Hi there, guys and dolls!  There’s so many reasons to love a cozy.  Today, let’s interrupt our murderous program with an anecdotal interlude.

Usually, cozies tell the story of a murder or two, deadly chases and a good deal of threats and blackmail, but along the way there is always some humor and fun to break up the bleakness.  In my STRANGLED BY SILK, there’s a visit from a Hollywood starlet, who performs an impromptu fashion show, wowing the starstruck Santa Lucia social set.  Others have written of polka dances, duck races, knockdown, drag-out cat-fights, sailing regattas, pie baking contests and even snowball fights, with a tongue in cheek and a wink and a smile.

The creative details, often of hobbies or careers in the stories round out the character spectrum and give us insight to the killer, victim, sleuth and even to ourselves.  As we read about the murder, we play along, guessing the motive and the perpetrator.  Little do we realize these asides that appear to be just fun distraction or window dressing are actually keeping the front of the reader’s mind busy on the surface level, while the deep subconscious is given a break to quietly work out who done it, how and why, without the nattering interference of the little mind, which is being entertained by the bright and shiny interlude.  The crime is solved, the corpse is buried and we are amused.

Toodles,

Barbara Jean