Confession: I’m not much of a mystery reader. I never even liked Nancy Drew. I read only one Encyclopedia Brown, I never watched Murder She Wrote, and I’d probably lose the Trivial Pursuit point if you asked me the name of Agatha Christie’s sleuth (it’s something French, right? Poirot? Something like that?). I don’t know what the Cat did in any of the Cat books, I have no idea what letter that writer who writes the “ABC is for…” is up to, and I lost interest in Stephanie Plum as soon as she stopped ragging on her ex boyfriend and started trying to solve crimes.
However, I *love* Edgar Allen Poe, who is commonly cited as the inventor of the detective story, and also the Sherlock Holmes stories. So go figure. Plus, I was oddly drawn to Columbo, and I’ve recently gotten into Veronica Mars. Who knows?
Anyway, apparently, the thing in mysteries, especially the ones termed “cozy,” are to give your main character sleuth a schtick. This is your “brand” and your titles are usually puns on this brand. Columbo had a schtick. Holmes definitely had a schtick. That guy on Monk has the epitome of schtick. Half the fun for me in hearing about new cozy series is marveling at the inventiveness of the schtick the author has provided for their hero.
(This occurrence is parodied by Dean Koontz in Odd Thomas, which contains a mystery writer who made his fortune off a series of stories about a bulimic detective. I chuckled.)
Which brings me to the topic of this post, which is the latest Girlfriend’s Cyber Circuit Tour: Sara Rosett. Her debut, Moving is Murder, kicks off the “Mom Zone Mysteries” about an airforce wife and professional organizer. Because, you see, military wives have to move a lot, which provides plenty of fodder for new locations and mysteries, etc. etc.
Here’s the cover copy:
Air Force wife Ellie Avery is an ace at moving. A professional organizer, she plans ahead, packs efficiently, and even color-codes the boxes. But nothing in her bag of tricks could prepare her for the secrets that shadow her new neighborhood… secrets that drive one of her neighbors to murder.
Moving four times in five years has honed Ellie’s considerable skills. But moving with a newborn daughter and husband Mitch in tow, a record-breaking heat wave, and the realization that their dream neighborhood is known as Base Housing East is enough to make her turn to chocolate for comfort. Now half of their neighbors are with the 52nd Air Refueling Squadron. Forget privacy.
Forget peace of mind, too. Driving home from her first squadron barbecue, Ellie finds neighborhood environmental activist Cass Vincent dead on the side of the road. The police call it an accident—Cass, fatally allergic, was stung by wasps—but Ellie’s not so sure. And when it looks like Mitch’s best friend might be a suspect in the murder, Ellie starts snooping in earnest. What she finds shocks her—and when suspicious “accidents” start happening in her own backyard, Ellie realizes she’s getting closer to the killer… maybe too close!
Publisher’s Weekly says:
Packed with helpful moving tips, Rosett’s cute cozy debut introduces perky Ellie Avery…an appealing heroine, an intriguing insider peek into air force life.
See, now here’s a good racket to get into (and I say that with all affection). A cozy mystery with a marketable schtick might set you up for life, and Rosett appears to have developed a good one. Lord knows I could use some organizational skills, and getting them in the guise of fiction might be the spoonful of sugar I need to help the medicine go down. Plus, her plucky heroine sounds like a chick I’d like to spend some time with, even if the depth of her depravity is popping Hershey Kisses as an attempt to stave off fatigue after pulling all-nighters with a newborn. (She might think of me as a bad influence.) If you like your mysteries heavy on adorable and packed full of helpful moving tips, this just might be the book for you!
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