Some writer friends and I had a rousing discussion about whether our work in progress books were cozy mysteries or not. A cozy mystery has a dead body or two, but not a lot of gore. The reader can cozy up with a good book by the fire, under a blanket, and have a good story without being terrified or having a lesson in forensics. An amateur sleuth gets involved trying to solve the riddle of “whodunit.” I go into more detail about it in this article. Hannah Swensen (Murder She Baked) series and the Cat Who series are examples of cozies. I like them, because I’m not a big fan... Read More

Welcome back to another Write On Purpose book review. Each week, I review a well-written book, highlighting what makes it good from the reader’s perspective and what writing skills and techniques make it an irresistible read. Thus, each review serves both writers and readers. I found this week’s read because I bought her book on writing cozy mysteries. Being a fan of cozies, I had to give one of hers a try. Description of Permed to Death from Amazon: Meet Marla Shore, a Florida beauty salon owner with a knack for creating dazzling dos—and solving mysteries . . .Marla was already... Read More