Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
I have to disagree that each book in the In Death series works as a standalone. There are character arcs and referrals to things that happened previously. In a series, if there is any character development or even a single sentence that refers to something from a previous book, then it's not standalone. And if the characters evolve, the books are not standalone. You can have a book in the series where the none of the characters evolve and nothing in the past is mentioned. But still, how do you write the characters if they've evolved from previous books? You have to write them as they are now (unless the book is one that takes place in the past).
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There is development in Eve's relationships from book to book (not just the romance, but her friendships and with co-workers). But each mystery is contained within one book. So they do work as stand-alones. The reader doesn't need to know all of Eve's personal history to enjoy the murder mystery.
For the first half or more of the series previous cases were very rarely even mentioned (for me that is one of the reasons
Indulgence in Death seemed odd as there was no mention of the similarity in motives to the case in
Seduction in Death).
I know a number of people who have read a later book in the series first with no issues. Some went back and read the entire series, other did not.
Authors need to provide just enough background information so new readers don't feel lost, but not much that the story is bogged down in info-dumping. Some authors do this well, others not so much.
If the characters in a series have been through 5 or 10 books worth of stuff and their relationships and outlook have not developed then what is the point? Relationships grow or dissolve over time. Outside events affect things. People learn and become better at their jobs. If you can take the characters
as they are in book one and plunk them down in book ten with no changes than what was the point of books two through nine? I don't want to read about such stagnant people. I have read other series like this which is the main reason why I stopped reading them.