Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Case of the Small Town Cozy

I have been reading a lot of cozy mysteries. What's not to like? They're quick reads, a lot of them are funny, peppered with eccentric/crazy characters, and I still get to try to figure out whodunit. Some are predictable while others are twisted. A lot of them are set in small towns where everybody knows everybody and everybody's business. Every small town is charming and picturesque; too bad they're mostly fictional. I would've loved to walk down cobblestone sidewalks and browse through their little shops while running into some quirky shop owner. Yup... that would've been something.

There are so many authors to choose from and sometimes these authors write even more books using pseudonyms. I don't quite see the point in that but oh well. There are so many series to start with. Some can be stand alone and some you really need to start at the beginning. I guess it doesn't really matter to me whether it's part of a series or not. But here's what I've learned:
  1. Small towns have secrets. That's why someone gets killed.
  2. Everybody knows everything that goes on... or do they? Watch out for the quiet ones.
  3. There are a lot of mysterious/mischievous/mystical/magical cats. Dogs or other pets, not so much.
  4. A lot of times only one person in a small town would "discover" the dead body. Some gals/guys have all the luck.
  5. There's a lot of moonlighting going on. Example, small town librarian by day, investigating friend's cousin's case by night.
  6. Tension can lead to romance when law enforcement personnel is involved.
Since I got my Nook I found myself reading a lot more. I wanted to build my library but it's a little discouraging when the ebook is, more often than not, priced the same as the regular book. One would think that since you already paid a hefty price for the device that the electronic content would cost much less. But it's my favorite past time. I'm flying to Nashville on Sunday and I've been, shall we say, loading up on new books to read. The small town cozy is a traveler's best friend.

2 comments:

  1. I love this! I love that you read so many mysteries and have posted your learnings. Good ones indeed! Do you feel like, though, you are often able to predict how the story will turn out?
    That's the great part about discovering a really good mystery - you can't figure out how it will end up, no?
    Are you just loving your Nook?

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  2. Sometimes they are predictable but there are good writers who can still make it enjoyable to read the ending.

    and yes I love my Nook :) Have you used your iPad to read?

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