Audra here.
As we continue filling in for Ruthy on hiatus, I chose this legacy post from June 8, 2017 on writing a Cozy Mystery. I hope you enjoy my choice and leave comments on Ruthy's views!!
THE BEST OF RUTHY presents:
8 Clues About Writing a Cozy Mystery
I had to change the title of this post... it started as "6" clues... and grew to "8", hence the flexibility of the world wide web... but 8 it is!
I will never write a mystery. (Ruth Logan Herne, 2008)
MY FIRST MYSTERY RELEASES SOON!!!! (Ruth Logan Herne, 2017)
Grandma Eichas used to say "Never say never."
Sage words.
She'd also say "Better they cry now than you cry later."
More sage words, but that first saying "Never say never" has never been truer than it is today.
I've written my first mystery and I'm halfway done with my second and I had no idea they would be THIS MUCH FUN!!!!
Huge thanks to Susan Downs of Guideposts for bringing me on board for this delightful series "Mysteries of Martha's Vineyard". Yes, of course, I want you to go buy the book.... and yes I want you to love it. There are 8 authors in this series, 3 books each... and the heroine is a 58-year-old woman finding a new path after losing her husband.... And I have to believe you will love, love, love Priscilla Latham Grant and her cousins Joan, Trudy and Gail...
But over and above all of that, lies this: writing a mystery isn't as difficult as I once believed... and it's so much fun that I'm amazed. So if you've ever considered this mode of story-telling, the very same thing that made Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle and Mary Stuart and Daphne Du Maurier world-famous... it's this.
Let's break it down:
1. Sleuth (or sleuths): A mystery needs a problem solver. That's your sleuth. It can be a Jane Marple, a Hercule Poirot, (both Agatha Christie), Kinsey Millhone (The Alphabet Mysteries), Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) or many, many others. Your sleuth has to be relatable. They don't have to be perfect, or cunningly bright (Poirot and Monk and Columbo come to mind).... They don't have to be gorgeous ( Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) comes to mind, or Jane Marple or the second Mrs. DeWinter in DuMaurier's "Rebecca"...) and they don't have to be all that likable (Monk, Holmes...) but they have to possess some form of puzzle-solving skill. That ability to put together thin pieces of facade to create a true ornate table-top puzzle.
2. Setting: Whether your mystery is set at 221b Baker Street, the Orient Express, a Midwestern town or a New England village, how you set the story(ies) is a part of your ongoing thread... and can affect each story in different ways. Setting is important in what it adds to the stories... but it is also flexible because CRIME HAPPENS EVERYWHERE!
3. Suspects: There is no mystery without suspects. While that seems obvious, it's important to figure out who those suspects will be, and give them parts throughout the story. Not everyone conveniently has all of the suspects and victims trapped in a house (And Then There Were None) Agatha Christie... So your suspects need to have a reason why they might fall under suspicion. In a "cozy mystery" they don't even have to be real bona fide suspects.... but they need to have a reason to be under a cloak of suspicion. What are they hiding? What do they know?
4. Clues!!!! Oh, this is the most fun yet! Sprinkling clues in and among the regular normal every-day conversations and observations to tempt the reader to wonder... was that a clue??? And if it looks too obvious, the answer might be no!!! Just like the many choices in Milton Bradley's "CLUE" game, there are obviously many options in a mystery... which ones lead to the final solution?
5. Red Herrings.... Here's the bend in the road that takes you down the wrong garden path, the wrong direction.... the assumption that proves it's wrong to assume!
6. Gripping Opening Chapter... This could be graphic in a suspense or murder mystery (think openings of "Castle" before they ruined the show) and then off-set by humor and human interaction for the duration.... or in a cozy mystery, it's gripping but not necessarily scary or frightening... maybe thought-provoking or emotionally inciting/exciting....
7. Action-packed scene toward the end!!! All right, don't get your knickers in a twist... For a cozy, you don't want to go Jason Bourne-deep-end, floating body death scenes here.... but you want something to upset the comfort of the cozy mystery, to threaten the peace and love we find in small towns or island settings, of urban neighborhoods... Something needs to HAPPEN HERE.... and when it does, it might show part of the path or it might show the culprit/villain.... but it's not the end of the book. Because now you want a:
8. Wrap Up.... After raising myself on a diet of Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Agatha Christie, Trixie Belden and Sue Barton.... I loved the wrap up, the reasoning behind how they figured things out!
Now your readers will be DELIGHTED if they figure this out toward the end and beat you to it! If they figure it out too early, they will Not Be Happy.... Yes, You've Ruined The Book For Them... Because part of the fun of a mystery is the puzzle solving.
The reader longs to pick out the clues and then follow them to a logical conclusion BEFORE THE SLEUTH figures it out!
Now sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't, and if it doesn't work because you didn't give clues... or you didn't lay the groundwork... well... Oops. Your bad! Because sprinkling in a few hints along the way is our job.
Figuring them out is the reader's responsibility.
Here's my back cover blurb for book 9 of the series: When a raging storm, a multi-million dollar robbery, a Hollywood movie and a missing child stir up interest in a cold case, Priscilla must risk her friendships and her reputation in order to reveal what really happened to little Katie Farnsworth the night Hurricane Bob slammed into Martha’s Vineyard nearly thirty years ago.
Nothing hits home like the loss of a child, so the poignancy of this story has classic Ruthy depth... wrapped in a cozy mystery package. And I think you'll love it!
What do you think about mysteries? Have you considered writing them? How is a mystery different from a suspense?
Well, in a suspense, someone is AFTER THE SLEUTH.... or the heroine, or the hero.... Someone generally wants them dead.
In a mystery, the sleuth may feel threatened.... but the sleuth is after the perpetrator, following clues and deducting theories.
Not a subtle difference... a major difference.
Think Castle vs. The Bourne Identity.
Castle bumbled his way through, case by case...
Jason Bourne was a human killing machine, misunderstood and programmed to be heartless... except they forgot one thing. They left his heart in his body, and the heart never truly forgets.,
Let's talk mysteries... your favorites and your hopes and dreams!
I've got a couple of other mystery authors coming by this summer for a Summer Series of Mysteries... feel free to consider this Installment #1!
LINK TO BUY BOOK HERE!!!!
I will never write a mystery. (Ruth Logan Herne, 2008)
MY FIRST MYSTERY RELEASES SOON!!!! (Ruth Logan Herne, 2017)
 |
| 2023 - Available at Guideposts |
Grandma Eichas used to say "Never say never."
Sage words.
She'd also say "Better they cry now than you cry later."
More sage words, but that first saying "Never say never" has never been truer than it is today.
I've written my first mystery and I'm halfway done with my second and I had no idea they would be THIS MUCH FUN!!!!
Huge thanks to Susan Downs of Guideposts for bringing me on board for this delightful series "Mysteries of Martha's Vineyard". Yes, of course, I want you to go buy the book.... and yes I want you to love it. There are 8 authors in this series, 3 books each... and the heroine is a 58-year-old woman finding a new path after losing her husband.... And I have to believe you will love, love, love Priscilla Latham Grant and her cousins Joan, Trudy and Gail...
But over and above all of that, lies this: writing a mystery isn't as difficult as I once believed... and it's so much fun that I'm amazed. So if you've ever considered this mode of story-telling, the very same thing that made Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle and Mary Stuart and Daphne Du Maurier world-famous... it's this.
Let's break it down:
1. Sleuth (or sleuths): A mystery needs a problem solver. That's your sleuth. It can be a Jane Marple, a Hercule Poirot, (both Agatha Christie), Kinsey Millhone (The Alphabet Mysteries), Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) or many, many others. Your sleuth has to be relatable. They don't have to be perfect, or cunningly bright (Poirot and Monk and Columbo come to mind).... They don't have to be gorgeous ( Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) comes to mind, or Jane Marple or the second Mrs. DeWinter in DuMaurier's "Rebecca"...) and they don't have to be all that likable (Monk, Holmes...) but they have to possess some form of puzzle-solving skill. That ability to put together thin pieces of facade to create a true ornate table-top puzzle.
2. Setting: Whether your mystery is set at 221b Baker Street, the Orient Express, a Midwestern town or a New England village, how you set the story(ies) is a part of your ongoing thread... and can affect each story in different ways. Setting is important in what it adds to the stories... but it is also flexible because CRIME HAPPENS EVERYWHERE!
3. Suspects: There is no mystery without suspects. While that seems obvious, it's important to figure out who those suspects will be, and give them parts throughout the story. Not everyone conveniently has all of the suspects and victims trapped in a house (And Then There Were None) Agatha Christie... So your suspects need to have a reason why they might fall under suspicion. In a "cozy mystery" they don't even have to be real bona fide suspects.... but they need to have a reason to be under a cloak of suspicion. What are they hiding? What do they know?
4. Clues!!!! Oh, this is the most fun yet! Sprinkling clues in and among the regular normal every-day conversations and observations to tempt the reader to wonder... was that a clue??? And if it looks too obvious, the answer might be no!!! Just like the many choices in Milton Bradley's "CLUE" game, there are obviously many options in a mystery... which ones lead to the final solution?
5. Red Herrings.... Here's the bend in the road that takes you down the wrong garden path, the wrong direction.... the assumption that proves it's wrong to assume!
6. Gripping Opening Chapter... This could be graphic in a suspense or murder mystery (think openings of "Castle" before they ruined the show) and then off-set by humor and human interaction for the duration.... or in a cozy mystery, it's gripping but not necessarily scary or frightening... maybe thought-provoking or emotionally inciting/exciting....
7. Action-packed scene toward the end!!! All right, don't get your knickers in a twist... For a cozy, you don't want to go Jason Bourne-deep-end, floating body death scenes here.... but you want something to upset the comfort of the cozy mystery, to threaten the peace and love we find in small towns or island settings, of urban neighborhoods... Something needs to HAPPEN HERE.... and when it does, it might show part of the path or it might show the culprit/villain.... but it's not the end of the book. Because now you want a:
8. Wrap Up.... After raising myself on a diet of Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Agatha Christie, Trixie Belden and Sue Barton.... I loved the wrap up, the reasoning behind how they figured things out!
Now your readers will be DELIGHTED if they figure this out toward the end and beat you to it! If they figure it out too early, they will Not Be Happy.... Yes, You've Ruined The Book For Them... Because part of the fun of a mystery is the puzzle solving.
The reader longs to pick out the clues and then follow them to a logical conclusion BEFORE THE SLEUTH figures it out!
Now sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't, and if it doesn't work because you didn't give clues... or you didn't lay the groundwork... well... Oops. Your bad! Because sprinkling in a few hints along the way is our job.
Figuring them out is the reader's responsibility.
Here's my back cover blurb for book 9 of the series: When a raging storm, a multi-million dollar robbery, a Hollywood movie and a missing child stir up interest in a cold case, Priscilla must risk her friendships and her reputation in order to reveal what really happened to little Katie Farnsworth the night Hurricane Bob slammed into Martha’s Vineyard nearly thirty years ago.
Nothing hits home like the loss of a child, so the poignancy of this story has classic Ruthy depth... wrapped in a cozy mystery package. And I think you'll love it!
What do you think about mysteries? Have you considered writing them? How is a mystery different from a suspense?
Well, in a suspense, someone is AFTER THE SLEUTH.... or the heroine, or the hero.... Someone generally wants them dead.
In a mystery, the sleuth may feel threatened.... but the sleuth is after the perpetrator, following clues and deducting theories.
Not a subtle difference... a major difference.
Think Castle vs. The Bourne Identity.
Castle bumbled his way through, case by case...
Jason Bourne was a human killing machine, misunderstood and programmed to be heartless... except they forgot one thing. They left his heart in his body, and the heart never truly forgets.,
Let's talk mysteries... your favorites and your hopes and dreams!
I've got a couple of other mystery authors coming by this summer for a Summer Series of Mysteries... feel free to consider this Installment #1!
LINK TO BUY BOOK HERE!!!!
I love these Guideposts mysteries and I'm glad Ruthy gets to write for them.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy! Ruthy is so energetic in how she approaches everything in life, right? I wasn't surprised she dipped her toe into the pool of writing mysteries. And just like everything else, she is great at it!!
DeleteAudra
As far as I know I am a confirmed pantser writer based on the short stories I have posted online. However, two ideas for two cozy mystery series have been floating around in my head and I did attempt to write one but didn't make it to the actual mystery part yet. I think I psyched myself out because mysteries need to be plotted and I always think I am not capable to do that.
ReplyDeleteThey are also historical cozies by the way; one set in the 1920's along the Indiana shoreline between here and Chicago and one in the 1930's around the pulp fiction writer era. Oh well. Perhaps that may be a summer goal.
Kayla, I'm a recovering pantser but no matter how much being a plotter makes sense, my pantser roots will always try to over run my hard earned garden of plot points, LOL. Embrace your pantser heart and know that you've mastered the creativity portion of writing. Plotting helps you season the pot and keeps you aware of the cooking times :)
DeleteI was really intimidated by the concept of plotting out a novel until a friend told me to write down the essence of the story. And then we went through the 5 pages of romantic emotions I had dumped, and scribbled in the why, where, how and where it would lead ideas. When I looked at it that way, I realized I could tell the story the way I wanted and then mini edit it in the concept stage before I wasted thousands of words that were headed in the wrong direction.
Pair up with a plotting buddy and run through your story. I think you'll be surprised over how easy it is to place your clues and such, and voila! you have an outline!!!
Happy writing!
Audra
I always enjoy reading what's going on in Ruthy's life, and I never tire of reading her posts, past or present!
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Connie!
ReplyDeleteAudra
Congrats to Ruthy and her success with writing mysteries. Great blogpost with good information about writing in that genre.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ruthy!