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How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery

By Andrea J. Johnson

How to Craft a Killer Cozy Mystery
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Crafting a killer cozy can be perilous!

Fans of the genre expect authors to forego explicit gore and violence while also 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 with 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 as well as…

  • 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* and modern as well as classic examples of commonly used mystery solutions and misdirects. Buy your copy today through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop, or iTunes.

From the author of Master the Art of Suspense and How to Craft Killer Dialogue.

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Series: Writer Productivity Series Tagged with: cozy genre expectations, literary advice mystery, writer productivity

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