Quote:
Originally Posted by hobnail
All of the mysteries I've read have been standalone as far as solving the mystery goes. There's nothing from a previous book that's needed for the detective to solve the current book's mystery. Of course there's character development stuff about the recurring characters around the detective that may be missing, but nothing that's necessary for solving the mystery.
Whereas with fantasy it's almost always necessary to have read the preceding books. One exception I can think of is Lois McMaster Bujold's World of the Five Gods series where each book is set in the same world but at different times with different characters (although the second book has a brief cameo appearance of the main character from the first book).
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Even if the mystery/crime might be standalone, the background stuff is not and that to me makes it not standalone.