Tag: hooks

Developing a New Cozy Series: Nuts and Bolts

Mystery Writing Tips

A cup of steaming tea sits on a table next to a notebook and decorative pen.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Today I thought I’d cover my process for starting a new cozy series. This post isn’t intended to replace the more in-depth posts I created for developing a sleuth, sidekick, setting, et al. For tips on the nitty gritty part of developing those specific elements, see those particular posts and this series. 

My thought on creating a new series this time was to look at all the specific elements and put them on a Word document.  I brainstormed ideas for each element and wrote down pros and cons of every choice.

I started out with the sleuth.  Considerations were: age of the sleuth, gender of the sleuth (there are cozies with male sleuths…I’ve been asked about this regularly by male mystery writers), sleuth’s occupation (the theme/hook is incredibly important in a cozy mystery), and his or her personality type.Continue reading

Cozy Mystery Hooks

Mystery Writing Tips

A cozy scene with a fireplace in the background, a book in the foreground, and the post title, "Cozy Mystery Hooks" superimposed on the top.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Cozy mysteries are a subgenre in a large field of mystery subgenres.  They’re primarily defined by their use of an amateur sleuth, lack of gore and profanity, offstage murder, and focus on the whodunit puzzle. These mysteries are frequently (not always) humorous, character-focused, set in small-towns, and are part of a series.

They also frequently employ ‘hooks’ or special themes, meant to appeal to the primary reading demographic, as part of the series brand .

Types of hooks: 

The encyclopedic site for cozy mystery fans is Cozy Mystery List.  They list hooks under ‘themes’ and include animal themes, culinary, super paranormal, vacation mysteries, holidays, hobbies (everything from antiquing  to dollhouse miniatures), professions, senior sleuth, and religious.

I was surprised to see ‘senior sleuth’ as a theme/hook.  I know that the agents and publishers that I queried in the early 2000s didn’t consider it one at the time (and it was the cause of many rejections for Myrtle).  Good to see that things have changed.Continue reading

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