Setting: Can A Cozy Mystery Series Change Venue?
So, as I re-enter my “real world” after my vacation on beautiful St. John, USVI, I’m wondering something: can I take Lonnie Squires out of her humble home in Middelburg, Michigan, USA, and place her in a completely foreign setting for a book?
I know many mystery series do this, notably Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, but her series was set up that way. The Lonnie Squires series is established (two books so far with the third under way) as a contemporary “cozy.” One of the hallmarks of this subgenre is the “fish out of water” character living in a small, closed environment, usually a rural or isolated town of quirky ways and folks. So, if several books in, the author uprooted the character and took her somewhere else, would that be a fun diversion for series fans? Or an affront?
I think I’m remembering right that Agatha Christie took Miss Marple out of St. Mary Mead on occasion, but I’m not sure . . .
Ideas, anyone?
I love Middelburg, Woman at the Well Church, and the great cast of characters that make up the town. I am looking forward to reading much more about the town, church, and townspeople.
That being said, I would like to see Lonnie thrown into a mystery outside of Middelburg. I would be interested to see how she would approach solving a mystery with all the other characters being complete unknowns to her.
~Karen
Thanks. The third book, which I’m wrestling with right now, takes Lonnie out of Middelburg for a time, but aswith real life, Middelburg goes with her. . . At least in her head. But there’s a lot of perspective to be gained for her fromthe distance. It sure makes writing a mystery a lot harder, though!
Josie