Mommy-Track Books In Order

Publication Order of A Mommy-Track Mystery Books

The Mommy-Track Mystery series is a famous novel series written by the bestselling Israeli novelist Ayelet Waldman. It is comprised of a total of 7 books, which were released between the years 2000 and 2006. Each and every novel of this series features the chief protagonist in the role of Juliet Applebaum. She is depicted as an ex-public defender and a current stay-at-home mother living in Los Angeles, California. Juliet Applebaum is shown trying to solve the various mysteries that take place around her. In spite of being at home, she appears to be very strong and shows a lot of character while fighting against the criminals. Author Waldman has descried Juliet as a fearless, smart, and absolutely candid woman. She likes to use her free time to carry out detective work as a part time detective. She stays with her husband, who works as a screenwriter. Juliet Applebaum decided to become a part-time detective when she got bored from visiting the park repeatedly during the end stage of her pregnancy. Initially, she had to face some difficulty to get along with the mysteries. However, after the delivery of her baby, she started finding a great interest in her work. Eventually, the detective work became an important part of her life. Juliet Applebaum started regarding it as an equally important duty just like her motherhood. Her intention is to solve the petty crimes happening in and around the town and make it a better living place for its concerned citizens.

An initial novel written and published by Ayelet Waldman in the series is entitled ‘The Big Nap’. It was released in 2002 by the Berkley publication. Author Waldman has set the story in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, and has mentioned the main characters as Juliet Applebaum and Fraydle. At the start of the novel, it is described that Juliet Applebaum has not slept for over 15 minutes at a single stretch since her 4 month old son has taken birth. This makes Juliet Applebaum wonder whether some kind of mutant vampire has taken birth from her. She also realizes that she has not taken her 3 year old daughter to visit the public park for a long time. Due to this, Juliet thinks that can very well be given an award for being the worst mother. Also, she seems worried about the fact that her husband, who is usually very workaholic, has started spending a lot of time with pretty and perky producing partner. For this, Juliet thinks that her husband has lost interest in her because of the extra pounds that she has gained following her pregnancy. Juliet Applebaum blames herself for this thing too, as she thinks that she has shown negligence towards her fitness. To add to her worries, she seems to have become so much lost in her problems that she has started opening the door for the visitors topless. This has made her so much ashamed of herself.

Juliet always thinks how all those people would be imagining her who have seen her topless. And when she comes across any of them outside, Juliet becomes very nervous. However, the thing that she is worried about the most is the sudden disappearance of the babysitter of her newborn son. She was a young and beautiful Hasidic lady named Fraydle. Her vanishing makes Juliet Applebaum wonder whether Fraydle was trying to flee from something scarier than the squalling, screaming charge of hers. She suspects that Fraydle might not have been happy with her upcoming arranged wedding and that is why she ran away. It seems a certain possibility to Juliet. The other thing that seems to possible to Juliet is that Fraydle might have fallen in love with a man outside her community as she had seen her talking furtively to a non-Hasidic person just before she went missing. When none of these seem right, Juliet Applebaum fears that something sinister might have happened to Fraydle. Seeing the reluctant attitude of Fraydle’s family members in calling the police, Juliet suspects their involvement in her disappearance. In order to discover the truth and find out what has really happened to Fraydle, Juliet decides to visit an enclave of the Hasidic community in Brooklyn. But, she will have to travel with her small kids away from her Los Angeles home as there is no one to take care of them in her absence. This seems to be a great worry for Juliet. Still, Juliet goes on to take her chances as she is desperate to find the answers related to Fraydle’s disappearance, serve the justice, and take a much needed long nap.

Another interesting mystery novel penned by Waldman in this series is called as ‘A Playdate With Death’. The Berkley publishers released this book too in 2003. Its important characters include Bobby Katz and Juliet Applebaum. At the beginning of this book, Waldman has shown Juliet as trying her best to be a good mother as she is aware that motherhood in no cakewalk. She has started showing up on time for picking up her daughter from her preschool. Seeing the growing interest of her 2 and a half year old son in firearms, Juliet tries to discourage him, but does not find any success. In between her extremely busy schedules in playing the dress up and planning her playdates, Juliet also manages to get some time free from her kids. She is concerned about her fitness and therefore, she has started to work out with a fitness trainer at a local fitness club. As everything seems to be going smoothly and as per her plans, another problem comes in Juliet’s life that shakes her well-maintained balance. Juliet learns that her trainer has committed suicide. The trainer, named Bobby Katz, was a cheerful and charming aspiring actor, who seemed to have all that in him to make it big someday. Now, Juliet is not ready to believe that Bobby killed himself. After learning the circumstances in which he committed suicide, Juliet suspects about something involved in the case. Her suspicion grows even more when she learns that Bobby Katz’s parents had never informed him that they had adopted him. Juliet’s suspicion also hints at Bobby’s fiance’s involvement in his death as she is a drug addict who was on the course of recovery, but fell for the temptation. Later, Juliet Applebaum finds out that Bobby had come to know about his biological mother and was looking for her. But, that woman was trying everything to keep herself away from Bobby. So, Juliet looks to find this woman to know why she did not let Bobby come near her? As Juliet has a habit of taking up any task that sets her outside of her house in search of answers, she looks forward to solve this mystery also. Once again, Juliet seems dedicated enough to not rest until she has found the truth.