The Setting of a Cozy Mystery
Cozy mysteries feature an amateur sleuth solving a mystery, usually a murder, in the setting of a small, intimate community. They have been rapidly growing in popularity over the last decade or so, but date back to the days of Agatha Christie and beyond.
One of the primary features of a cozy mystery is the setting. Characters and plot play vital roles in the story, but setting is equally significant in establishing the atmosphere and tone of the story. The setting can transport a reader to the idyllic world of the cozy mystery, and contributes to their enjoyment of the book.
The Role of the Setting
The choice of the setting is critical in establishing the boundaries of the mystery. Whether the reader is entering an English village, a cruise ship, or a locked country house, setting will immediately put them in a particular frame of mind.
If the setting is a very defined space, such as a cruise ship, the reader will immediately know the potential cast of suspects is limited to the people in that space.
If the setting is a village, the list of characters may be slightly wider, but the reader will know to expect the killer to be a local resident.
Even when set in a major city, the locations are limited, and the people involved will remain confined to a small group. The idea of random violence never belongs in a cozy mystery, so in this case the city can serve as a vast backdrop despite the limits we naturally place on the crime.
Depending on which setting is chosen, the reader will feel anything from a sense of nostalgia to one of great suspicion. The choice of the author immediately puts the reader into the author’s chosen mood.
The setting can also set the tone for the story, showing it to be light-hearted and humorous or atmospheric and suspenseful. Think of stories you’ve read and imagine how a simple change in location could change the whole mood of the story. Even moving from a village to a cruise ship could change the story from closed and suspicious to open and joyful.
The Setting as Character
You might not think of the setting as a character, but it can act as one. When it is developed in detail and depth it can have its own quirks, secrets, and history.
Any well-developed setting will affect the characters who move through it. People will act very differently if they’re the guest in an old country house bed and breakfast than they will in a modern hotel.
We already talked about a cruise ship. Think of thousands of people celebrating their trip, with only a few knowing about a murder. Now, imagine how secretive those people will be, and how much suspicion that will throw on them. Someone acting other than expected will immediately become the focus.
The other thing is how much a person knows about the location. Someone with oddly specific knowledge of a place might know more than they are letting on.
How will the setting affect the sleuth? Think of your own home. Are there things you do automatically that would trip someone else up? Perhaps you keep your knives and forks in a particular drawer. What if the sleuth sees another guest go straight to that drawer? Will they wonder if that person has more knowledge of the house than they’re letting on?
All of these questions can present obstacles or clues to our sleuth, or perhaps act as red herrings (the guest got lucky picking that drawer). When you’re using the setting as a part of the story, you’re extending the interest of the reader to find more clues everywhere.
The Familiarity of the Setting
As previously mentioned, the setting of a cozy mystery can bring familiarity to the reader. If you start reading a book set in an old country mansion, you have an immediate impression of the story and the kinds of things which might happen in it.
The other advantage of the setting is to bring that sense of familiarity into a series. This helps readers to quickly become comfortable in the story, as they return to locations they know well from previous books.
Think of St. Mary Mead, village home of Miss Marple. As we enter these stories we begin to feel an English village location, which most readers can instantly bring to mind. As the stories continue, we come to find the Vicarage, Gossington Hall, The Development, and more, and each instantly forms an impression which carries with us from book to book.
These locations can in some ways become a home away from home for the reader. Many people reading this can think of that place they have only read about, but which brings a sense of familiarity and comfort to them. The emotional investment in a place which only appears in books can be surprisingly strong.
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Traditional Cozy Mystery Settings
Most of us can name a few traditional settings for cozy mysteries, as noted throughout this article. The English village is one, the lord’s estate is another. We all have impressions of these places, which in some cases may be driven by what we read in books, rather than the reality of life. For those of us who have never been to one of these places, books and television might be our only knowledge of them.
From books we know these towns are set in picturesque landscapes, and are charming and idyllic. They have quaint shops and neighbors who know everything about each other and are suspicious of outsiders.
These places might be far-flung, like the Scottish Highland setting of M. C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth, or close-knit communities like the aforementioned St. Mary Mead. Either way, stepping into these traditional locations gives us an instant impression of the setting, and the dynamics of the community which lives there.
From this community we know several things. If everyone knows everyone else’s business, we know there are going to be various conflicts and motives for our sleuth to dig through. We may see some kind of local festival, which is always a good starting point for a mystery to unravel. And we instantly know several locations which may appear, such as the local cafe, the vicarage, or a bookshop. Each of these places will give us somewhere to gather, to overhear conversations, and to find clues.
Once again, the setting has given us expectations for the story and what is going to happen. The reader can easily jump into a story when they arrive in a familiar setting.
Unconventional Cozy Mystery Settings
Of course cozy mysteries happen in many different places, not just the traditional ones. In recent years writers have spread their stories to many far-flung locations, and readers have happily followed along to discover new places.
One interesting idea is the setting of wildly different stories in familiar places. This often happens in the paranormal mystery world, where there might be ghosts in a very familiar location, or what seems like a normal town having witches running through the background. This may be an intentional move by the author to ground the reader in something normal while they make other parts of the story fantastical.
The opposite idea is to create conventional stories in very different settings. This is not very common as far as I can tell, as typically the kind of author who would create a bizarre setting is less likely to use a conventional storyline.
Instead we have seen the rise of the non-traditional setting, and a change in its role. The growth in seaside resorts, cruise ships, and the like has been a fun and interesting change for a lot of cozies. Instead of a mansion where everyone is a suspect, the case may occur in a lighthouse, and we see the obvious challenges of setting a story there.
These unconventional settings can be used by the author to tell more of their story. A sleuth may have specialized knowledge of a particular job, and the setting can highlight that knowledge. Think of a person who teaches pottery. We are likely to see their school, their classroom, their kiln. Each of these can lend a different aspect to a story, both in imparting information to the reader and in providing subject-relevant clues. All adds to the atmosphere of the story itself.
The reader can become immersed in a topic they may know little about, and discover fresh storytelling because of it. In these cases it is important for the author to have knowledge of the location, or to commit to research, so that people who know the subject aren’t turned away by inaccurate details. Exploring different professions or subcultures can be very worthwhile when the author does it properly.
Setting as a Plot Device
The setting itself will often contribute to the story as a plot device or clue generator. Often something in the setting will be glossed over by the reader but turn out to have major importance. Without giving away details, I’m particularly thinking of a glasshouse in one of the Miss Marple stories, which seemed to simply be in the background when first encountered.
In many books set in old country houses the story might turn on a hidden passage, a secret compartment, or a location where the sleuth could observe without being seen. Each of these are possible in other places but almost expected in these particular settings. Likewise, the astute author will use these exact same locations to plant red herrings for the sleuth and reader to follow, or even for the bad guy to use to distract from their misdeeds.
To return to another Miss Marple story, the appearance of fog in a particular setting was enough for us to wonder who had been hidden in it, and for the investigators to suspect one person, to the point where they spent part of the story determining timing of movements within the fog. This was a masterful use of setting which couldn’t have happened in most other places.
Historical Settings in Cozy Mysteries
One strong use of setting is in the historical subgenre of the cozy mystery. For most of us, our knowledge of time periods is limited to what we have seen on television and in books. Cozy writers can use and extend their more detailed knowledge to add another layer of richness to their mysteries.
Everyone has their own ideas about what went on in a particular time period. Historical details and events help to ground the reader in a period, as long as they are done properly. Giving too many details can pull a reader out of a book, but introducing them properly can add to the atmosphere. Many writing tips tell authors to learn everything they can but use very little of it in their writing.
The other struggle is in trying to make a sleuth stand out in a time when that wouldn’t be expected. We’ve all seen books where the young woman is the sleuth, and wondered how realistic that would be in a time when she should have been shut away or otherwise protected from the world. It is important for the author to give reasonable explanations as to why their star is breaking free from our expectations based on the setting. It is certainly possible to do, but our preconceptions of the setting can make it harder.
In Conclusion
Setting is so important for a cozy mystery. It is not just a backdrop to the story, but it can be a whole character in itself. It can provide a cozy and familiar place for the reader, give a sense of community, and provide clues to the sleuth as they investigate the crime.
Alternatively it can take us to places we’re unaware of, to learn more about them and to discover new cultures. We can find out things we didn’t know and discover entire communities which we never knew existed.
We’d love for you to try new places and new settings, to enhance your enjoyment of the cozy mysteries you read. Paying attention to the setting and what is around your sleuth will help to solve the mystery as you go. Sharing settings you’ve discovered will help others decide which cozy mysteries they would like to explore next.
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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