I love a good series of mysteries and I fall absolutely in the “Read Series Books In Order” camp. I’ll even research an order to a series if the author says there is no order. When left without an authorial order, or a fan derived one, I default to publishing chronology. Yes, I’m a big ol’ nerd. Then, I at least get a similar experience as original fans of the series.
A great place to figure out series order is on LibraryThing. Just type in the title of the book and under it will appear the name of the series and a number. Click that link and it will take you to a series page (here’s the page for Laurie R. King‘s Mary Russell – Sherlock Holmes Series). I love that the orders for series are largely sorted out, but also include things that maybe you’ve missed — like short story appearances in out of the way anthologies.
I hate spoilers and in the past when I’ve jumped to a later book and it’s like: “Why was she here? What business did she have, placing flowers on the grave of my beloved side-kick…” NOOOOOO!!! What happened!?? GAHHH!! SIDEKICK IS DEAD!!?? Yep. They were killed as punishment for my skipping around, that’s why.
That said, I’ve been doing it again, and haven’t been stung too bad so far. Since I’ve started writing myself, I have discovered another layer of enjoyment reading a good story that takes the sting out of my misdeeds. I’m coming to see the mechanics of the story a little more. Sort of like my experience as a museum curator and visiting museums on vacation and admiring mounts, signage, and good interpretive tools.
What about you? Do you skip around within a book series, or are you a ‘no exceptions’ order reader? Leave a comment and let me know, or request to join my new Facebook Group and we can all share!
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes historical mysteries and works as a history museum curator.
WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER?
