, I enjoy character development more than action in a mystery, but I have to admit that if a first book in a mystery series doesn’t catch my interest, I don’t bother reading beyond page 50. You’re probably correct about the second book in a series being a better time for the author to develop the characters.
Jackie says
I would probably read in the order published. I would assume the author wrote them in the order published and wanted them read that way.
I HATE reading books out of order. When someone recommends a book to me, I check if there are others by the same author, just in case they are a series. I read a Nevada Barr book, and a Diane Mott Davidson book, out of order for a book club I joined. I missed the whole point! Won’t do it again if I can help it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jackie, when I was a member of two on-line Cozy Mystery reading groups, we had an unwritten rule that we would only read the first books in a series. This meant that the recommending person usually had already read the author, but that way, the rest of us could start the series from the beginning.
Judith says
I admit I was puzzled by the Laetitia Talbot books, until I discovered that the first book published was the second book she wrote. (There was some stuff in that first book I read that made a lot more sense once I read the second book published.) I would read that series in chronological order. On the other hand, one of my favorite fantasy series bounces around in time and that series I tend to read in publication order rather than chronological. This only works where the author has a strong hold on the continuity.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Judith, I don’t read fantasy (or sci-fi) but I would guess that jumping around in time would be lend itself to those genres better than it does to mysteries.
linda says
Danna,
This is a little weird that you would have this topic at this time. I know this series is not “Cozy mysteries” but I love a certain series that pertains to a group of lady friends who run a quilting inn, or vacation workshop in Pennsylvania. A lot of the books in the series will go back to different time periods. I guess this backwards rereading didn’t bother me until I picked up the new release in the series and discovered the time frame for this is 2028! I am going to read this book because I love this series. But, I am not going to like it if any of the main characters from the previous books have either died or have been killed off!
Samantha_kathy says
Are you talking about the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini? I’m not very far into that series yet, but I totally get what you’re saying here!
linda says
Samantha, yes I am talking about the “Elm Creek Quilt” series. I love this series . I love the characters in this book. Sylvia is one of my all time favorite characters and I just don’t want to read of her dying yet! But in this series she is already a “senior” citizen. How is she still going to be around in 2028!
Samantha_kathy says
I can’t recall how old she is in the first book, somewhere at the end of her 60s I think. So she could be alive but just…very old? My grandmother made it to 92 in reasonably good health, so it’s possible.
susie says
I would read them for sure as published. (I also had my son watch selections from Star Wars IV, V, and VI–the original series–before watching the travesty I, II, and III–to think he could view Darth Vader as a fun loving kid makes me crazy! And the biggest cinematic reveal was when we discover that Vader is Luke’s father. Come on! all that would be spoiled!) (Excuse the parenthetical rant…I know what blog I’m on! 🙂 ). Generally, the reveals seem richer that way.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susie, I totally agree with your reference to Star Wars I, II, and III as a “travesty” >>> We couldn’t wait to see Star Wars I, I actually went to a theater. My daughter and I would have left during the movie had my son not wanted to stay. Needless to say, I haven’t seen II or III…
linda says
I love the Star Wars Series. I have watched episodes 4, 5 &6 over and over and I will more than likely watch them several times again and again. I really liked 1,& 2 but what I didn’t like about the ending of the series
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was when Luke and Leah’s father was portrayed in the end as having a a good heart, as really being a good guy in the end. To me, Anakan, in the end, was portrayed as having all the hateful things he did in episode 3 forgiven. In episode 3 Anakin killed off anyone who he thought would stand in his way, young and old. The sight of the innocent young Jedis laying dead on the floor was too much for me. I don’t know if I could really forgive any family member who killed innocent children that way. Reminds me of actions of Ceasar ordering the deaths of children after the birth of Jesus Christ.
I know, I know Star Wars is just fiction and yes we are supposed to forgive people of their tresspasses but killing innocent children like Anakin did would be a tough row to hoe for me.
Regina says
Just back from my cruise. I enjoyed reading many older series in order that I downloaded on my Nook. I found a new series about a retired police officer in Palm Springs CA. It was excellent with great descriptions of the climate and in that area. The author’s name is Albert Simon if you want to add his name to the list. Danna and Alfred, my book lights were fabulous and they doubled as a flashlight. It was hard to return to chilly weather but it’s not truly December.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, I can’t take any credit for those book lights. Alfred is the one who told me about them.
I hope your cruise was wonderful, and that you didn’t spend all of your time reading!
Regina says
Danna The cruise was great. We bought a transport chair so my husband could wheel me around and I saw more of the ship, but I still kept reading. I came home to find 4 new books waiting for me Mary Daheim’s, Susan Hill’s, P.D James, and James Doss. Daheim’s book was great but she referred a great deal to a previous book which I must reread.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, my husband and I have talked about going on a cruise MANY times. So far, we haven’t. (I went on one with my siblings and mother years ago, and had a wonderful time seeing Alaska.)
Judith says
I think cruises are the best vacations – I’ve been on 4 (and 2 were to Alaska!). And now with eReaders, I can take enough books to read! It is also a great way for the family to get together – one of the Alaska cruises was for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary and the whole family went. We could go our own ways during the day and meet up at dinner!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Judith, if my husband and I ever go on a cruise, Alaska is at the top of my list. (And, I am pretty sure Santa is bringing me a Kindle… so I should be all set up for sailing!)
Angela says
Well since this post is based on my question to Danna, (yeaaa I inspired a post) I guess I’ll chime in too. Normally my OCD would require me to read in published order however the other part of my OCD would have me researching the series to find out why it’s out of order. So if I learned that it was published as intended by the author I would stick to that but, as was the case with the Talbot series, this was a publishers decision I assume based on marketing of the series and so I probably would have read this one in chronological order had I known. I think this was the first case I have run into where it has really made a difference. When I read the “first” book in the series it seemed like there was alot of background information that I was missing and I wasn’t sure why, now I know! 🙂
Oh and thanks Danna for making the note on the page for future readers of this series!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angela, thanks to you, I was able to amend Barbara Cleverly’s page. Thanks for the entry’s topic!
Donna (A Distant Murder) says
Prequels and sequels and bears, oh my! It’s too confusing for me. I agree that a flashback within a book gives interesting insight into the character, but it is my personal opinion that the whole prequel/sequel thing is really about making money on an established series, or maybe an author chooses to write one just to refresh their own methods and ideas by viewing their characters from a different perspective. Most pre/se books are written well after the first books have been published.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Donna, I don’t mind a short “flashback within a book” but once I follow a series, I guess I just sort of expect it to move chronologically.
Samantha_kathy says
I’ve debated this for several series, actually. There’s Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series (thrillers) where there are about 4 books, I think, in chronological order, then we jump back in time and start seeing how Mitch Rapp became the person he is in the first few books. There’s also a series with a vampire in the lead role that jumps back and forth in time between the books. Both series are ongoing, making it hard to read it in chronological order.
In the end, I decided that both series were better read in publication order. No matter how hard an author tries to write a prequel, the knowledge of what is in the other books will always be in the author’s head, and the books often make more sense in the order the writer wrote them than the chronological order. Especially with a series like the vampire series (I cannot remember the name right now), where the books jump between different time periods. I always reckon the author decided to tell the story like that for a reason, so I read it as the author intended.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule :D.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Samantha_kathy, I get confused enough of the time without throwing the “alternate universe” type of back-in-time thing into the mix!
Ann says
Definitely prequel first.
Ann
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I’m with you, Ann >>> Prequel, it is!
linda says
Danna, you have such good topics for those of us who seem to be regulars to this forum! I love this forum.
One thing I really love to do is to take my time and walk up and down the isles of the libraries looking for new-to-me authors. I love the series type books because I too love plot and character development. But I have found that if any certain author has several books in a series the books in the middle are the ones to read first! Make sense! NO! What I mean is sometimes the first 1 or 2 books in a series are not written very well and sometimes the plots and characters are just too unbelievable or boring. It is like the author is just getting into the hang of writing and not doing a very good job of it. But, as the storyline goes on the writer seems to get better with each book. But I want to know how the story began, how did the main characters get into this particular situation. So then I will go back and read the first books in the series .
I guess in order to make what I am saying understandable I will use the Kaitlyn Dunnett Liss MacCrimmon series. I just read “A Wee Christmas Homicide” and I loved this book. I had tried reading her earlier books in this series and just couldn’t get into this series. But now I want to know the story of Liss so I will go back and read the first books again, in order.
I hope this makes some sense.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Actually, Linda, this does make sense. My husband and I have talked about this very same problem. It seems to us that sometimes, it takes an author a few books to really get the hang of what they want to do with the series. Perhaps the first two books aren’t that terrific>>> and then the author hits his/her stride and writes four or five wonderful mysteries. Unfortunately, the author then gets repetitive, and the books don’t seem as appealing. Rather than stop the series, the author continues to churn out the books.
I have had to drop many authors who I once considered my favorites…
Edie Dykeman says
Prequels definitely bother me when they come into a series that has already been established. The Star Wars movies are a perfect example as my grandson and I are watching the series through Netflix. For my own sake we started with IV and V that I originally saw back in the 1970s.
I don’t mind flashbacks within a book, but to have a whole novel as a prequel doesn’t make sense to me unless the author didn’t plan ahead or the publisher is trying to extend the series. I would rather read everything in order.
Great topic, by the way.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Edie, I think it’s a safe bet to start the Star Wars movies at the beginning… meaning with episode IV. I have a feeling that if someone started at episode I, they might decide not to continue!
Tom says
What a smart topic Danna. I agree with you I would go bonkers if I read them out of order. The smallest of details like the cat in the Mrs. Jeffries series takes on a whole new meaning if you know how it came the house. I think it’s those small details that make me feel…..comfortable and familiar with characters. Like I have a history with them.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Tom, it’s terrific when an author can make us feel like we share a history with the characters in the book. Really successful Cozy Mystery series do just that >>> they make us feel like we live in the same community, neighborhood, and in some cases, house as our sleuths.