HAVE A NICE DAY
What is a cosy mystery?
With its roots in early 20th-century, British mysteries (think Agatha Christie’s Marple or Poirot, and Dorothy L Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey), the cosy mystery is still fairly recent. The new genre emerged when upcoming authors aimed to recreate that mystery novel “feel” from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. This softer breed, bearing the tag cosy crime, was in response to the dark, gritty, hard-boiled crime fiction fashionable in the US in the mid-20th century. As popular now as it was then, the genre isn’t going anywhere soon. So says your average, die-hard cosy reader.
For a cosy story to work, a secluded setting is desirable—a rural village or seaside town—and, while death is central, the story shouldn’t linger on doom but focus on the exciting, clever investigation by an amateur sleuth or sleuths. Characters, including animals, must be remarkable, suspects plentiful, murders bizarre, and police often—though not always—befuddled, belligerent, and bested by the novices. A nasty ending has no place in a cosy mystery but should leave the reader snuggled in a warm, fuzz, knowing that crime doesn’t pay and all’s well with the world.
Having clocked up reams of research, we believe we’ve done the cosy mystery genre proud with the feature-length debut, Deadly Dough and follow-up, Fatal Fungus, without cosy overload rendering our books vapid and sickly. Yes, a desirable dollop of cosiness breathes, especially in the settings and characters, but pain, greed, malice, and fear live in the serious topical issues. Our offbeat, contrary protagonists are unique and spirited. We don’t want twee or vacuous. Fluff comes at a premium. Our stories include, but aren’t limited to:
- Escapism
- Plots featuring clever, intuitive amateur sleuths: the sparring Jon Windup and Wendy May, aka Windy & Darling, who endeavour to crack each case
- Charming settings. The pastoral paradise of Treetonshire County’s idyllic villages, and county town, Treeton
- A diverse cast of unforgettables
- Inimitable animal friends
- Belly laughs. Witty banter. Warmth. Good cheer. A lighthearted approach, with little violence, gore and guts
- Clean reads, ie no graphic profanity/sex
- Unpopular, ruthless victims
- Twisty, clever puzzles for readers to solve along the way, including a creel of red herrings
- The obligatory satisfying end
Our current WIP serves up these essential ingredients, both warm and wicked, and will result in Horrid Herbs, book three in The Windy & Darling Cosy Mystery Series launching early 2025. Another tempting recipe for the cosy crime connoisseur? We leave that to providence and a pothole of patience.