TEN TIPS FOR KEEPING MURDER COZY

by Korina Moss

Readers' expectations of a cozy mystery is right there in the title--they want a good mystery and they want it to be cozy. Readers often write to tell me how books in my cozy Cheese Shop Mystery series have comforted them during difficult times. Some might think that's odd to say about books that revolve around a murder. That's the challenge of writing cozy mysteries -- keeping them cozy. It's a balancing act between death vs. comfort and fast-paced suspense vs. a calming force. So how do you keep a book about murder cozy? Here are some tips:

1. Keep the murder off the page. This is one of the basic rules of a cozy mystery. Readers don’t want to see the murder happen, nor do they want all the gory details about the body. Giving readers nightmares isn’t cozy.

2. Make the victim unlikable. The reader will be able to shift more easily from the murder to the investigation (the mystery) if the reader (and your protagonist) isn’t bogged down with being terribly sad about the victim.  

3. Revolve the mystery around your cozy theme. The first thing I always think about when starting a new Cheese Shop Mystery is cheese, and how I can center the mystery within my cheese theme. Not only does this deliver what readers expect from the series title, but it also allows for scenes that provide the comfort and familiarity that your readers have grown to love. 

4. Don’t make all the suspects villains. Some writers make the mistake of making every suspect unlikable, thinking that equates to “suspicious.” But who wants to read an entire book with a bunch of characters you don’t like? Part of what makes a cozy mystery “cozy” is that readers want to be in your book. They want to hang out in your fictional town with your characters, and by default that includes the suspects. Don’t make them all greedy, horrible blowhards.

5. Make your readers root for your main character(s). Readers say that the main reason they become loyal to a series is because of the core group of series characters. They like feeling like the characters are old friends they come back to with each book, so you want to give them some depth. Yes, readers will root for them to solve the mystery, but adding an underdog quality—something readers can relate to and root for—will have them invested in your protagonist and sidekicks even after the mystery is solved. 

6. Make your main characters root for each other. I believe in characters having flaws that they work on throughout the arc of the series, however, for readers to feel comforted by your main characters, your protagonist and sidekicks have to have overwhelmingly positive traits like loyalty, empathy, and being supportive and encouraging to one another.

7. Include a community event. Incorporating community events is cozy element and allows your idyllic small town and its side characters to shine. While your main characters are investigating, make sure something cozy is also going on – a festival, a farmer’s market, a community dance, etc. and then intertwine it with the mystery, even tangentially, so you’re not pausing the plot. Everything that goes into a mystery must move the plot forward, but don’t forget to include the vibrancy and coziness of your town. 

8. Add humor. Humor is super important to a cozy mystery to lighten the tone and keep it cozy. Mildly sarcastic inner dialogue or some fun banter among characters goes a long way. 

9. Don’t delve into heavy topics. Believe me, it’s difficult to come up with fresh motives after writing several books, but it’s worth the extra effort to make sure they’re not super dark and heavy. It’s a line some cozy writers straddle, but we try not to trigger anybody in our books. What crosses the line is for every writer to determine for themselves, but topics definitely off limits are abuse against children or animals and sexual abuse.  

10. Don’t kill off a series regular. Some writers love to kill off readers’ favorite characters, but that’s a no-no in cozy mysteries. In order for readers to feel a sense of comfort, they have to feel a sense of security. In the world of cozies, there is justice. They have to know that the characters they’ve come to know and love won’t be the ones killed. In my upcoming sixth book, Bait and Swiss, I needed to kill someone from the local newspaper. There was a reporter that makes a brief appearance in just about every book in the series, and I considered making her the victim. Even though readers don’t know too much about her, she was still a recurring character and a part of the community. However, the more I thought about making her the victim, the more I thought this was a bad idea. When I asked my editor’s advice, she agreed I shouldn’t make her the victim. It's a matter of developing trust with the readers and then keeping that trust. 

If you want to write a cozy mystery series whose readers will clamor for the next book to come out, remember to keep it cozy. I hope these tips help. 

Readers: What cozy element is important to you in a cozy mystery? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer's Digest. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.