September 29, 2023 • 19 mins
Episode 34
If you've ever thought about writing a cozy mystery, this WriterSpark Podcast episode is for you! The mystery genre is huge, and cozy mysteries are a pretty special part of it. In this episode, I'm sharing 10 reasons to read and write cozy mysteries. What makes them so popular? Listen to find out!
Learn more about how to write a cozy mystery with WriterSpark's self-paced online course ➤https://bit.ly/FieldGuideCozy
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A QUICK LOOK AT BOOKS and RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Field Guide to Writing a Cozy Mystery Online Course (https://bit.ly/FieldGuideCozy)
- Melissa Bourbon and Winnie Archer Books (https://melissabourbon.com)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm a cozy mystery writer.
Two of my series are Cozy My Bread Shop series featuring Ivy Cole Pepper and set on the Central California coast and My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series set in Small town Bliss Texas.
I really enjoy writing cozy mysteries and I have 10 reasons for you today as to why I like writing them and why readers like reading them.
(00:26):
So if you as a writer have any interest in delving into writing cozy mysteries,
take a listen to this episode of the Writer Spark podcast to hear my 10 reasons to write and read Cozy mysteries.
Hello.
Hello,
I'm Melissa Bourbon.
And this is the Writer Spark podcast where business creativity and the craft of writing converge.
(00:51):
Welcome.
15 years ago,
I was an avid reader but not a writer.
I didn't know anything about the actual craft and I knew next to nothing about the publishing industry,
but I had dream to become a published author and I set out to learn everything I could.
Now,
I'm a number one Amazon and national bestselling author of more than 35 novels I've published traditionally and I recently plunged into the world of indie publishing.
(01:17):
And I teach people like you how to grow in their craft and find success in this ever changing industry.
I'm an ordinary person,
a wife,
a mom,
a daughter,
a teacher living in a small North Carolina town through writer Spark.
I am doing what I love more than anything in the world which is teaching and helping others on their writing journeys.
(01:38):
I'm here as your partner,
as you navigate your own writing journey.
I'm here to help you understand the essential elements of the writing craft,
to build your confidence and to help you find the success you desire.
Welcome to the Rider Spark podcast.
(01:59):
Hey,
writers today,
I'm talking about 10 reasons to love Cozy mysteries.
Why?
Well,
because first of all,
some of my series are Cozy mysteries and so I know them well and I know what is great about them and what reader expectations are and why we should love them.
Second because they're very,
(02:20):
very popular.
So if you are thinking at all about writing a mystery,
you might want to consider writing cozy mysteries and I'm gonna give you 10 reasons why.
So while the mystery genre is really huge,
I do have 10 specific things that you can love about cozy mysteries.
Sure.
There are thrillers,
there are suspense books,
(02:40):
there are police procedurals on the one end domestic suspense and there are straight mysteries in the middle and then there are capers and Cozy mysteries on the other side of the spectrum,
there is really literally something for everyone if you are a mystery reader and if you're a mystery writer,
no matter the subgenre mysteries draw you in with the promise of a puzzle that and the promise of justice being served are big draws and justice being served is not always something that happens in real life.
(03:09):
Now,
I love the tense emotional build up in the back and forth and the Cat and Mouse chase and the heart stopping suspense that comes with the darker side of mysteries.
Definitely,
I love domestic suspense in particular.
But Cozies,
they offer something a little bit more than just the mystery as a writer.
I love the fact that I get to hang out with a cast of characters that are super interesting that I would be friends with in real life.
(03:36):
No,
maybe not the killer,
but almost everybody else.
I also love the challenge of figuring out how to write what I like to call.
Happy Me because Cozies are not generally dark and brooding.
They are not sad and filled with distress and the dark side of things.
So while they are murder mysteries,
they are typically a little bit funny.
They're warm,
(03:56):
they give those warm fuzzy cozy feelings and that's one thing to really love about them striking a balance.
However,
between the gravity of murder and the lighter tone of a cozy mystery can take some deftness.
I personally am always up for that challenge.
And as a writer,
maybe you are too,
maybe you will find that equally interesting as a reader.
(04:17):
I love so many other things about the cozy genre.
They are about so much more than just the solving of a murder.
They're about community.
They are about relationships.
They are greatly about this setting,
that cozy setting,
these things give them this widespread appeal.
And that's why they are so popular because they speak to sort of our collective consciousness in terms of what we would like our world to be like minus the murders,
(04:44):
of course,
both in the places that we live and with whom we share our life lives.
They give us this sense of community,
the community that we would love to be a part of and through the immersive writing of so many authors,
we get to do that.
We get to experience those things that we crave.
We get to visit with friends and be alongside them in their lives.
(05:04):
And in that setting that we love as well as during their crime solving adventures during which we get to exact justice.
So here are 10 reasons.
I love cozy mysteries.
And if you are thinking about writing cozy mysteries,
then really think about why people love them.
And if you want to be the person that brings that kind of joy to that reader,
(05:26):
first,
we get the punny titles and the charming covers that bring you into that book or that series.
The first thing you notice about Cozy Mysteries is that the majority of them have punny titles.
They also have wonderfully appealing covers.
They show us a glimpse of the world that we're about to enter.
And the charming Lives that live between those covers.
(05:47):
Flower in the attic.
From my Bread Shop series was one of the best titles of the year in one of the Cozy title,
Roundups a Murder You'll Regret.
And The Walking Bread are other favorites of mine from that series.
In fact,
my publicists from Kensington books one year dressed up as the walking bread for their Halloween costume.
So they were,
(06:07):
you know,
zombie like,
but with loaves of bread,
it was hilarious.
They sent me pictures and I loved that so much.
Pleading For Mercy is the first in a series of mine called The Harlow Cassy Magical Dressmaking series,
which is a paranormal cozy series.
So those titles and those covers that really give a sense of the lightheartedness of cozy mysteries and the,
(06:29):
the sense of place that we get to enter into really can capture a reader's interest and attention.
Next is the friends that you meet on the page.
Cozy mysteries are flush with warm and caring people.
The sleuths are smart and clever and appealing.
They may be unique and sassy,
they may be serious.
(06:49):
They may have sidekicks that are equally winsome.
There's usually some sort of a love interest with someone who complements the sleuth in some way,
the people in the cozy community really feel like Friends,
which is what makes a long running cozy series so wonderful as readers,
they get to hang out with these folks who,
(07:11):
you know,
who they love to visit with,
who are friends in their minds.
When I sit down to write,
it is truly like hanging out with friends.
I get to play P I and hang out with Lola Cruz and her family and Jack Callaghan.
Uh I get to be a sleuth with Harlow Cassidy and Ivy Cole Pepper and do some biblical mani with Pip and Lane Hawthorne.
Friends on the page can be just as important as friends in real life for the reader,
(07:35):
but also for you as a writer.
Next are the locales.
You get to call home beach towns,
a mountain oasis,
a close knit community in a city,
an English Moor,
a rural farmhouse.
Wherever Cozies are set,
there is definitely going to be a ton of charm and it is,
(07:55):
I'm sure very picturesque.
Being inside the pages of a book with a charming locale is akin to visiting that place in life.
It's almost like having another home.
My bread shot mystery series is set in the fictional town of Santa Sophia.
Sophia named after my daughter on the Central California coast.
I love beachy settings.
Bliss.
(08:15):
Texas deviates from that with my Harlow Cassidy magical Dressmaking series.
It's a paranormal cozy series and it is set in a small town called Bliss in Texas.
Definitely not by the Beach,
but I also have the Outer Banks series.
The Pippen Lane Hawthorn book magic series is set on a fictional island on the Outer Banks.
(08:37):
So if you love Alaska or if you're crazy about the Outer Banks,
if you have an affinity for a particular type of locale,
chances are good that there is a mystery set there for you as a reader for you as a writer.
If you have some place,
a community,
a setting that you want to write about,
you can do that.
(08:58):
This episode of the Writer Spark podcast is brought to you by writer Spark Academy's field guide to writing a cozy mystery.
Are you a fan of Cozy mystery novels?
Have you always wanted to try your hand at writing one yourself?
Look no further writer Spark Academy's field guide to writing a cozy mystery master class is the ultimate course for aspiring cozy mystery authors with its 10 comprehensive modules,
(09:23):
28 engaging video lessons and a variety of hands-on activities.
This course will guide you through every step of crafting your very own captivating cozy mystery from developing a captivating hook and setting that will transport read to a charming and mysterious world to creating a lovable sleuth who will keep readers hooked until the very end.
(09:43):
This course covers it all.
Make sure to look in the show notes if you're interested in checking out this course and unlock your potential as a cozy mystery author.
Number four,
they are happy murders that let you sleep at night in a cozy mystery,
blood violence and sex happen off the page.
(10:06):
The murder is a murder of course,
but in a cozy by definition,
while there is death and people might be in harm's way,
it is not so scary that you can't sleep at night and that murder happens off the page,
meaning we don't see it happen.
We stumble across it later.
(10:26):
So that is fun to write.
As a writer.
You get to plan that murder,
but you don't have to deal with the blood and get some the gore that maybe you don't want to.
And as a reader again,
we get to sleep at night,
we get to process the murder and understand the gravity of it.
But we also get to be a little bit distanced from it.
(10:47):
The cozy writer and the cozy reader both do not have to get into those down and dirty details they exist.
We know they exist,
but we're a little bit removed.
Next up.
Number five are the furry friends more often than not cozy.
Mystery slews have some sort of furry friend as a companion,
whether they are dogs,
(11:08):
cats,
horses,
teacup pigs or goats,
chances are good that a much loved pet will make an appearance.
They are often on the covers too and bred over troubled Water,
which is book eight in my Bread Shop series Agatha.
The Pug Agatha named after the Grand Dame of Cozy discovered,
actually discovers the body in my Harlow Cassidy paranormal series Thelma Louise,
(11:32):
who is the queen of the Sundance kid goat herd is a cantankerous goat who adds a lot of comedy and she's also on every cover.
So the bottom line is that furry friends are fun and cozy readers often really expect there to be some sort of furry friend.
So if you like to incorporate that into your cozy mystery as a writer,
(11:54):
you get to do that next.
A touch of romance.
Romance is never ever the focal point of a cozy mystery,
but it is usually an element,
a typical scenario is that there is a romantic prospect in law enforcement that forces contact between that person and the sleuth.
I personally tend to go in a different direction so that my characters are not so sort of cliche in that way in the bread shop.
(12:20):
Cozy.
Em,
Elaine Davis who is Ivy Cole Pepper's best friend.
She's the law enforcement character.
The romance comes in the form of Miguel Baptista who is a restaurateur in My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series.
The love interest is an architect with the town rather than the law enforcement.
The sheriff is not a relation.
(12:41):
He's actually the boyfriend of Harlow's mother.
Uh,
so there is a bit of a connection there,
but it's not the romance.
Another deputy is an old schoolmate,
kind of a friend of me.
And so we have law enforcement,
but our romance for my books comes in a different way.
Regardless.
There is always a bit of a romance.
So that's very fun to write.
(13:02):
And unlike romance novels where you have to have that push and pull,
push and pull,
push and pull,
keeping them apart while you might want to do that in the first in series.
Ultimately,
you can bring these people together and develop their relationship in a really wonderful way.
Next is the amateur sleuth herself or himself.
(13:23):
The star of the cozy mystery is the amateur sleuth.
And I truly bring part of myself into each of my characters.
They aren't trained in law enforcement.
They may or they may not have some special skill that helps them with the investigation,
but it's not typically formal training.
This makes it super fun and easy for readers to follow right alongside the sleuth in crime solving.
(13:44):
And for you as a writer,
you don't have to have that technical knowledge of law enforcement and what solving a crime looks like.
So you get to make it up as you go somewhat,
it makes the sleuth very relatable and easy to love because we can root for their success.
Remember,
they're like a friend and again,
as a writer,
it's fun to create these characters and sort of have them follow their nose and then grow in their ability to solve crimes.
(14:10):
With each subsequent book in a series.
Number eight is the Cozy Hook.
Cozy mystery books have a Cozy Hook.
That means there is always a hobby or a creative interest of some kind or something that is the central focus of the cozy world in any particular series.
(14:30):
Coffee or tea houses,
Culinary Connection or bakeries.
Yeas have eaten in my bread shop series is the traditional sort of old world bread shop based on the long rise and the tradition of baking bread in Mexico.
That is the hook for that particular series,
fiber and fabric tie ins like sewing is another popular popular hook.
(14:55):
My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series uses that it's sort of project runway meets small town Texas.
We have Harlow who tried to make it in Manhattan in fashion design and she ends up back home in bliss,
Texas.
She's inherited her grandmother's old farmhouse and she turns,
she opens up her own business called Buttons and Bows,
which is a design,
(15:16):
uh custom dressmaking business.
Other hobbies like photography,
horseback riding motorcycles,
painting knitting bookshops,
whatever you are interested in,
you can make that into a cozy.
Hook number nine is the puzzle of an intriguing mystery.
Every mystery on the mystery spectrum offers a puzzle to be solved.
(15:39):
The reader may know what happened and know things before the protagonist even does as in a,
a suspense,
for example,
or they may be just as in the dark as a protagonist and still,
you know,
getting that tension and that suspense,
maybe like in a domestic suspense book or we may even be ahead of the crime solving or trying to be ahead of the crime solving,
(16:03):
which is what we are trying to do.
When we read a cozy mystery,
we know what the sleuth knows,
but maybe we want to try and solve the mystery.
Maybe we're able to solve the mystery before the sleuth.
Although as a cozy mystery writer,
we try not to let that happen.
We want to surprise the reader play fair,
give them the clues,
but also keep them in the dark.
The puzzle of the mystery brings a reader to the mystery in the first place.
(16:26):
So that is a very obviously central element of wanting to read a cozy mystery and how you need to write a cozy mystery.
Finally,
number 10 justice is served and good prevails.
One of the reasons mysteries have a really wide appeal is the underlying end result that the bad guys are brought to justice.
(16:49):
Good prevails in cozy mysteries.
This is especially true.
It doesn't always happen in all mysteries on that mystery suspense spectrum,
particularly on the suspense site.
But in a cozy mystery justice is always served good prevails,
the crime is solved,
the community is safe.
The life of the sleuth gets to move forward.
(17:09):
There's a happy ending and the reader is along for the Ride.
We as writers don't have to live in that dark place.
So,
while I've written some suspense books,
Silent Obsession and Silent Echoes,
which I absolutely love.
They're based on Mexican legends of Laon and Chica.
And I think these books are amazing.
I don't like to live in that dark space all the time though.
(17:32):
So for me,
I prefer to write cozy mysteries or like my book,
Magic Pippin Hawthorn book Magic series more on the women's fiction side with mystery elements.
So if that's you as a writer and you don't wanna,
you don't wanna,
you know,
tap into that darkness all the time.
Keep that darkness a little bit at a distance,
(17:53):
then maybe writing a cozy mystery is for you.
That's definitely a strong reason why cozy readers love this genre.
So there's always a happy ending.
The sleuth is always ready to solve another crime.
Cozies are a really special subgenre of mysteries.
So fix a cup of tea,
(18:14):
snuggle up and settle in as you explore cozy mysteries,
as a reader.
And if you want to start writing them,
I've given you 10 really good reasons to do that.
They are a lot of fun.
That is it for this episode of the Writer Spark Podcast.
I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.
(18:34):
And if you haven't explored the Cozy mystery genre,
I hope that I've given you some reasons to do that both as a reader and as a writer Happy reading and happy writing.
See you next time.
Thank you so much for listening and spending your time with me today.
Everyone.
I'm Melissa Bourbon and this is the Writer Spark podcast.
(18:58):
Take a moment to visit our website at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
Check out our courses,
our resources and all the content there and I will see you next time until then.
Happy Writing.
I'm a cozy mystery writer.
Two of my series are Cozy My Bread Shop series featuring Ivy Cole Pepper and set on the Central California coast and My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series set in Small town Bliss Texas.
I really enjoy writing cozy mysteries and I have 10 reasons for you today as to why I like writing them and why readers like reading them.
(00:26):
So if you as a writer have any interest in delving into writing cozy mysteries,
take a listen to this episode of the Writer Spark podcast to hear my 10 reasons to write and read Cozy mysteries.
Hello.
Hello,
I'm Melissa Bourbon.
And this is the Writer Spark podcast where business creativity and the craft of writing converge.
(00:51):
Welcome.
15 years ago,
I was an avid reader but not a writer.
I didn't know anything about the actual craft and I knew next to nothing about the publishing industry,
but I had dream to become a published author and I set out to learn everything I could.
Now,
I'm a number one Amazon and national bestselling author of more than 35 novels I've published traditionally and I recently plunged into the world of indie publishing.
(01:17):
And I teach people like you how to grow in their craft and find success in this ever changing industry.
I'm an ordinary person,
a wife,
a mom,
a daughter,
a teacher living in a small North Carolina town through writer Spark.
I am doing what I love more than anything in the world which is teaching and helping others on their writing journeys.
(01:38):
I'm here as your partner,
as you navigate your own writing journey.
I'm here to help you understand the essential elements of the writing craft,
to build your confidence and to help you find the success you desire.
Welcome to the Rider Spark podcast.
(01:59):
Hey,
writers today,
I'm talking about 10 reasons to love Cozy mysteries.
Why?
Well,
because first of all,
some of my series are Cozy mysteries and so I know them well and I know what is great about them and what reader expectations are and why we should love them.
Second because they're very,
(02:20):
very popular.
So if you are thinking at all about writing a mystery,
you might want to consider writing cozy mysteries and I'm gonna give you 10 reasons why.
So while the mystery genre is really huge,
I do have 10 specific things that you can love about cozy mysteries.
Sure.
There are thrillers,
there are suspense books,
(02:40):
there are police procedurals on the one end domestic suspense and there are straight mysteries in the middle and then there are capers and Cozy mysteries on the other side of the spectrum,
there is really literally something for everyone if you are a mystery reader and if you're a mystery writer,
no matter the subgenre mysteries draw you in with the promise of a puzzle that and the promise of justice being served are big draws and justice being served is not always something that happens in real life.
(03:09):
Now,
I love the tense emotional build up in the back and forth and the Cat and Mouse chase and the heart stopping suspense that comes with the darker side of mysteries.
Definitely,
I love domestic suspense in particular.
But Cozies,
they offer something a little bit more than just the mystery as a writer.
I love the fact that I get to hang out with a cast of characters that are super interesting that I would be friends with in real life.
(03:36):
No,
maybe not the killer,
but almost everybody else.
I also love the challenge of figuring out how to write what I like to call.
Happy Me because Cozies are not generally dark and brooding.
They are not sad and filled with distress and the dark side of things.
So while they are murder mysteries,
they are typically a little bit funny.
They're warm,
(03:56):
they give those warm fuzzy cozy feelings and that's one thing to really love about them striking a balance.
However,
between the gravity of murder and the lighter tone of a cozy mystery can take some deftness.
I personally am always up for that challenge.
And as a writer,
maybe you are too,
maybe you will find that equally interesting as a reader.
(04:17):
I love so many other things about the cozy genre.
They are about so much more than just the solving of a murder.
They're about community.
They are about relationships.
They are greatly about this setting,
that cozy setting,
these things give them this widespread appeal.
And that's why they are so popular because they speak to sort of our collective consciousness in terms of what we would like our world to be like minus the murders,
(04:44):
of course,
both in the places that we live and with whom we share our life lives.
They give us this sense of community,
the community that we would love to be a part of and through the immersive writing of so many authors,
we get to do that.
We get to experience those things that we crave.
We get to visit with friends and be alongside them in their lives.
(05:04):
And in that setting that we love as well as during their crime solving adventures during which we get to exact justice.
So here are 10 reasons.
I love cozy mysteries.
And if you are thinking about writing cozy mysteries,
then really think about why people love them.
And if you want to be the person that brings that kind of joy to that reader,
(05:26):
first,
we get the punny titles and the charming covers that bring you into that book or that series.
The first thing you notice about Cozy Mysteries is that the majority of them have punny titles.
They also have wonderfully appealing covers.
They show us a glimpse of the world that we're about to enter.
And the charming Lives that live between those covers.
(05:47):
Flower in the attic.
From my Bread Shop series was one of the best titles of the year in one of the Cozy title,
Roundups a Murder You'll Regret.
And The Walking Bread are other favorites of mine from that series.
In fact,
my publicists from Kensington books one year dressed up as the walking bread for their Halloween costume.
So they were,
(06:07):
you know,
zombie like,
but with loaves of bread,
it was hilarious.
They sent me pictures and I loved that so much.
Pleading For Mercy is the first in a series of mine called The Harlow Cassy Magical Dressmaking series,
which is a paranormal cozy series.
So those titles and those covers that really give a sense of the lightheartedness of cozy mysteries and the,
(06:29):
the sense of place that we get to enter into really can capture a reader's interest and attention.
Next is the friends that you meet on the page.
Cozy mysteries are flush with warm and caring people.
The sleuths are smart and clever and appealing.
They may be unique and sassy,
they may be serious.
(06:49):
They may have sidekicks that are equally winsome.
There's usually some sort of a love interest with someone who complements the sleuth in some way,
the people in the cozy community really feel like Friends,
which is what makes a long running cozy series so wonderful as readers,
they get to hang out with these folks who,
(07:11):
you know,
who they love to visit with,
who are friends in their minds.
When I sit down to write,
it is truly like hanging out with friends.
I get to play P I and hang out with Lola Cruz and her family and Jack Callaghan.
Uh I get to be a sleuth with Harlow Cassidy and Ivy Cole Pepper and do some biblical mani with Pip and Lane Hawthorne.
Friends on the page can be just as important as friends in real life for the reader,
(07:35):
but also for you as a writer.
Next are the locales.
You get to call home beach towns,
a mountain oasis,
a close knit community in a city,
an English Moor,
a rural farmhouse.
Wherever Cozies are set,
there is definitely going to be a ton of charm and it is,
(07:55):
I'm sure very picturesque.
Being inside the pages of a book with a charming locale is akin to visiting that place in life.
It's almost like having another home.
My bread shot mystery series is set in the fictional town of Santa Sophia.
Sophia named after my daughter on the Central California coast.
I love beachy settings.
Bliss.
(08:15):
Texas deviates from that with my Harlow Cassidy magical Dressmaking series.
It's a paranormal cozy series and it is set in a small town called Bliss in Texas.
Definitely not by the Beach,
but I also have the Outer Banks series.
The Pippen Lane Hawthorn book magic series is set on a fictional island on the Outer Banks.
(08:37):
So if you love Alaska or if you're crazy about the Outer Banks,
if you have an affinity for a particular type of locale,
chances are good that there is a mystery set there for you as a reader for you as a writer.
If you have some place,
a community,
a setting that you want to write about,
you can do that.
(08:58):
This episode of the Writer Spark podcast is brought to you by writer Spark Academy's field guide to writing a cozy mystery.
Are you a fan of Cozy mystery novels?
Have you always wanted to try your hand at writing one yourself?
Look no further writer Spark Academy's field guide to writing a cozy mystery master class is the ultimate course for aspiring cozy mystery authors with its 10 comprehensive modules,
(09:23):
28 engaging video lessons and a variety of hands-on activities.
This course will guide you through every step of crafting your very own captivating cozy mystery from developing a captivating hook and setting that will transport read to a charming and mysterious world to creating a lovable sleuth who will keep readers hooked until the very end.
(09:43):
This course covers it all.
Make sure to look in the show notes if you're interested in checking out this course and unlock your potential as a cozy mystery author.
Number four,
they are happy murders that let you sleep at night in a cozy mystery,
blood violence and sex happen off the page.
(10:06):
The murder is a murder of course,
but in a cozy by definition,
while there is death and people might be in harm's way,
it is not so scary that you can't sleep at night and that murder happens off the page,
meaning we don't see it happen.
We stumble across it later.
(10:26):
So that is fun to write.
As a writer.
You get to plan that murder,
but you don't have to deal with the blood and get some the gore that maybe you don't want to.
And as a reader again,
we get to sleep at night,
we get to process the murder and understand the gravity of it.
But we also get to be a little bit distanced from it.
(10:47):
The cozy writer and the cozy reader both do not have to get into those down and dirty details they exist.
We know they exist,
but we're a little bit removed.
Next up.
Number five are the furry friends more often than not cozy.
Mystery slews have some sort of furry friend as a companion,
whether they are dogs,
(11:08):
cats,
horses,
teacup pigs or goats,
chances are good that a much loved pet will make an appearance.
They are often on the covers too and bred over troubled Water,
which is book eight in my Bread Shop series Agatha.
The Pug Agatha named after the Grand Dame of Cozy discovered,
actually discovers the body in my Harlow Cassidy paranormal series Thelma Louise,
(11:32):
who is the queen of the Sundance kid goat herd is a cantankerous goat who adds a lot of comedy and she's also on every cover.
So the bottom line is that furry friends are fun and cozy readers often really expect there to be some sort of furry friend.
So if you like to incorporate that into your cozy mystery as a writer,
(11:54):
you get to do that next.
A touch of romance.
Romance is never ever the focal point of a cozy mystery,
but it is usually an element,
a typical scenario is that there is a romantic prospect in law enforcement that forces contact between that person and the sleuth.
I personally tend to go in a different direction so that my characters are not so sort of cliche in that way in the bread shop.
(12:20):
Cozy.
Em,
Elaine Davis who is Ivy Cole Pepper's best friend.
She's the law enforcement character.
The romance comes in the form of Miguel Baptista who is a restaurateur in My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series.
The love interest is an architect with the town rather than the law enforcement.
The sheriff is not a relation.
(12:41):
He's actually the boyfriend of Harlow's mother.
Uh,
so there is a bit of a connection there,
but it's not the romance.
Another deputy is an old schoolmate,
kind of a friend of me.
And so we have law enforcement,
but our romance for my books comes in a different way.
Regardless.
There is always a bit of a romance.
So that's very fun to write.
(13:02):
And unlike romance novels where you have to have that push and pull,
push and pull,
push and pull,
keeping them apart while you might want to do that in the first in series.
Ultimately,
you can bring these people together and develop their relationship in a really wonderful way.
Next is the amateur sleuth herself or himself.
(13:23):
The star of the cozy mystery is the amateur sleuth.
And I truly bring part of myself into each of my characters.
They aren't trained in law enforcement.
They may or they may not have some special skill that helps them with the investigation,
but it's not typically formal training.
This makes it super fun and easy for readers to follow right alongside the sleuth in crime solving.
(13:44):
And for you as a writer,
you don't have to have that technical knowledge of law enforcement and what solving a crime looks like.
So you get to make it up as you go somewhat,
it makes the sleuth very relatable and easy to love because we can root for their success.
Remember,
they're like a friend and again,
as a writer,
it's fun to create these characters and sort of have them follow their nose and then grow in their ability to solve crimes.
(14:10):
With each subsequent book in a series.
Number eight is the Cozy Hook.
Cozy mystery books have a Cozy Hook.
That means there is always a hobby or a creative interest of some kind or something that is the central focus of the cozy world in any particular series.
(14:30):
Coffee or tea houses,
Culinary Connection or bakeries.
Yeas have eaten in my bread shop series is the traditional sort of old world bread shop based on the long rise and the tradition of baking bread in Mexico.
That is the hook for that particular series,
fiber and fabric tie ins like sewing is another popular popular hook.
(14:55):
My Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series uses that it's sort of project runway meets small town Texas.
We have Harlow who tried to make it in Manhattan in fashion design and she ends up back home in bliss,
Texas.
She's inherited her grandmother's old farmhouse and she turns,
she opens up her own business called Buttons and Bows,
which is a design,
(15:16):
uh custom dressmaking business.
Other hobbies like photography,
horseback riding motorcycles,
painting knitting bookshops,
whatever you are interested in,
you can make that into a cozy.
Hook number nine is the puzzle of an intriguing mystery.
Every mystery on the mystery spectrum offers a puzzle to be solved.
(15:39):
The reader may know what happened and know things before the protagonist even does as in a,
a suspense,
for example,
or they may be just as in the dark as a protagonist and still,
you know,
getting that tension and that suspense,
maybe like in a domestic suspense book or we may even be ahead of the crime solving or trying to be ahead of the crime solving,
(16:03):
which is what we are trying to do.
When we read a cozy mystery,
we know what the sleuth knows,
but maybe we want to try and solve the mystery.
Maybe we're able to solve the mystery before the sleuth.
Although as a cozy mystery writer,
we try not to let that happen.
We want to surprise the reader play fair,
give them the clues,
but also keep them in the dark.
The puzzle of the mystery brings a reader to the mystery in the first place.
(16:26):
So that is a very obviously central element of wanting to read a cozy mystery and how you need to write a cozy mystery.
Finally,
number 10 justice is served and good prevails.
One of the reasons mysteries have a really wide appeal is the underlying end result that the bad guys are brought to justice.
(16:49):
Good prevails in cozy mysteries.
This is especially true.
It doesn't always happen in all mysteries on that mystery suspense spectrum,
particularly on the suspense site.
But in a cozy mystery justice is always served good prevails,
the crime is solved,
the community is safe.
The life of the sleuth gets to move forward.
(17:09):
There's a happy ending and the reader is along for the Ride.
We as writers don't have to live in that dark place.
So,
while I've written some suspense books,
Silent Obsession and Silent Echoes,
which I absolutely love.
They're based on Mexican legends of Laon and Chica.
And I think these books are amazing.
I don't like to live in that dark space all the time though.
(17:32):
So for me,
I prefer to write cozy mysteries or like my book,
Magic Pippin Hawthorn book Magic series more on the women's fiction side with mystery elements.
So if that's you as a writer and you don't wanna,
you don't wanna,
you know,
tap into that darkness all the time.
Keep that darkness a little bit at a distance,
(17:53):
then maybe writing a cozy mystery is for you.
That's definitely a strong reason why cozy readers love this genre.
So there's always a happy ending.
The sleuth is always ready to solve another crime.
Cozies are a really special subgenre of mysteries.
So fix a cup of tea,
(18:14):
snuggle up and settle in as you explore cozy mysteries,
as a reader.
And if you want to start writing them,
I've given you 10 really good reasons to do that.
They are a lot of fun.
That is it for this episode of the Writer Spark Podcast.
I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.
(18:34):
And if you haven't explored the Cozy mystery genre,
I hope that I've given you some reasons to do that both as a reader and as a writer Happy reading and happy writing.
See you next time.
Thank you so much for listening and spending your time with me today.
Everyone.
I'm Melissa Bourbon and this is the Writer Spark podcast.
(18:58):
Take a moment to visit our website at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
Check out our courses,
our resources and all the content there and I will see you next time until then.
Happy Writing.
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