Cindy Callaghan Books in Order

Where to Start with Cindy Callaghan

For readers diving into Cindy Callaghan's charming, mystery-filled worlds, there are two primary entry points depending on what kind of story you enjoy most. If you love a touch of fantasy, friendship drama, and culinary mishaps, your best starting point is her famous debut, Just Add Magic (2010). If you prefer travel adventures, light mysteries, and exploring foreign cities, you should begin with Lost in London (2013), which kicks off her popular travel-themed series.

Because most of Callaghan's books are written as standalones or companion novels, you do not need to follow a strict chronological timeline across her entire catalog. However, keeping to publication order within her specific series will give you the best reading experience and let you watch her style evolve.

The Just Add Magic Series

This is Callaghan's signature series, which inspired the hit, Emmy-nominated Amazon Prime television adaptation. The story follows Kelly Quinn and her best friends, Darbie and Hannah, who discover a mysterious, ancient cookbook in Kelly's attic. They quickly realize the recipes aren't normal—they are spells with magical, often chaotic consequences.

While the Amazon television series ran for several seasons and spawned spin-offs, the book series is a tight, two-part story. We recommend reading them in publication order:

• Just Add Magic (2010) – The original novel introducing Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah as they discover the magical cookbook and try to use its recipes to solve local mysteries and personal problems.
• Just Add Magic 2: Potion Problems (2018) – The official sequel, published several years later. In this installment, the girls must deal with new culinary magic challenges and face the consequences of their recipes, which earned this book an Agatha Award nomination for Best Children’s/Young Adult Mystery.

The Lost In... Travel Series

Callaghan’s Lost In... series is a collection of companion novels that take readers on exciting trips around the world. Each book features a different plucky middle-grade heroine who travels to a new destination, only to find herself embroiled in an unexpected mystery, cultural mix-up, or comedy of errors. Since each book features a self-contained story with a unique protagonist, you can read them in any order you like. However, reading them in order of release is the most common path for fans:

1. Lost in London (2013) – Follows Jordan as she goes on a school exchange program to England and accidentally gets locked inside a famous London department store overnight.
2. Lost in Ireland (2014) – Follows a highly superstitious girl named Meghan McGlinchey who travels to Ireland to break a run of bad luck. Note: This book was originally published under the title Lucky Me and was later repackaged to fit the Lost In... branding.
3. Lost in Paris (2015) – Gwen goes to France and finds herself on a high-stakes scavenger hunt across the City of Light to save her family's business.
4. Lost in Rome (2015) – Follows Lucy as she travels to Italy to help out in a family bakery, leading to pizza-making, Vespa rides, and a search for a missing artifact.
5. Lost in Hollywood (2016) – Ginger travels to California and gets a chaotic taste of the film industry, family secrets, and movie-making magic.

For readers who want to buy the books together, Callaghan released a paperback bind-up collection in 2022 titled Takeoffs and Landings, which includes Lost in London, Lost in Paris, and Lost in Rome in a single volume.

Standalone Novels

In addition to her two main series, Cindy Callaghan has written several standalone contemporary mysteries and comedies. These books are completely independent of one another and can be read at any time:

• Sydney Mackenzie Knocks 'Em Dead (2017) – A spooky, fun mystery that won the Agatha Award. It follows Sydney as she moves into a historic, potentially haunted home and starts a unique mystery-solving and party-planning business.
• Saltwater Secrets (2020) – A summer beach story focusing on the bond between half-sisters Josie and Stella as they work together to protect a local boardwalk and uncover a corporate mystery.
• The Girl Who Ruined Christmas (2021) – Originally written as a holiday novella, this festive story follows Brady Bancroft, who must perform community service in a Christmas-obsessed small town after accidentally destroying its prized town Christmas tree.
• My Big Heart-Shaped Fail (2022) – A fast-paced school comedy where Abby Gray accidentally loses a bundle of heart-shaped balloons containing her most private secrets, sparking a mad dash to retrieve them before her classmates find out.

What to Know Before You Start

If you are planning to read these books alongside watching the Amazon television series, keep in mind that the TV show takes significant creative liberties with the plot and characters. The book version of Just Add Magic has a slightly different tone, focusing heavily on local community mysteries, tween friendship dynamics, and the personal responsibility of using magic, rather than the overarching multi-generational curse storylines found in the show.

Additionally, keep an eye out for Lucky Me when shopping for her books. If you buy a copy of Lucky Me, you are reading the exact same story as Lost in Ireland. Simon & Schuster rebranded the book to make it a seamless part of the Lost In... series, but the characters and plot remain identical.