Standalone, Sequel or Series? (by Cecilia Peartree)

 

Having told myself that the novel I’ve just finished would definitely be a standalone, partly because I didn’t think I could face making another foray into the world I had set up for it, and partly because I already have several other series in hand and whenever I write a book in one series I feel guilty for neglecting the others, I began to have second thoughts during the final few chapters. Second thoughts about writing a second novel, that is. This was thanks to a mysterious character who only appeared as a sort of token figure in the earlier chapters, while towards the end he had taken a more distinct shape as a secret agent, who almost seemed to be demanding that his own story be told. Although of course I only have a few sketchy ideas about him and how I could frame a sequel for a story that seemed to me to be self-contained.

I wonder if this is one of the usual reasons for writing sequels. And if the sequel then spawns another, which turns the project into a series, is it because there’s a whole group of characters, each clamouring to have their story told? Of course, one possibility is that the writer planned to write a sequel or a series all along, although that would require the kind of planning that is foreign to me! I suppose to some extent the decision to write a series, and the type of series it is, depends on the genre. For example, The Lord of the Rings is technically a series, but it’s more like one humungous book separated into three parts, so you really have to read the three books in order for them to make sense. In the case of some mystery series, on the other hand, you can read the individual books in any order you like. My own series, the Pitkirtly Mysteries, falls annoyingly somewhere in between these extremes, in that the stories told in each book are almost always self-contained, but the character development, particularly in the case of characters who started out as quite problematic teenagers, means that in a few cases it’s better to have read an earlier book in order fully to understand the group dynamics in a later book.

As well as writing mild-mannered murder mysteries - could this term for them come into use to replace the word 'cosy', which I am not entirely happy with? - I’ve been reading quite a lot of them lately, so here are a few thoughts on some series I’ve particularly enjoyed. I will be looking out for the next book from all these authors.

 How to Solve Murders Like a Lady by Hannah Dolby

This book and the first in the series (‘No Life for a Lady’) have been a pleasure to read. I find Violet, the heroine, who struggles heroically against Victorian expectations about ladies and what activities are appropriate for them, extremely likeable. There are also several recurring characters, some of them less sympathetic, but all completely believable and mostly relatable. As in the first book, Violet gets involved with various adventures, some humorous as well as exciting, that build up to a tense climax against the background of Victorian Hastings.

 Deadly Treasures by Jane McParkes

Again this is the second in a series (the first is ‘A Deadly Inheritance), and I’ve enjoyed both books very much. The settings in Cornwall are particularly well drawn, and somehow the characters fit into the landscape in a way that might have been designed to appeal to environmentalists! However the focus is on the puzzles waiting to be solved, and these are cleverly done too.

 Murder at the Summer Swim by Izzie Harper

This is another series book, this time the fifth in a series (The Wootton Windmill Mysteries – the first is ‘Murder in the Bluebell Woods’). I particularly like the little group of women who are the central characters, each one very distinct with her own set of challenges. Each of them brings something different to the investigation of the murder mysteries, and these are cleverly done. The scenario of the Summer Swim is particularly appealing, but all the settings add something unique to the stories.

Cornish Murder mysteries by Fiona Leitch

This is an excellent series. I haven’t yet got to the end and in a way I am putting off reading them more quickly in case I catch up with the writer and find there aren’t any left to read. I listened to the first three as audiobooks and liked the narrator too. I’m currently reading ‘A Cornish Christmas Murder’ which has a sort of locked room setting in a house that’s temporarily cut off by snowy weather. The series has a family group at the centre, consisting of three generations, although the main character usually does most of the work of investigation herself, trying to keep the others out of it as far as possible.