Is it important to read the novellas?

[Arielle Rae]

There are so many novellas and I was wondering if you can just skip it and go on to the main books and maybe go read it later
Are they important? Do they have impact on the other books? Do you have to read them in order?

[Sheri]

i wouldn't skip them this is one series that i would continue to read in order.

[Dawn]

I am about 50/50 on this one. There are a few that segue dome one full sized novel to another. Then there are a few that are just meaningless to me. The two i loved was Midnight and Interlude. I was on a site last night which was discussing this very issue, and one person came with the sound suggestion of borrowing these shorts from a library.

[Maggie]

I never read them before but I am now re-reading the entire series back to back so I wanted to include them. You don't miss a lot if you skip the novellas but there are some references to them in the novels. I was actually able to get a few of them at Target for $2.99 a book.

[Jonetta]

Since they do advance the timeline you should read them but you won't miss a whole lot if you don't. There are exceptions (Interlude, Midnight, Possession in Death, Chaos in Death) where important scenes are included as extensions from the end of the preceding full length novel.

I'm not a fan of the novellas but feel I must read them.

IMPORTANT BUYING INFORMATION
Refer to this group's book list where you'll find information on several bundled books of the novellas!! You can save money and not have to buy each of the novellas separately!

If you can borrow them from the library, I'd do so.

[Jonetta]

Here are the two books that bundle six of the novellas:

Three in Death (2008) (Midnight in Death/Interlude in Death/Haunted in Death)
Time of Death (2011) - Eternity in Death/Ritual in Death/Missing in Death

Both of these books are $7.99 each on Amazon (Kindle books) and should be priced similarly elsewhere.

[Julia]

I don't feel it's necessary to read the novellas as the series doesn't really refer back to them (that I can recall), but I do like to read them. Some of them focus on a secondary character that may not get as much mention in a regular book.

[Jonetta]

Julia, Midnight is a continuation of Holiday in Death and Possession picks up where Indulgence in Death left off. That's why I isolated these two above. They are kind of important. If you will recall, Interlude is also kind of important.

[Arielle Rae]

How about Remember When and Big Jack? They are both #17.5 in the Goodreads In Death list, but they both are the size of normal novels, not novellas! Is it important to read those or can I just come back to read it later? Because I really want to read Divided in Death, which comes after those two

[Jonetta]

Remember When is actually two books...the Nora Roberts Hot Rocks and Big Jack. I've only read the latter and you can definitely skip that one for now and then go back. There's a reference to something from that book later on in the series so you may want to read it after Divided.

I never felt like I missed anything by not reading Hot Rocks but, since I didn't read it....others may have a different opinion(?)

[Dawn]

I own Remember When and love it on its own. I think Big Jack has one or two things in it. If I remember right, it is the first book after Peabody makes Detective. However, having said that, I usually read this book alone, not when I am reading through the series, because I like to read Hot Rocks at the same time, since they are continuing stories.