Welcome back to another episode of great writing advice on the CRAFT OF WRITING blog. This year we’re focusing on Genres. We’ll be looking at approaches to writing thrillers, mysteries, romances, and more. Each month I interview an accomplished author who writes in a particular genre, so get ready to learn from the experts!

Today’s guest is my friend and colleague, Dale Ivan Smith, who gives us insight into the craft of writing my favorite genre: cozy mysteries. Dale writes his cozy mysteries under the name Dale Ivan, and his cozy series, the Meg Booker Librarian Mysteries, is set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s. The first two books in that series are pictured below. Click on either one to go to the Amazon detail page.

 

 

 

The Craft of Writing Cozy Mysteries with Dale Ivan Share on X

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Many thanks to my good friend and master craftsman Dr. Steve Hooley who has provided me with another unique and fabulous “Wilbur and Orville 1903” propeller pen. Hand crafted by Steve, the pen is made from Ash, one of the woods the Wright brothers used to build their first aircraft. The market value of this beautiful creation is around $80.00.

The name of each person who enters a comment will be put into the drawing for the pen. So join the conversation and earn a chance to win. I’ll post the name of the winner after 9 PM Central Time tonight. (Previous 2025 winners are not eligible to win.)

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Welcome, Dale, and thank you for being on the Craft of Writing blog!

 

What is your definition of a cozy mystery?

For me, a cozy mystery is a mystery with a lighter tone, at least some humor, a character-focused subplot or two, which stars an amateur sleuth and a cast of fun, quirky characters in a colorful, distinctive, and intriguing setting. Cozies can be whimsical, even cute, and often have “punny” titles.

How are cozies different from other forms of mystery?

Great question! The tone is usually lighter than in other forms of mysteries, and the murder typically happens off-stage.

While the violence of the murder is usually not shown in cozies, the murder methods themselves can run the gamut from poison to encounters with a blunt instrument, falls, shootings or stabbings, and so on.

Cozy mysteries can be less complex than other forms of mystery, but there’s a wide range of “twistiness” with cozies, and some have quite involved mysteries.

The intriguing setting is also a character, and the community there often drives both the cozy “B plot” and the mystery plot.

Despite individuals who can be annoying, obnoxious or otherwise troublesome, the community in a cozy mystery is essentially good, and restoring balance to the community after a murder has occurred is another important distinction between cozies and say, police procedurals. All mysteries deal with solving a crime, often a murder, and the issue of justice. But in a cozy, justice is usually found, while things can be more nuanced in other sorts of mysteries where some of the time justice isn’t achieved. In a cozy, the killer is usually caught and will pay the consequences for their crime.

What’s the most important aspect of a cozy mystery?

Relationships are central to cozy mysteries—the amateur sleuth often has a best friend who helps her, as well as friends and family that provide support, create conflict, and who can often aid her in solving the mystery.

Our sleuth-hero has connections to different members of the community, connections which can be forged in the course of solving one mystery and then persist in subsequent ones. A taxi driver who helped them once, or a clerk who gave them valuable information, etc. Co-workers in the spice shop, book store, library etc. Of course, there can be challenging aspects to those relationships. A police officer ally who might also be a friend or even a love interest, which can add a personal dimension to concerns about the sleuth-hero running around trying to solve murders.

A romance is usually part of a cozy series. It can be very slow burn, and play out over several books. Sometimes the romance involves two love interests which create a romantic triangle with all sorts of dramatic possibilities.

Why did you decide to write in the cozy mystery genre?

I had thought about writing mysteries for years, encouraged by library colleagues to “write that library mystery” I had inside me. But it wasn’t until I finished the fifth and final novel in my Empowered urban fantasy series in May 2020 that I finally decided to write a cozy.

The goodness embodied in cozies, and the humor, and whimsical aspects tugged at me – I wanted to revisit the literal cozy library I started my library career in back in 1987, and show the now bygone world of books, paper card catalogs, date due stamps and all the rest I knew from back then.

Can you give us a brief outline of the process—from concept to completion—that you use to write a cozy mystery?

I usually start with a premise, such as a neighborhood fight over development, or a sketchy character found dead in the library book drop, and then figure out who the murderer was. Brainstorming reveals motivations, and helps work out what James Scott Bell calls “the Shadow Story,” what the killer was up to before the story begins and how the killer reacts to the amateur sleuth when they figure out she’s investigating the murder.

I also brainstorm a cozy subplot—such as Meg’s burgeoning romance with a colleague or the wacky musical her actor brother is putting on.

The shadow story also helps me plot out the details of her investigation while the cozy subplot gives me a “fun and games” counterpoint to solving the mystery.

Once I have these details I do an outline, mapping out the story beats and the major structure points, such as the mirror moment at the midpoint and the inevitable reveal and confrontation with the murderer.

Then I begin drafting.

During the entire process from first idea to completed draft I keep a novel journal where I brainstorm plot points, the mystery, the web of suspects, character motivations etc. While I know the murderer’s identity and story before I begin, I come up with more details as I draft, such as clues, red herrings, misdirects and so on.

I’ll rewrite and revise the draft, and then send it to my beta readers who are all mystery lovers. Once I’ve heard back from them, I’ll make further revisions based on their feedback, do a copy pass, and then send to my copy editor. Once she returns it, I implement her edits, proof read the book one last time, then upload it at all the major eBook retailers for publication.

What advice would you give an author who decides to write a cozy mystery?

Of course, it’s important to read in the genre, and steep yourself in cozy mysteries, to internalize their aspects and develop a sense of cozy mystery reader expectations.

When it comes to writing your own cozy mystery, going with a setting and occupations you know or can readily learn about can spur your imagination, and let you draw on your own knowledge and experience. Coming up with characters you love or hate, but most of all, have fun writing about, is also essential.

Besides your own books, what cozies would you recommend?

Some of my favorite cozies include the the Murder on Location books by Sara Rosett, the Corgi Casefiles series by Jeffrey Poole, the Library Lovers mysteries by Jenn McKinlay, Spice Shop Mysteries by Leslie Budewitz, the Hannah Swenson Mysteries by Joanna Fluke, the Cottage Garden Mysteries by H.Y. Hanna, and the Survivors Book Club series by Lynn Cahoon.

Are you working on a book now?

I’m in the middle of revising my third Meg Booker 1980s librarian mystery, Fine Me Deadly. It’s been a longer process than I bargained for (mysteries usually seem to be, for me), but the time spent has been worth it. I’m hoping to have the book out later this year.

Where can we find out more about you and your writing?

My website: daleivansmith.com. You can sign up for my mystery newsletter there.

Fantastic Fiction (https://www.fantasticfiction.com) has a list of both my cozies as Dale Ivan and my fantasy novels as Dale Ivan Smith. I’m on Bluesky: @daleivan.bsky.social. I also post at the Kill Zone blog (https://killzoneblog.com) every other Saturday and am usually there in the comments the rest of the time.

Thank you, Dale, for being with us today!

 

The Craft of Writing Cozy Mysteries with Dale Ivan. Share on X

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Meet Dale Ivan Smith

 

 

Dale Ivan got into trouble in Fifth-Grade for sneaking off to the school library during class, so naturally wound up becoming a librarian, starting out at a small branch library in Portland, Oregon. A long-time mystery reader and watcher, Dale’s thrilled to have the opportunity to write a “near historical” library cozy mystery series. When he’s not writing or reading mysteries, he’s watching mystery shows with his wife, doing jigsaw puzzles together, stargazing, and enjoying another cup of tea.

 

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Another Side of Sunshine

ON SALE NOW 99¢

 

A Middle Grade Mystery featuring those two irrepressible detectives, spunky 10-year-old Reen and her shy 9-year-old cousin Joanie.

“The story excels at honoring the emotional realities of childhood without veering into sentimentality. It’s a smart, well-constructed mystery that values relationships over rivalry, process over prizes, and growth over glory.” —Prairie Book Reviews

Click the image to go to the Amazon book page.