Crafting a killer cozy can be perilous. Fans of the genre expect authors to forego explicit gore and violence while at the same time creating a mind-boggling murder mystery with pulse-pounding tension and a twisty plot. But how is writer supposed to satisfy such disparate demands?

How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery tackles this exact problem by providing an actionable roadmap for starting (and completing!) a manuscript that will leave readers dying for more. Packed worksheets and questionnaires designed to streamline the writing process, this comprehensive step-by-step guide will help you create compelling characters, vivid settings, and clever storylines.

Whether you’re a new writer or just new to the genre, you will walk away from How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery with a checklist for everything you’ll need to start your first draft, and you will also learn…

·      The history behind the modern cozy and why they’re so popular with today’s audiences

·      The 13 key reader expectations for the genre

·      The 10 essential rules every cozy must follow to create a fair play puzzle

·      The difference between cozies, thrillers, capers, detective stories, and police procedurals

·      The difference between a premise and a hook—and how to kick-butt writing both

·      The essential beats for the four-act plot structure

·      How to effectively hide clues and create plot twists

And as a special bonus, How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery contains an extensive *GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS* as well as modern and classic examples of commonly used mystery solutions and misdirects.