Meet Cozy Mystery Writer Julie B. Cosgrove

 

Our guest today is Julie B Cosgrove, author of the Word Play Mysteries, talking about her series and why she writes in the cozy genre.

Leaving a comment makes you eligible for  a paperback of your choice of any of Julie's thirteen cozy mysteries.  If the winner is not in the USA, Julie will email a $15 Amazon gift certificate to purchase one paperback or several eBooks (hopefully hers!).

A church member recently asked me why, as a Christian author, I wrote mysteries. Good question. At first glance it may seem faith and mystery are polar opposites. Good versus evil. Love versus crime. Saint versus sinner.

 

I write cozy mysteries for several reasons. First, it is my favorite genre. From an early age I would lie in front of our black and white TV totally absorbed in the Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan mysteries.  I did read some of the Nancy Drew books from my elementary school library but found them to be too predictable. I figured out I didn’t want to read about her, I wanted to be her! The late British author Mary Stewart hooked me on her novels.  Young, intelligent single women travel to exotic places, then find themselves in the midst of danger once they get too close to whodunnit. And of course, each ended with the dashing slightly older gentleman coming to the rescue. Sigh. It pumped my preteen heart!

 

I still prefer to read cozies, but many of the secular ones are not as innocent as they once were. Foul language, out of marriage relationships, paranormal, and witchcraft have inched into the plots. Hmmm, not for me. But there are still some clean, secular cozy writers out there. Mary Daheim has been my favorite since the late 1990’s. She still writes, by the way. I love her wit and her characters. To state I was thrilled when she endorsed my first cozy mystery novel, Dumpster Dicing, back in 2016 is an understatement.  

 

Secondly, cozy mysteries are less about the crime itself and more about achieving justice by solving the mystery and making sure the bad guys are caught. Micah 6:8 states, as the as the answer as to what a faith-living person should do: “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” As a Christian cozy writer, I try to show my characters live out the faith in their everyday lives and interactions. They are fallible but they keep trying to achieve all three. Thus, each mystery has a central message – God is there and He cares.

 

As one five star reviewer wrote – “What I didn’t expect was such an encouraging message to come in the middle of a cozy mystery. Sometimes authors shove a Christian message in between crime scenes and car chases. However, Cosgrove seamlessly threads her message throughout the book." 

 

So far, I have been contracted to write three mystery series. The first, The Bunco Biddies Mysteries, were four novels written between 2015-2018.  They feature Bunco playing ladies in a retirement community. The first won Best Cozy Mystery set in Texas by the Texas Association of Authors in 2017. Then Write Integrity Press took me on as an author but the editor in chief wanted a more “Hallmark” formula. So, I wrote The Relatively Seeking Mysteries involving three thirty-something church friends who sought out lost relatives and found themselves in danger as they unveiled family secrets. One Leaf Too Many (the ACFW book of the month in August 2019) and Fallen Leaf have the inklings of romance with the detectives on the case. The third, Leaf Me Alone, finalist in the Christian Literary Awards in 2021, showed the gal who was already married but whose marriage was being tested by hard times. Working through the mystery helped the couple realize the strength of their marriage and their faith.

 

Then I convinced Write Integrity Press to let me return to writing about senior sleuths. I combined my two loves—mystery and word games—and molded them into The Wordplay Mystery Series.  Wanda, the main character, is a widow raised in the small, fictitious town of Scrub Oak, Texas. Her almost life-long friend is a retired schoolteacher, also widowed, named Betty Sue.  Her next door neighbor is Evelyn, who devours cozy mysteries and even has them catalogued by sleuth, crime, and author. Wanda’s nephew, Todd—who the town recalls as the wayward teen whose parents went through the most scandalous divorce in Scrub Oak history—grew up, graduated from the police academy, and now has returned to Scrub Oak as a policeman.

 Wanda begins to realize her love for word games and puzzles make her a natural sleuth. In fact, various word game techniques help her discover valid clues. So, she sets out “helping” her nephew win the favor of the town by solving the crimes that are seeping into Scrub Oak along with the urban sprawl.

Word Has It involves a Scrabble game revealing clues to not only a current mystery but two previously hidden in the past. It won the Distinguished Cozy Mystery award in the Spring of 2021. In Word Gets Around, random words left on windshield may hold the answer as to why an up and coming reporter has gone missing.  In Other Words focuses on palindromes spray painted on local businesses when the vandalism soon explodes into organized crime. In Hang on Every Word, Wanda is assigned to create a weekly Hangman and a Find-Words-in-a-Word puzzle for the local newspaper, but the clues seem to spur robberies around downtown. People begin to think Wanda may be orchestrating it all to gain more glory. Now, though handcuffed, she must solve the mystery and her reputation!

 The fourth in the series has just released - Away With Words.  In this novel, Wanda and Evelyn reluctantly go on a women’s retreat with Betty Sue out of state to West Monroe, Louisiana.  The theme of the retreat is “Acting out Grace” and Wanda soon learns that this is something unnatural for her to do, especially after being wounded by the community who accused her of crime plotting. While there, a scavenger hunt leads them to discover a crime scene. Then one of the retreat attendees is whacked over the head. Plus, a teenage girl has gone missing. Of course, the trio feel obliged to investigate. Through it all, Wanda learns quite a few reasons why she needed to be on this retreat.

Unlike Scrub Oak, the setting for Away with Words is real. It is a wonderful cabin where I was invited by some local church ladies in West Monroe to lead a retreat several years ago. It was one of the most enjoyable retreats I have led.  Therefore, when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance to set my next mystery there.

 I have been contracted to continue the series and am writing book six, Loss for Words now. Its planned release is next June.  In between writing the Word Play Mysteries, I was privileged to be asked to write, along with six other Christian cozy mystery writers, a novella series called The Visitor.  The seven were released monthly from February through August of 2023 and mine, The Visitor Makes a Retreat, debuted the series.

 Life is a mystery, and it has many twists and turns. We don’t always see what is coming. But we know in the end good will triumph over evil. God reigns, even though Satan prowls. My mysteries, I hope, reiterate that fact.

 You can preview each of the thirteen books published so far on my website, or on my Amazon author page.  And I would love it if you followed me on my Facebook page.