The Mystery
When we talk about a cozy mystery, it seems there should be two parts to it, right? There’s the Cozy, and there’s the Mystery.
Now and then you read a book where it feels like the author forgot about the mystery part. There’s nothing wrong with that: write the story you want to write. But if you’re not writing a mystery, we’re not going to consider it as a cozy mystery, no matter what else you do.
A cozy mystery has to emphasize the mystery just as much as the cozy.
Other elements, like a romantic subplot or conversation about interpersonal relationships, are fine. They serve to round out the characters. They have to remain subplots though, because the reader is focused on the puzzle to solve.
The puzzle is what gets us to read, and most anything else is a distraction. We want to know what the main character knows, and to try to solve the puzzle before she does.
You might even say the mystery is what the story is about, and the cozy is how it feels.
What is a Mystery?
Let’s start by defining a mystery.
In book terms, a mystery is a puzzle for the protagonist to solve. The reader follows along, trying to solve the puzzle at the same time, or shortly before, the protagonist.
The idea of the mystery isn’t that it’s impossible to solve, it’s that it’s a question worth answering. Who ate the extra cookie might work in a children’s book, but for us, there’s got to be some real stakes involved. Most often that means murder, with our protagonist being the prime suspect and needing to clear their name.
People read cozy mysteries to put themselves in the shoes of the amateur sleuth. They want to be challenged with an interesting puzzle, and put their mind to work on the clues as they are revealed. They don’t want trickery to be involved, and the protagonist can never know things which the reader doesn’t know.
When is the mystery solved?
The mystery is solved very near the end of the book, with just a small amount of wrap-up to follow. There have been clues building along the way, and slowly but surely the sleuth (and the reader) eliminates suspects until we get to the end, when the murderer is revealed and their actions are fully explained. They are arrested (although we never see the outcome of any trial), and there is some conversation between the main characters to wrap up any loose threads and end the book.
The ideal resolution puts the last clues together to solve the puzzle. The reader will pat themselves on the back, having figured out the mystery, or perhaps even better, will be surprised by the outcome. This surprise will never involve trickery, but simply enough misdirection for the reader to be looking at a different suspect.
If you as the reader solve the mystery much earlier, it might still be a mystery, just not as well-written as the author hoped. Sometimes, no matter how well the author hides it, some people will solve it early. For example, imagine there are five possible suspects. You could randomly guess whodunnit and be right twenty percent of the time. That doesn’t make it a bad book.
There are stories where the mystery is solved halfway through, but these aren’t cozy mysteries. Typically this happens in suspense and thriller stories, where the first half of the book is figuring out what’s going on and whodunnit. The second half is spent in suspense, trying to see if the good guy can stop the bad guy, or in a thriller, following a race to see who will win. Neither of these types of book are considered mysteries.
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The Clues
Every mystery has a set of clues which point us toward the suspect. Ideally, each clue can be interpreted to blame multiple suspects. It is the reader’s job to decide which ones are most important, and who they really implicate.
Red herrings are crucial to the success of a cozy mystery. These are clues which have little effect on the outcome of the story. They are used to misdirect the reader into thinking their importance is much greater than it really is. A sprinkling of red herrings can be the difference between a good story and a great one. Too few can make the story predictable, while too many may cause confusion and ruin the story. It’s important for an author to find the right balance.
The worst kind of mysteries have the protagonist jumping to conclusions too soon. I once read a book where the amateur sleuth accused a different person of murder each time they uncovered a clue. The rest of the cast was annoyed by their ham fisted attempts to solve the puzzle (but naturally by the end everyone forgave them). That book was very unsatisfying.
The clues which are used, both real and distractions, need to be consistent with the story. Anything which appears obviously put in to divert the reader will be dismissed. Too many and the reader will be frustrated or lose interest in the book, the worst thing that can happen to an author.
What isn’t a mystery?
Earlier I mentioned romances. It is possible for a romance to have a mystery in it, but if the focus is the romance, it’s not cozy. If you’re reading about the two main characters falling in love, they’re not solving the mystery. By having a focus on the romance, they lose focus on the puzzle – and many readers will lose interest in the book.
That’s not to say cozy mysteries can’t have romance. Many of them do, in the form of our amateur sleuth working closely with the police officer assigned to the case. Romance can develop between them, but it usually takes several books, rather than just one.
Other story types apply the same rules. Break them down to see what the focus is, and that will tell you whether it is a cozy mystery or not.
Are the interpersonal relationships of the main characters the point of the story? If the puzzle slips into the background as the author works on relationships, it might be a family saga, or maybe the dreadfully named Women’s Fiction.
Some books follow the person who committed the crime. If you’re with them as they plan and commit the crime, it’s not a mystery. That type of story is likely a caper (if it’s humorous) or a heist story, along the lines of Oceans 11.
The Mystery: In Conclusion
The two primary parts of a cozy mystery are the cozy and the mystery. You can break down any book and see if it fits both of them.
For it to be a mystery, the puzzle has to be the primary focus of the book. If other things or people distract the protagonist, they may not be trying to solve the puzzle, and it might not be a mystery.
Do you have anything to say about this article? Agree or disagree with what we have to say? Let us know in the comments below.
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