Sadie Hartwell Books In Order

Publication Order of Tangled Web Mystery Books

Publication Order of Greek to Me Mystery Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Sadie Hartwell is an American author that writes cozy mysteries. The author entered the writing and publishing business a little later than some writers, though it hasn’t taken her that long to build up her fan base.

A native of Northern New York State, Sadie Hartwell attended St. Lawrence University from where she acquired a degree in history. The author did a little bit of meandering in the job market before finally finding her calling.

She even worked as a waitress at one time, not to mention designing handbags and doing some copy editing. The author still does the copy editing part. The freelance gig has its perk, this including giving her the time to work on her stories.

Sadie Hartwell has always had a thing for mystery and suspense. It helped that she grew up near the Canadian border where the weather was always dark and snowy; her environment always lent itself to the mystery genre.

Sadie also read a lot of mysteries as a child. During those early years, Sadie wasn’t particularly picky and it wasn’t a surprise to find her reading both fiction and nonfiction. The author initially took an interest in horror and even gravitated towards Stephen King.

But then she gained a taste for romance, though it didn’t take her long to realize that, as a future mystery writer, there was so much to learn from other genres. From the horror genre, Said quickly came to understand the common techniques authors used to keep the suspense in their novels going even while maintaining an appropriate pace.

From romance, Sadie Hartwell was impressed with the way authors could so effectively deliver proper character development by delving into emotions. It was by reading authors from a variety of genres that Sadie came to understand the keys to writing engaging and effective mystery novels.

Of course, even though she learned these techniques fairly quickly, it took the author several years before she finally put all those lessons into practice.

+Literary Career

Sadie Hartwell began writing in high school. She took an AP English Class that put her on the path to producing fiction. The author initially experimented with a few poems and short stories, though she admits that none of her earliest attempts at writing were very good.

Sadie’s desire to produce an actual novel was eventually ignited. However, her attempts at writing did not yield any fruitful results here. And it wasn’t like Sadie wasn’t trying. Rather, she simply wasn’t able to make it beyond the first chapter. So she gave up and proceeded with her normal life, going to college, getting her degree and finding her way through the employment market.

Once she was married, Sadie began thinking about her life. By this point, her husband was consumed by his efforts to start his business and her son was a little older, so he didn’t need that much attention.

Sadie thought long and hard about her achievements, and it occurred to her that if she died without having written a novel, she would regret it. That depressing thought was all the encouragement Sadie Hartwell needed to begin writing. Interestingly enough, Sadie’s drive didn’t emanate from a desire to be published.

She just wanted to start and complete a novel, regardless of whether or not she was able to publish it. Even with this new found desire, Sadie’s journey to finishing her first book wasn’t easy.

It wasn’t until she encountered and joined a writing group that Sadie began to make progress, eventually putting the finishing touches on her first literary work.

If you have never heard of Sadie Hartwell, you might have come across Susannah Hardy, a penname that the author uses. Susannah Hardy was Sadie’s great grandmother’s name. And she chose to use it because she concluded that not only was her maiden name a little politically controversial at the time but her married name was somewhat difficult to pronounce. It only made sense to create a pseudonym.

Sadie Hartwell is one of those people that don’t take long to write novels. It only takes the author three or four months to complete a writing project. Sadie has the advantage of writing slowly. This careful approach means that Sadie rarely finds a need to make changes to her first draft. As such, writing isn’t that much of a hassle for her.

Sadie typically gets her writing done in the afternoon. If the need arises, though, she will also inject a writing session into the equation sometime after dinner. Sadie’s schedule is normally determined by her work.

As a freelance editor, Sadie tries to get her real work done in the morning. As a writer, she understands the fact that her clients probably have deadlines, and she hates the idea of making them wait. As such, Sadie tries to get her editing out of the way first thing in the morning when her mind is still fresh.

Of course, when Sadie doesn’t have editing work to worry about, then she will write in the morning and enjoy her free time for the rest of the day. When Sadie doesn’t have to write or edit, then she will garden, take long walks, listen to audio books and travel when the opportunity arises.

+Yarned and Dangerous

Josie Blair never thought she would return to Dorset Falls in such shame. In the twelve years since she left, all Josie had to show for her efforts was an expensive Master’s degree and a job with a designer that she had just lost.

When her uncle is involved in an accident, Josie is called upon to return to Dorset Falls to take care of him. She also has to sell the contents of his wife’s yarn shop. Aunt Cora didn’t survive the accident.

In the course of achieving her tasks, Josie’s interest is piqued by a business down the road called Miss Marple Knits that has somehow escaped closure for so long. Even though she finds the cozy little shop appealing, Josie has no time to indulge in her curiosities, not when a body has been found in a pile of Cashmere Yarn, causing Josie Blair to question everything she thought she knew about her town.

+A Knit before Dying

Josie Blair is now a shop owner. As she settles into her new life as manager of Miss Marple’s Knits, Josie takes it upon herself to welcome Lyndon and Harry, two new entries to Dorset Falls and the owners of an antique shop nearby.

Josie didn’t expect to find Lyndon stabbed to death, and she definitely doesn’t believe the police’s claims that Harry is the killer. So she takes it upon herself to discover the truth.

4 Responses to “Sadie Hartwell”

1. Eva Sippel: 2 years ago

   Want, want, want more Tangled Web mysteries! Miss Josie and the gang.

   Reply
2. Muriel Logan: 2 years ago

   My 93 year old mother just finished Yarned and Dangerous and liked it very much. She was hoping the metro libraries in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area would have the next in the series. Alas, , they do not. I think someone told me you write under another name. Is this correct? I’ll have to do some checking.
   Best wishes,
   Muriel

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     Hi Muriel – yes she also writes as Susannah Hardy. Our database didn’t have that connection but I have verified it and updated it now and the three books written as Susannah are listed above.

     Reply
3. Jenny Marsh: 3 years ago

   Why aren’t there more Josie Blair cost mysteries? I like the series would like more.

   Reply