Read in order?

ForumCozy Mysteries

Melde dich bei LibraryThing an, um Nachrichten zu schreiben.

Read in order?

Dieses Thema ruht momentan. Die letzte Nachricht liegt mehr als 90 Tage zurück. Du kannst es wieder aufgreifen, indem du eine neue Antwort schreibst.

1Peta31
Okt. 4, 2010, 6:45 am

Hi i'm new here and i was recently introduced to the Agatha Raisin series (i haven't started reading yet) and wondered if you would suggest reading from the very first book in the series or is it ok to start anywhere? It's just that sometimes it's best to start at the beginning to get to know the characters that's all. Thanks

2LibrarianBarb
Okt. 7, 2010, 9:20 am


I think it is always best to read a series in order or at least to read the first book first so you get a good 'introduction to the characters. There are some series - like one of my favorites, Jane Rubino's Cat Austen/Victor Cardenas series where you definitely need to read them in order imho - the 4th book is about a movie being made about the murder in the first book, and the last book - Raise the Dead - pulls in a lot of material picked up in early books.
When there is a relationship that progresses - like when people meet in the first book, date and then get married, or when there is a recurring character or criminal i like to see the relationship as it develops.

3lewward
Jan. 1, 2011, 10:51 am

I haven't read many of the Agatha Raisin series. The 2 I have read were very enjoyable, but I think I would enjoy them more if I read them in order. I'm definitely missing some of the background information by reading out of order.

4TheoClarke
Bearbeitet: Jan. 1, 2011, 11:37 am

Agatha's relationships develop throgh the books so following the published sequence should maximise your enjoyment.

ETA tyop

5Violette62
Aug. 3, 2011, 9:02 pm

I have never read a series in order and don't believe that I missed anything important re character development.

6AnnieMod
Aug. 9, 2011, 7:17 pm

>5 Violette62:

It depends on which series you read. In most of them, you miss half of the subplots in the later books if you had not read the previous ones. Although there are quite a lot of recent series where the authors make sure they summarize whatever is needed so you still can catch the essence of whatever they are going for. Still - the more detailed accounts of the previous books sometimes are giving you that small clue that you need to decipher something a bit earlier or to see through someone's seemingly strange behavior.

With this being said - I usually read series in order.

7JaneAustenNut
Aug. 16, 2011, 10:00 pm

# 6, I truly agree about reading series in their proper order. I just finished the Tea Shop Mysteries and I read them in order. I believe this helped me to enjoy all the characters, plots and location better.

8Alice_Wonder
Aug. 29, 2011, 9:24 am

re: #7 Dear JaneAustenNut: Thanks for the suggestions about the Tea Shop Mysteries. I just put the first one in the Series on hold on interlibrary loan. I do try to read series in order but sometimes find a book at a thrift shop and just start reading.

9JaneAustenNut
Sept. 9, 2011, 6:17 pm

re: #8 I also buy at thrift shops and used book stores. Recently, I bought all of the Deborah Knott Mystery series by Margaret Maron through an online used book site. Abebooks..... I am now on book 9 in the series and love the stories in the series. Of course being from NC, I am partial to this series about a NC judge. Great reading and highly recommended mystery series.