The cozy mystery is a wildly popular contemporary book category. Based largely upon the writing formulas established by the Golden Age writers of the whodunit mystery genre – including Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellery Queen and others – today’s cozy mystery is constructed with very specific elements. A successful blending of these essential elements into the story, coupled with a compelling premise and characters, specific and crucial book proposal practices, and an eye toward marketing, will help ensure that your first cozy mystery is a bookstand hit.
During a recent interview, New York-based literary agent John Talbot explains what elements agents and editors look for when reviewing cozy mystery submissions for publication. Talbot has more than 25 years experience in publishing and as an agent he has placed books with all major publishing houses. Clients include New York Times and USA Today bestsellers and several cozy mystery authors, including Coffeehouse Mystery Series bestseller Cleo Coyle.
Manuscript must be identifiable as ‘Cozy’
The cozy genre incorporates several very specific elements, explains Talbot. Working all, or nearly all, of these elements into your story makes the material easy to identify in terms of its genre – which is crucial in terms of marketing, advertising and shelf placement – and ultimately brings a ready audience to your published work.
“There is a significant, built-in, readership for cozy novels,” says Talbot. “Cozy fans are eager to read anything new and high-quality that is published within the genre…this strong reader support is a tremendous benefit to first-time writers and authors.”
Generally, agents and editors look for contemporary cozy mysteries to include all or most of the following:
- An interesting premise. Be sure the premise or theme is constant and central throughout the book. If your premise is about a sleuth who participates in dog shows, then, dog shows should have some sort of key function in either the crime or the solving of the crime.
- A hook or bonus connected to the premise. Although not essential, this clever add-on to your story may be the little extra that, ultimately, sells your work to both editors and readers alike. Perhaps, your dog show mystery includes professional dog grooming tips or secrets, or, suggests what a handler should wear in the ring.
- A crime, usually a murder or series of murders, that need(s) to be solved by the amateur sleuth.
- A viable reason why the sleuth gets involved. Perhaps, for example, he or she is implicated in the crime? He or she was a witness? Maybe, the crime involved a friend or family member? Or, it happened at his or her place of work?
- An amateur sleuth who – through a combination of observance, wit, common sense, gossip, and happenstance – the reader follows as the sleuth solves the mystery.
- A core or regular cast of two or three well-developed and interesting characters who befriend and/or aid the sleuth in solving the crime. Sometimes this includes a character legitimately involved in solving crime, such as a police officer, detective, lab technician, or insurance investigator who uses professional skills to help the amateur sleuth. Also, it could be that law enforcement and crime-solver characters may not want, or respect, crime-solving help from the amateur sleuth.
- Additional characters specific to each mystery book representing bystanders, victims and witnesses to the crime – about half a dozen “suspects” is average, sometimes more.
- Clues and red herrings that the amateur sleuth and reader follow together. The reader must be given a chance to solve the crime along with the sleuth, so the reader must know no less than the sleuth as the story unfolds. Plot twists and turns are what make the mystery fun; however, a “surprise” fact thrown in at the end of the book that the reader could have no way of knowing, makes the read, and crime solving, unsatisfying.
- A setting in a specific “limited” location. It should be a special place readers would want to live or visit. An idyllic country setting, an exotic vacation spot, an exciting city venue, for example. The setting must be well-defined and impact the general nature of the overall story. The setting represents key support to the book’s overall premise.
- Romance without explicit sex. Romance is not essential, however, current trends show that readers enjoy seeing some sort of love interest for the sleuth, or, at least, they like knowing that story holds potential for romance.
- A tale without gore, profanity, dark themes, supernatural elements, or graphic violence. These elements are found in other crime fiction novels and often are the very reasons readers turn to cozy mysteries in the first place.
Former Romance Readers Embrace Cozy Mysteries
Earliest cozies did not necessarily feature a romance component, and it is still not absolutely necessary, explains Talbot. However, he adds, “Because so many romance publishers went into urban fantasy and paranormal, categories that often depict explicit sex, I believe some former romance readers sought out less graphic reading material.”
These readers have found and embraced cozies, says Talbot. “Contemporary cozies reflect their interests by including romance elements in the storylines, although, still, with nothing explicit.”
Treat Your Mystery Setting Like Another Character
According to Talbot, the cozy setting is as important as the main character. In fact, think about the setting almost as another character, he advises.
“The key thing about a cozy is the limited setting – it's almost like a stage or play,” Talbot says. “That way, the sleuth has a ‘closed’ and level playing field, along with the reader.”
Little Details, Atmosphere Satisfy Readers
Of course, as every writer hears over and over, Talbot advises to write about what you know. In addition to a great mystery, little details that an author shares about a chosen theme is what readers are looking for in a cozy.
“Atmosphere is extremely important in a cozy,” explains Talbot. “Readers pick up a book looking for mystery, but also, they expect to be transported to someplace unique and special. For example, if a title promises a mystery centered on a craft fair, then, readers expect to be treated to the craft fair experience, including all the characters, sights, scenes, props, and nuances that make a craft fair unique to any other setting.”
Talbot continues, “In a cozy, the author provides access to a place or activity that readers otherwise may not have the means or wherewithal to access. An author who shares unique, juicy little tidbits of exposure, expertise, and experience about a theme or subject pleases and satisfies the reader.”
He adds, “It is the kernels of detail that set many great authors apart from less successful story-tellers.”
Claire Eddins - Writer/editor, award-winning photographer Claire Eddins collects gems, horses, and obsesses over home, art, and design.
