I love a good mystery. So when I decided to write a book, of course it was the genre I chose. And no matter what other genres my books fit into, each one still had an element of mystery.

After finding my niche, to my delight, I found that a lot of other people like mysteries too. In fact, they are the second bestselling genre of books, coming in right after romance. I got to write the type of story I loved and maybe sell a book or two. How cool is that?

Books in the category are usually suspenseful, especially near the end when the answer to the mystery is revealed, and many are thrillers as well, filled with lots of action a la Indiana Jones. And as part of the thrill, around practically every corner, the reader will find, lies mortal peril for the hero/heroine. The main character must then use his/her wit and skill to narrowly escape the throes of the evil, wrongdoing villain and in end the end bring him down.

But do all the books in the genre have to be like that? Sometimes, I’ve learned, it’s expected. Some lovers of mystery books, like the ones drawn to the description of my first series, were expecting to get a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrill along with the “what-happened.”

My first book, In the Beginning, had initially been compared to Indiana Jones and Dan Brown by some. Because, I concluded, it had a biblical tagline to it, an alternative history twist, and a protagonist who had information that could possibly change the world as we knew it. But when true fans of the Da Vinci Code read it, they gasped – What? There’s no action! No killing! No chases through the city! And oh no! No swear words or sex! Egad!

My book, I wanted to scream , was a character-driven, thought-provoking, compelling (with some dry wit) work framed around a “what-if.” But with the subject matter as presented, readers weren’t happy with that answer and they screamed right back – “We need lots of action! Give us some violence! Blood. Guts. Gore.” Readers wanted more. And even though it was a struggle for me, in the next two books in the series (Mars Origin “I” Series) I tried to give them what they wanted. I added a little violence. A cuss word here and there. And some of the ever-craved-for action (still no sex). I wasn’t the master of it, but I think I pulled it off. But as I finished up the last book, it was plain for me to see – it just wasn’t in me to deliver what thriller mystery fans wanted.

The books did well, but the fast-paced, action-packed ride that I’d written was not the stuff that could compete with Borne Identity or Angels and Demons. So I thought, I still want to write mystery, and okay, I could do a murder – nothing violent – but I wasn’t adverse to death being a part of my story. But the car chases, the punch-roll-kick action of the characters, and the descriptive sex scenes . . . Well . . . Not so much.

Then I found cozies . . .

****Sky opens up, sun rays fan out to the horizon, cue the angelic music****

Oh happy day!

Cozy mysteries are the best. Aren’t they? Quirky, fun characters, a keep-you-guessing whodunit, and a little humor to boot. Action and violence are – of all things – not expected! Now that was something I could do. And who knew? There were readers galore that didn’t do the guts and gore, just like me!

So far the Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Series has done well, and readers seem to enjoy, not only the characters, but as they tell me,  the “good clean” read.  It’s made #1 in it’s Amazon categories in the United States, United Kingdom,  Australia and Canada. So that was good, right? I had considered ending the series, but every time I try to someone convinces me to write another book. Anyway, I think I’d miss Miss Vivee.

So be sure to stay tuned . . .