On October 15th, we held a Nancy Drew Cozy Mystery Tea and invited local authors Jane Doucet, Tom Ryan, and Barbara Emodi. Nancy Drew solved puzzles, uncovered secrets, and investigated crimes. She was a bright amateur sleuth, not a police officer or private investigator. The stories focused on the who-dunnit puzzle rather than the murder itself and are written in a series. The books feature zero blood, gore, or explicit violence. Though Nancy travels in her blue roadster, she operates out of a comfortable, familiar small-town home base supported by a close-knit circle of friends—all core elements of cozy mysteries.
While drinking our The Secret of the Old Clock Tea made by NovelTea in Truro, A Peach Lemon Green Tea, we discussed these core elements of cozy mysteries with our guest authors in relation to their books.
Each of our guests’ books features amateur sleuths. They are ordinary people, non-professionals. In Jane Doucet’s Blood Typed, A Val Jenkins Mystery, Val is a journalist who writes a local books column for the Halifax Post, although she longs to cover the crime beat. In Barbara Emodi’s Gasper’s Cove series, Val Rankin owns a Craft Co-op and general store. In Tom’s Treasure Hunters Club, Peter, Cass, and Dandy are non-professionals, although in the first book, Dandy is a self-proclaimed teenage detective. In each of the stories, they use their local knowledge and intellect to solve the crimes. In cozies, the local police often underestimate or clash with the amateur detective. This is especially seen with Val Jenkins in Gasper’s Cove.
Cozy mysteries are set in quaint, picturesque, close-knit communities, where everyone knows each other, providing a contained suspect pool. All three of our authors’ books are set in Nova Scotia. Barbara Emodi’s Gasper’s Cove is a fictional community on the Eastern Shore. Tom’s is set in the fictional community of Maple Bay on the South Shore, and Jane’s is mostly set at the literary awards gala at the Lord Nelson in Halifax. Each are filled with maritime charm.
Cozy mysteries often contain quirky supporting characters, a cast of distinctive, often eccentric residents who provide humour and red herrings in the story. In Jane’s Blood Typed, there is a geriatric loan shark, a dissatisfied editor, a cross-eyed Maine Coon cat, and even a voice from the stalls, to name a few. In Barbara’s Gasper’s Cove, Val Rankin’s cousin Darlene is a former hairdresser who ran for mayor in book 3; there is an ex-con named Duck who works at the Val’s co-op, not to mention most of the crafters’ group of Gasper’s Cove. And Tom’s community of Maple Bay is full of quirky and fun characters, including the members of the Maple Bay Historical Society.
Cozy mysteries are often written as a series. Barbara will soon be releasing Crafting a Deadline, book 8 in her Gasper’s Cove Series. Jane is currently writing book two in her Val Jenkins Mystery Series. And Tom’s just released book 2 in his Treasure Hunters Club, Return to Breakneck Island, which became an instant Canadian Bestseller.
We had a wonderful evening discussing all the elements of a cozy mystery.
