Today I welcome author Michelle Dragalin back as she examines cozy mysteries, what makes them work, and why she reads them.

             Cozy mysteries are a category of crime fiction where sex, violence, and swearing are kept to a minimum. These things often happen in the background or are implied in the story. Mostly cozy mysteries are light, easy, and funny. A lot of times the main characters are women and are in a transitional period of their life.

             These books remind me of the Harlequin romance novels that my mom and her friends used to read when I was growing up. The stories follow a certain pattern which are like the Harlequin books. Cozy Mysteries follow a theme; the girl leaves the big city or high-powered job and returns to a small town, either the one in which she was raised or in a place that has good memories. Often these books are in a series, because readers like the characters.

             Often, the first two books introduce the main character, where she decides to stay in the town. The main character gets to know people from her childhood or establish a group of people as a support. In addition, she is usually a suspect in a murder and gets to know the local police. After that, the third and fourth book develop the main characters relationship with the men in the story. Eventually, the main character marries her love interest. Throughout the series, the main character solves murders and gets into a dangerous situation. At the end of each book, the situation is resolved, and the loose ends are usually tied up. However, I have noticed that some books have a cliffhanger.

Cozy mysteries are usually easily identified by the cover. The cover usually includes a cat or a dog on the cover. Also, there is an animal in the story who helps during the mystery. (Usually the animal is a cat, sometimes a dog.) In addition, the main character usually runs a bookstore, a craft store, or has money of their own and is doing something to stay busy.

When a good writer presents wonderful stories, I can’t wait to read the next one. The decisive factor is the third book, (the sophomore book) and this is the one that tells me if I will be reading the remainder of the stories.

 Connect with Michelle online: https://michelledragalin50.com/