Cozy Mystery Writing Tip: Letting Readers Become Armchair Detectives

by Korina Moss

In each of the books in my Cheese Shop Mystery series, my protagonist Willa and Team Cheese—the three friends she solves mysteries with—always sit at the same hand-hewn picnic table in the kitchenette of her cheese shop to discuss the murder and the suspects. Readers of my series know this is the time when the suspects and their motives will be laid out, helping readers to keep track of what our sleuths have discovered, and allowing them to make their own guesses as to whodunit. 

Cozy Mystery Booktuber, the Beachbum Bookworm

This is part of the fun of reading a cozy mystery—trying to solve the puzzle along with the sleuth. Cozy mysteries play fair with the reader. They lay out clues, weaving in some red herrings. With the clues given, readers may be able to solve the mystery. It all depends on how clever the author is at distraction. Cozy writers need to have a big enough pool of suspects for readers to guess from but not too many to overwhelm them. Readers also need to be able to keep the suspects and their motives straight. Here is the way I help my readers do this. 

• Soon after the murder is discovered, I write a scene cataloging who my sleuth thinks the suspects are. Every cozy should have five to six clear suspects. Your protagonist sleuth may not know who all of them are right away, but you should have a solid list of suspects very early in the book. 

• Then after some investigating (between a third and halfway into the book), I revisit the suspects and what’s been discovered about them. Maybe I’ve dismissed one or added one or maybe the list remains the same. The sleuth may be feeling more strongly about some than others at this point, which can change again based on new evidence. Some suspects may have a strong motive for having murdered the victim, but it appears they didn’t have opportunity or vice-versa. More investigating will reveal new motives and secret opportunities to have committed the crime. 

• As the book goes on, your protagonist’s investigation narrows down the suspect list until he or she is left with stronger suspicions about two or three of them. So, toward the end of the book, I’ll have a scene identifying the narrowed list of suspects and the reasons my sleuth thinks one of them may be the culprit.

Of course, all of these discoveries are also woven in throughout the story but stopping two or three times to write a scene discussing the suspects is helpful for the reader to play along and try to solve the mystery before the big reveal. As long as you’ve plotted your mystery carefully to keep even the savviest reader guessing, helping them become armchair detectives will help you gain a loyal readership. 

Readers: When reading a mystery, do you like to try to solve whodunnit? 

You can be an armchair detective when cozy mystery booktuber, the Beachbum Bookworm, discusses my Agatha Award-winning novel Cheddar Off Dead with her YouTube viewers during the last week of March (exact date to be announced). I'll be there too, so buy and read Cheddar Off Dead, go to her channel, subscribe and hit the notification button. Keep up with me on Facebook, Instagram, and my website so you won't miss it!

Cozy booktuber Sonia with an i

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KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, California, which includes multiple Agatha Award nominated books for Best Contemporary Novel and the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery Series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a freelance developmental editor and book coach specializing in cozy mysteries. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.