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Cackleberry Club refers to a series of cozy mystery novels written by Laura Childs. The series explores the lives of three women in their forties who operate a café and solve murders when the opportunity arises.
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Order of Cackleberry Club Mysteries Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eggs in Purgatory | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Eggs Benedict Arnold | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Bedeviled Eggs | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Stake & Eggs | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Eggs in a Casket | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Scorched Eggs | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Egg Drop Dead | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Eggs on Ice | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Egg Shooters | 2021 | Description / Buy |
Laura Childs has a thing for cozy mysteries. And all her book series tend to emphasize particular themes. The Cackleberry Club books are often considered to be the most ambitious in her bibliography because they throw the spotlight on multiple themes, namely: knitting, cake decoration, and tea.
Some readers think that Laura Childs tries to tackle too many elements with the Cackleberry Club series.
The Cackleberry Club books center on the lives of three women. Suzanne, Toni, and Petra understand one another because they each lost their husband. The circumstances varied. One of their husbands died.
The other left the picture because of divorce and yet another was stranded at a nursing home. But just because the circumstances that left them single differ doesn’t mean Suzanne and her friends do not intimately understand one another’s turmoil.
When they eventually decide to open Cackleberry Club, it is with the intention of bringing some purpose into their lives.
The Cackleberry Club is a rather unique establishment. Not only is it a restaurant that serves afternoon tea but the business also hosts cake baking competitions on a regular basis, not to mention availing a reading area and a knitting section.
Considering how time-consuming the Cackleberry Club can get, it should come as no surprise to learn that Suzanne and her friends are often quite busy. Suzanne never thought she would have such an active future in the amateur sleuthing business.
But then her lawyer died in Eggs in Purgatory, the first novel in the Cackleberry Club series. Suzanne would have loved nothing better than to live the investigation to the professionals.
But then fingers started pointing to her late husband, fingers that were too quick to accuse the dead man of criminal activity. Unwilling to sit by as the love of her life was dragged through the mud, Suzanne decided to get her hands dirty, investigating the case on her own time and eventually discovering the truth.
But what should have been her first and last murder case only opened the way for even more amateur sleuthing down the line. The Cackleberry Club series follows Suzanne and her friends as they attempt to manage their business even as they solve the mysteries permeating their community.
The Cackleberry books spend a lot of time delving into the interpersonal relationships of the main characters. Additionally, considerable emphasis is placed on the daily goings-on of the café, the cake making, knitting, tea making etc.
Best Cackleberry Club Books
The Cackleberry Club series suffers from the same shortcomings as Laura Childs’ other works; she has a tendency to ignore the mystery until the last chapter or two, with some of the best books in this series including:
Bedeviled Eggs: Halloween was coming up fast and the ladies of the Cackleberry Club were more than ready to meet it head-on. But then a mystery arose and Suzanne had little choice but to give it her full attention.
The mystery began when Chuck Peebler, a mayoral Candidate was struck with the arrow of a crossbow as he left the café. He died instantly and he wasn’t the last. With another murder rocking the historical society’s Quilt Trail, Suzanne knew she had to get to the bottom of both murders before more bodies dropped.
Stake and Eggs: Suzanne, Toni, and Petra run a café called the Cackleberry Club and they’ve made it their business to figure out who murdered their town’s hated banker. Someone beheaded him with a wire. With many of their clients suddenly suspected of murder, Suzanne and her friends need to crack the case quickly.
Other Book Series You May Like
Be sure to check out “The Booktown Mysteries” Series by Lorna Barrett for another great read. Tricia Miles was just another mystery bookstore owner. Then a heartwarming party in her new apartment led to murder and her instance on solving the case drew her into the high stakes world of amateur sleuthing.
You may also enjoy the “Aunt Dimity Mystery” Series by Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity is a ghost in London who helps Lori Shepherd, a girl seemingly down on her luck, solve matters of love, finance, and mystery.
What Is The Next Book in The Cackleberry Club Mysteries Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Cackleberry Club Mysteries Series. The newest book is Egg Shooters and was released on January, 26th 2021.
This series of Cozy Mysteries is a little too cozy for me. Each one of the protagonists lost a husband, which sure, can happen in real life. But all of these women also have the desire to solve mysteries? That’s a stretch in my opinion.
I do appreciate how strong the women are, and the author effortlessly combines mystery, romance, and a little humor. I just can’t get into them as much as other people do.