Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Tale of Hill Top Farm | 2004 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 2 | The Tale of Holly How | 2005 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 3 | The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood | 2007 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 4 | The Tale of Hawthorn House | 2007 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 5 | The Tale of Briar Bank | 2008 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 6 | The Tale of Applebeck Orchard | 2009 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 7 | The Tale of Oat Cake Crag | 2010 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 8 | The Tale of Castle Cottage | 2011 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
This eight-book series imagines Beatrix Potter as an amateur detective in the early 1900s, after she buys Hill Top Farm in the village of Near Sawrey in England’s Lake District. The real Potter did purchase that farm in 1905 and gradually became a fixture of village life, and Albert uses that biographical foundation to build gentle mysteries around her. The books follow Beatrix as she settles into rural life, falls in love, and gets drawn into local troubles that need sorting out.
What sets these mysteries apart is their whimsical second layer: the village animals talk to each other. Cats, dogs, badgers, and hedgehogs form their own community and often investigate alongside Beatrix, though she never quite hears their conversations. The effect is something like reading a cozy mystery and a Beatrix Potter story at the same time. The mysteries themselves are lighter than typical whodunits, with no murders in most of the books, making the series suitable for readers of all ages who enjoy period settings and a touch of fantasy mixed into their mystery reading.