{"id":60,"date":"2022-05-03T18:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2022-05-03T18:46:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:46:00","slug":"how-to-write-a-culinary-cozy-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Culinary Cozy Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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Want to write a culinary cozy?<\/b> Here are a few things you should know in particular about this sweet and sour little corner of the cozy universe:<\/span><\/div>\n

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Note: <\/b>You can find cozy mystery writing basics here<\/a>. This post features multiple published culinary cozy mystery titles as examples. Click on cover images to go to the listing for the first in the series.  <\/span><\/div>\n

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Plan for a Series<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Think from the very beginning in terms of writing a series.
\nVirtually all successful authors of culinary cozies write in series, which can
\nrun into scores of titles featuring the same setting and sleuth. If you are
\nplanning on indie publishing, consider choosing titles and purchasing or
\ncommissioning covers for four books to start with.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Choose a Theme<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

This can be a singular food item (tea, wedding cakes, ice cream)
\nor it can be more broadly based on a cuisine (Italian, Chinese, fast food) or a
\ntype of foodservice establishment (baked goods for example).<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Make Your Sleuth a Foodie <\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Choose a setting where food constantly crops up. Culinary cozies
\nalmost always feature a sleuth who works with food. Think bakeries, restaurants,
\ncatering services, food trucks, coffee shops, etc. Occasionally, the sleuth is a
\nfood blogger or restaurant critic. Very occasionally, the sleuth is simply a
\nfood enthusiast such as a retiree who is a keen amateur baker.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wherever you choose to set your series and whatever you have
\nyour sleuth do to earn her daily bread, make sure it is easy to constantly bring
\nfood into the picture.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Introduce Food Early On<\/b><\/p>\n

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Use food in the title, on the cover, and in the first scene.
\nCulinary cozy readers expect this. Don\u2019t let them down.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You may choose to work food into the crime somehow. Think poisoned plum gin at the village fete<\/a>, deadly lemon meringue pie<\/a>, or a highly-allergic restaurant patron who dies when he\u2019s served shellfish accidentally-on-purpose<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Sticking to
\npoisonings and allergic reactions can get monotonous after a while, however. Alternatively,
\nyou can choose not to have food directly involved in the murder, but instead, have
\nthe murder or discovery of the body happen in the restaurant or other
\nfood-related setting. <\/p>\n

In longer series, simply entangling familiar supporting
\ncharacters in the crime (most of whom will be associated with the foodservice
\nenterprise at the center of it all) will be enough to satisfy loyal culinary
\ncozy readers. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

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<\/o:p>Spice up Your Sensory Details<\/b><\/p>\n

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Tell your reader about the smells, taste, and texture of the
\nfood. No need to go overboard with paragraphs of description that interrupt the
\nflow of the action but do slip in sensory details.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Include a Supporting Cast<\/b><\/p>\n

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All cozies feature recurring characters for readers to
\nbecome attached to, but in the case of culinary cozies, try to tie most of your
\nrecurring supporting characters (sidekick, love interest, wise counselor, rival, etc.) to the foodservice setting. This will make keeping the food element front
\nand center throughout your mystery much easier.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

More about supporting characters in cozies here. (link coming soon)<\/p>\n

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Trope it Up<\/b><\/p>\n

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Consider including at least a couple of common cozy tropes
\nthat crop up over and over in culinary cozies. Here are a few:<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Small town setting. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

A recently divorced sleuth starts a new life as the series
\nkicks off.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A single woman inherits a food service establishment from a relative
\nat the beginning of the series.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A single woman returns to her hometown and establishes a new
\nenterprise as the series begins.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sleuth has a slow-burn love interest who features in a
\nlong-running subplot thread throughout the entire series. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sleuth has a personal connection with local law enforcement
\nwho sometimes slips her inside information.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sleuth has a long-running rival or antagonist who is always
\ncompeting with her or sabotaging her efforts. This person might eventually become
\nher ally or remain an antagonist as the series progresses. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sleuth has a pet that features just often enough to qualify
\nthe mystery for inclusion in the pet subgenre.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The series includes paranormal elements which qualify it for
\ninclusion in the paranormal cozy subgenre.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Series heavily blood family or found family ties. Having a
\nclose-knit cast of recurring characters makes it much easier to establish high
\nstakes when they get entangled in the next murder case.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Read more about all the different cozy mystery subgenres here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Want to write a culinary cozy? Here are a few things you should know in particular about this sweet and sour little corner of the cozy universe: Note: You can find cozy mystery writing basics here. This post features multiple published culinary cozy mystery titles as examples. Click on cover images to go to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-cozy-mystery-genre"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bootstrapindie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}