Recommended Reading Order for the Home Crafting Mysteries
The Home Crafting Mysteries are best read in their publication order. Because the protagonist's personal life, career, and romantic relationships evolve significantly from one installment to the next, following the series chronologically ensures you do not encounter spoilers regarding her relationship with Detective Barr Ambrose.
- Lye in Wait (2007)
- Heaven Preserve Us (2008)
- Spin a Wicked Web (2009)
- Something Borrowed, Something Bleu (2010)
- Wined and Died (2011)
- Deadly Row to Hoe (2012)
Chronological Flow and Continuity Caveats
Unlike some cozy mystery series where each book resets the status quo, the Home Crafting Mysteries feature a strong, overarching character arc. The series starts with Sophie Mae Reynolds as a resourceful widow running her shop, Winding Road Bath Products, in the small town of Cadyville, Washington. Over the course of the six books, her relationship with local detective Barr Ambrose blossoms, leading to marriage and discussions of starting a family by the final book.
Reading the books out of order will spoil these major life events. Additionally, secondary characters—such as Sophie's best friend Meghan, her meddling mother, and local business owners—grow and change as the town of Cadyville develops. To get the full emotional impact of Sophie Mae's growth as both a craftswoman and a person, stick strictly to the publication order.
Book-by-Book Breakdown
Lye in Wait (2007)
In the series debut, readers are introduced to Sophie Mae Reynolds, a widow who makes soap and other bath products in Cadyville, Washington. The peace of her workshop is shattered when she discovers her handyman dead, poisoned by lye—a caustic chemical crucial to soap-making. With the local police, led by Detective Barr Ambrose, pointing the finger at her, Sophie Mae is forced to investigate. She uncovers a web of bigamy, arson, and family secrets to clear her name. The book features the craft of soap-making and includes practical recipes and tips.
Heaven Preserve Us (2008)
Sophie Mae expands her community involvement by volunteering at a local crisis hotline. The job takes a dark turn when she receives a threatening phone call, followed shortly by the death of her hotline supervisor from botulism poisoning. As Sophie Mae looks into the tragedy, she suspects the poison was delivered via contaminated preserves. This installment centers on the craft of canning and food preservation, blending recipes for delicious preserves with a tense, small-town investigation.
Spin a Wicked Web (2009)
Sophie Mae joins a local spinning co-op to indulge in her love of yarn and traditional fiber arts. However, the creative atmosphere is ruined when a fellow member of the co-op is found strangled with a skein of Sophie Mae’s hand-spun wool. Once again, Sophie Mae finds herself at the center of a murder investigation, forced to untangle the complicated dynamics and hidden rivalries of Cadyville's crafting community. The featured craft is yarn spinning.
Something Borrowed, Something Bleu (2010)
This entry takes Sophie Mae out of her comfort zone in Washington all the way to Colorado. While taking a professional class in the art of artisanal cheese-making, Sophie Mae is forced to confront a cold case closely tied to her brother’s suicide years prior. As she learns the intricacies of dairy fermentation, she digs up long-buried secrets that someone is desperate to keep hidden. The featured craft is cheese-making.
Wined and Died (2011)
Back in Washington, Sophie Mae is drawn into a mystery involving a local therapist who was found dead shortly after recording her fears about a client's homicidal threats. As Sophie Mae attempts to solve the crime, she is assisted (and occasionally hindered) by Erin Bly, a precocious twelve-year-old neighbor who takes notes on town residents under the guise of writing a novel. The featured crafts in this book are mead and wine making.
Deadly Row to Hoe (2012)
In the final installment of the series, Sophie Mae and her friend Meghan volunteer at a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) organic farm. The agricultural peace is ruined when they unearth a corpse buried in the farm's compost heap. Now married to Barr Ambrose and trying to conceive, Sophie Mae is hesitant to get involved in another murder investigation. However, to protect her community and help her husband, she relies on her network of local friends to find the killer. The featured activity is organic farming and gardening.
Practical Reader Advice
Where is the best place to start?
You should absolutely start with the first novel, Lye in Wait. It establishes Sophie Mae's backstory, her motivation for crafting, her business Winding Road Bath Products, and the initial spark between her and Detective Barr Ambrose.
Can these books be read as standalones?
While the individual murder mysteries in each book are resolved by the final chapter, the relationship dynamics and personal histories of the recurring characters build directly on previous books. Reading them out of order is not recommended if you want to enjoy the romantic and domestic storylines.
What to know before you start
Each book in the series includes real-world craft tips, DIY instructions, and recipes at the back of the book, allowing readers to try their hand at soap-making, preserve canning, or cheese-making. The tone is cozy but mature, handling themes of grief, mental health, and starting over with a warm, empathetic touch. The author, Cricket McRae, is a pen name for Bailey Cates (best known for her Magical Bakery Mystery series) and Bailey Cattrell (author of the Enchanted Garden Mystery series), so fans of those series will find a similar cozy writing style here.