Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the author of the Gethsemane Brown Paranormal Mysteries and the host of The Cozy Corner Podcast, Alexia Gordon, to talk about my new killer courthouse whodunit—Poetic Justice! During our conversation, she was kind enough to ask me why the book is marketed as a cozy thriller. As I told Alexia, we all know…
…cozies can be a lot of things, but I think the default mindset on the genre is that it’s all light and kooky, completely unserious with talking cats and relatively easygoing storylines. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with any that, I didn’t want readers coming to my novels with those expectations because they’d be disappointed. Yes, my books have humor, but they deal with dark subjects in a very serious way. The first two books in the series open with a trial and for that reason it may feel like a legal thriller to some people. So I call them ‘cozy thrillers’ to temper expectations. I want readers to know that the courthouse and court reporting are going to be significant backdrops for the stories, BUT audiences are still going to get some of the other aspects of a good cozy like a difficult puzzle, a small town with a tight-knit community, high morals, no foul language—I even incorporate many of the genre’s tropes like Victoria falling for a guy in uniform and discussing her suspects over tea…but again, each storyline has bite.
If you’re interested in hearing more about my new Victoria Justice Court Reporter Mystery series or the other works I have on the horizon, tune into this riveting interview.
Audio courtesy of The Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon