Bailey Ruth Raeburn
cozy mystery
Series · cozy mystery
Cackleberry Club Mysteries
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries series by Laura Childs has 9 known books (9 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Eggs in Purgatory (2008).
- Books
- 9 known books (9 novels)
- Published
- 9
- First published
- 2008
- Status
- hiatus
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Eggs in Purgatory (2008) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Eggs in Purgatory
Eggs in Purgatory opens Laura Childs' Cackleberry Club Mysteries in 2008, introducing recent widow Suzanne Dietz, Toni Garrett, and retired schoolteacher Petra Capelli as they convert an old Kindred, Kansas church into a combination diner, bookshop and yarn store -- and Suzanne starts finding bodies. It runs 289 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Eggs in Purgatory - Book 2:
Eggs Benedict Arnold
Released in 2009, Eggs Benedict Arnold holds the second spot in Cackleberry Club Mysteries. It follows Eggs in Purgatory and comes before Bedeviled Eggs in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Eggs Benedict Arnold - Book 3:
Bedeviled Eggs
Released in 2010, Bedeviled Eggs holds the third spot in Cackleberry Club Mysteries at 336 pages, continuing the trio's egg-pun-titled, small-town Kansas whodunits anchored by their bickering, loyal friendship.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bedeviled Eggs - Book 4:
Stake & Eggs
Stake & Eggs is the fourth book in the Cackleberry Club Mysteries series, published in 2012. It follows Bedeviled Eggs and comes before Eggs in a Casket in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stake & Eggs - Book 5:
Eggs in a Casket
The fifth Cackleberry Club Mysteries book, Eggs in a Casket, runs 320 pages. It follows Stake & Eggs and comes before Scorched Eggs in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Eggs in a Casket - Book 6:
Scorched Eggs
The sixth Cackleberry Club Mysteries book, Scorched Eggs, runs 313 pages and continues Suzanne, Toni and Petra's amateur investigations against the county-fair, harvest-festival backdrop that sets Childs' Kindred, Kansas series apart from her Charleston and New Orleans cozies.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Scorched Eggs - Book 7:
Egg Drop Dead
The seventh Cackleberry Club Mysteries book, Egg Drop Dead, runs 336 pages. It follows Scorched Eggs and comes before Eggs on Ice in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Egg Drop Dead - Book 8:
Eggs on Ice
Released in 2018, Eggs on Ice holds the eighth spot in Cackleberry Club Mysteries at 365 pages, keeping the Cackleberry Club's egg dishes and comfort-food recipes running alongside Suzanne's latest amateur investigation.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Eggs on Ice - Book 9:
Egg Shooters
Released in 2020, Egg Shooters holds the ninth spot in Cackleberry Club Mysteries at 320 pages. The series has been on hiatus since, with no new entry or announced sequel as of August 2026, making this the current close of Suzanne, Toni and Petra's run.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Egg Shooters
About the Cackleberry Club Mysteries series
In small-town Kindred, Kansas, three women in their forties who've each hit a rough patch — recent widow Suzanne Dietz, choir-director-turned-cafe-cook Toni Garrett, and retired schoolteacher Petra Capelli — pool their savings to convert an old church into the Cackleberry Club, a combination diner, bookshop and yarn store built around Petra's egg dishes. It's a business built on reinvention, and Suzanne, restless and sharp-tongued, keeps finding bodies wherever the Club's baking, quilting or supper-club events take the trio, dragging Toni and Petra into amateur investigations that usually run well ahead of the local sheriff.
Laura Childs sets this series apart from her Charleston and New Orleans cozies with an unapologetically Midwestern small-town backdrop — county fairs, harvest festivals, church socials and farm auctions stand in for the tourist glamour of her other series. The egg-pun titles (Eggs in Purgatory, Bedeviled Eggs, Egg Shooters) signal the tone: breezy, character-driven whodunits anchored by the three friends' bickering, loyal friendship as much as by the mystery plots themselves. Recipes for the Cackleberry Club's egg dishes and comfort food round out most entries, continuing Childs' habit of folding real recipes into her cozy mysteries.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Cackleberry Club Mysteries series?
There are 9 novels, from Eggs in Purgatory (2008) to Egg Shooters (2020).
What order should I read the Cackleberry Club Mysteries in?
Publication order, starting with Eggs in Purgatory, to follow Suzanne, Toni and Petra's friendship and the Cackleberry Club's story as Laura Childs establishes them.
Is the Cackleberry Club Mysteries series finished?
It's on hiatus rather than formally concluded — no new book has appeared since Egg Shooters in 2020, and no sequel has been publicly announced.
How does this series differ from Laura Childs's Tea Shop and Scrapbooking Mysteries?
Cackleberry Club Mysteries is set in the small Midwestern town of Kindred, Kansas, and centers on three friends running a combined cafe, bookshop and yarn store — a different setting and cast from the Charleston tea shop and New Orleans scrapbooking store of Childs's other cozy series.
Does the series include recipes?
Yes, most entries include recipes for the Cackleberry Club's egg dishes and comfort food, consistent with the recipe-appendix format Laura Childs uses across her cozy mystery series.
If you like the Cackleberry Club Mysteries series
Reading order last verified .