Expectations vs. Reality by Dru Ann Love
When you pick up the first book in a series, you are introduced to the main protagonist, her friends, the small town that she lives in and the other residents that will come in and out of her daily life. Note: could also be a male protagonist as well.
We love the characters and the small-town atmosphere, and we love that she is probably besting the local police force in solving the crime. And now the murderer has been caught in this delightfully charming town that I want to move to.
Until book two, three, four and so forth. So how many more murders in this small-town that I’ve come to love will happen?
By now, the local cops may or may not seek out our protagonist to help solve the murder. Question of the day, why don’t they put her on retainer as a consultant? Why doesn’t she just join the police force? You know why? Because there would not be a next book.
And yet we continue to hope we see a murder in the early chapters of the book as we along with our favorite amateur sleuth, solve the case while we try to figure it out before she does. And still want to move to that small town.
These are little things I think about when I’m reading books in my favorite long-running series.
What about you? What do you think about when reading your series?
Here's where the willing suspension of disbelief kicks in….you can ignore those pragmatic questions in your head and get with the author's paradigm for a more thorough enjoyment of the series. Or you can take the book's journey with one foot in and one foot out of the story. Or you can read nonfiction. The choice belongs to the reader!