And happily, in addition to that little bit of sinister, there are cats in Hidden Springs! Specifically Two Bits, Grimalkin, and Miss Marble to help save the day at just the right moments in the stories.
If you’ve got a cozy mystery, and a dog is introduced, readers’ first question is, ‘Does the dog die?’ They never ask about a cat. They know that the first rule of cozies is: The Cat Never Dies. -K.B. Inglee
I have always loved a good mystery. Remember, how wanting to be a female Hardy Boy led me to try to write my first book, a mystery naturally, when I was ten or eleven. It’s an unanswerable question why I jumped into other types of fiction instead of going straight for a mystery when I wrote my first novel once I was seriously trying to be a writer who wrote words others would read. But I didn’t. I don’t remember enough about those first practice novels to know how much mystery was part of those stories. Some in the first one, I would guess, since I was trying to write a gothic novel. Gothics always have some mysterious features. But after that I went into the historical romance genre.
Actually, a number of my novels, both the ones I wrote for young people and then the historical novels often have a thread of mystery. Words Spoken True had a serial killer along with all the history and romance. The Innocent, one of my Shaker novels, had some mystery and suspense. Others had threads of mysteries about relationships. Not enough to be counted as mysteries, but perhaps enough to satisfy my love of mysteries.
Then while I was walking through rejection valley for several years, I wrote a couple of mysteries that hadn’t found a publisher. After they made the rounds of publisher with no success, I never gave them much chance of coming to life off my rejection shelf until readers of Christian fiction began to want mysteries. Publishers paid attention. Mystery and suspense novels were released to find those readers. I thought about how I had rewritten that first Shaker book, The Outsider, and then my Louisville book, Words Spoken True. Again nothing ventured, nothing gained. Perhaps my mysteries could be reworked and find readers too.
I love cozy mysteries. You know what makes a mystery a cozy mystery? First, a cozy is almost always about a murder, but the violence takes place off screen. Second, the victims are either people you haven’t met in the story to develop any feelings for or if they are part of the story, they are not nice people that you really don’t mind when they end up as the victim. Usually the main character, the one who solves the murder, is a woman – think Miss Marple or Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote. Often a cat or dog is on the cover and along for the mystery. At times, the cat or dog do the mystery solving with the help of the main character. Almost always, police are not helpful in these murder mysteries. And the dog or the cat or whatever animal is part of the story never dies.
Here’s what one reader, Anne T., says about reading cozy mysteries. “I feel cozy mysteries offer a place where we can escape, exercise our brain a little with the mystery, but know the dog isn’t going to die. A safe scary place.”
My Hidden Springs books sneak in as cozies even though I broke a lot of the rules. I guess I didn’t know the rules when I was writing them. My main character is a man and a deputy sheriff. The setting is a small town. That’s good for a cozy. Hidden Springs is actually based on my own small town’s Main Street if the big box stores had been kept out so that the downtown businesses could still be along Main. My main character’s Aunt Lindy made sure that happened. Who knows how, but that didn’t really matter in my stories. The second Hidden Springs mystery, Murder Comes by Mail, broke a few extra cozy rules since it’s more suspenseful than most cozies and with a few more murders.
But I was saved by the cats. Two Bits made the cover of the first mystery, Murder at the Courthouse. When I turned in the second mystery, my editor and the cover designer asked if I could make a cat more important to the story so it could make the second cover. I did a little rewriting to let Aunt Lindy’s cat, Grimalkin, the only cat that made appearances in all three books, have a part in a dramatic ending scene. The cover for that book is gorgeous. Nobody had to encourage me to come up with a cat for the third story, Murder Is No Accident. That cat was right there at the beginning and all the way through in this or that scene. I asked for suggestions for a name for a calico cat on Facebook and got dozens of great names, but had to go with the one my daughter suggested, Miss Marble. Sort of a take on Miss Marple and the swirling colors of the cat’s fur that made me think of marbles I played with as a kid.
I had such fun writing those mysteries and throwing in those fun small town characters that sometimes might have had readers thinking my deputy sheriff was the only sane person in the town. Someday I would love to write one more Hidden Springs mystery. Maybe I will. I do have readers all the time asking me to go back to Hidden Springs for a story, but unfortunately the mysteries didn’t sell as well as the publishers hoped. But I haven’t completely given up on the idea yet.
Those books didn’t get professional contracts for audio books. A couple of years ago, I got the rights back on them and did the narration for the audio books. I had so much fun revisiting my Hidden Springs characters and being neck deep in those mysteries again. You can find them online or by going to my Hidden Springs book pages and looking for the links to audiobooks.com or Audible. Murder Is No Accident is half price right now on Audible.
Instead of writing more mysteries, I found a new setting that I have come to love. That’s for Writing Journey #16. I think #16 will be a good place to end the journey for now.
Oh, and just so you know. No cats or dogs were injured in the writing of these books.
I know many of you love my mystery photo game here that I started when these mystery books were first published. The question today is “Do you like reading mysteries as much as figuring out mystery photos?” 🙂
Leave a comment and get an entry in my book giveaway. Deadline is Saturday, September 6 at midnight EST. Prize is winner’s choice of one of my books. You must be 18 or older to enter. Any comment will do, but you can answer the question if you want.
I sent off copies of Small Town Girl to the previous winners, Janice and Judi, who surprised me by picking the same title. So watch your mailboxes, ladies.
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Comments 22
I love them both equally entertaining.
Author
Ahh, you’re the best, Deborah. So glad you’ve enjoyed my mystery photo games and hope you enjoyed my Hidden Springs mysteries too.
Love cozy mysteries , I am reading a series now that features a cat named Mr Crumbles !
Author
Love that name for a cat, Nancy. Or maybe a dog. A little while ago, I was poking around for something light to listen to as an audio book while I was doing some chore or other. I stumbled across a detective series where the story is told completely from the dog’s point of view. Not a Christian cozy, but the dog’s perspective and how much he loved his detective owner made it fun.
I like cozies. It’s a nice break for me after I’ve read something that is suspenseful.
Author
I too like reading cozies, Una. But then I like reading most anything as long as it has characters I can like and that I can cheer on through whatever is happening to them. Something always has to be happening to them. 🙂
Yes, I do you like reading mysteries as much as figuring out mystery photos.
Author
So fun that you enjoy both. I would probably say on this National Read a Book Day that reading the mystery might be the most fun for me, Diana.
Your Hidden Springs books were the first of yours that I read. I loved them so much that I searched for more of your writing and discovered your actual name. I’ve read all of your books and love them all but I would say that the mysteries are probably my favorite. I’m surprised they didn’t sell as well because they are so good!
Author
I guess I just didn’t find enough readers like you, Phyllis, who loved going to Hidden Springs to help Michael solve some mysteries. I really appreciate you searching out my name. A.H. Gabhart is close, at least. And it’s extra great that you were willing to give my other stories a try. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. Maybe someday I’ll write that 4th Hidden Springs mystery and find a way to share it with readers.
I’m not a fan of many mysteries, even though I have read some great ones! I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys growing up. I admit, when you had the mystery photos, I went straight to them. I believe I only got 1 phot correct, though.
Author
Glad to know you liked trying to figure out the mystery photos, Susan. When I know I’m going to do one on One Writer’s Journal, I start looking at every picture I take to see if it might work for a mystery photo. I’ve been on a roll with them the last couple of games with some hard ones. But sometimes the ones I think will be hard are easy for you all and the ones I think will be easy turn out to be hard.
Always glad to see your comments here.
I love mysteries, especially cozy ones. No ultra violence for me, please!! And, I enjoy them much more than the mystery photos. I’m no good at figuring those out! (Thank you for the book, Ann! Anxiously awaiting its arrival!)
Author
I sent the book to you yesterday, Judi. I hope you’ll get it the first of the week if not sooner. Mail can be slow sometimes. Glad you enjoy cozy mysteries. And I hope you’ll still have some fun trying to figure out what’s what if I do another mystery photo game someday. Maybe I’ll do a photo caption game next.
I would rather read mysteries than try to figure out the mystery photos, because I am not very good at the mystery photos. Lately I have been reading a lot of Christian mystery novels – not the cozy kind, though.
Author
There are a lot of mysteries out there by some good writers, Ann. I’m glad you are finding some of them to enjoy, but maybe you can give my cozies a try sometimes if you haven’t already.
And you don’t have to be good at the mystery photo game to have fun and using imagination. Maybe next time I’ll try to throw in some easier one. I’m sort of on a roll with difficult ones for this last time.
I much prefer reading mysteries as to solving mystery pictures- I am awful at that!! It was fun though.
Author
But the game is just for fun, Kris. I did come up with some good mystery photos for the last group. But you all are such great sports at trying to figure them out. If I was on the other side of the picture, I’d be just like you and be awful at it. 🙂
I do like cozies and enjoyed yours so much!
Author
So glad you read my stories, Paula. You’re the best.
I love mysteries and Hidden Springs! It would be amazing if you wrote another one. Michael was the best!
Author
I did like writing about the hometown people in Hidden Springs, Dana. Guess that’s because I’m such a small town country girl. And because I love mysteries. Michael was a good guy. Or maybe I should say is so he can live on in my Hidden Springs stories. Murder at the Wedding is such a promising title. 🙂