In the Magical Mystery Book Club series, the group gets to travel into mystery books and live the entire experience first-hand. They find the dead body (yeah, some of the members don’t like that part!), they figure out the suspects, and they solve the mystery. Since the club can travel into any book from their cozy mystery library, there are thousands of choices where I can place the setting of these adventures! That’s where my fun begins. They travel to small towns, take voyages on cruise ships, and even go back in time! With all those options, how do I pick the setting? Lots of different aspects lead to the decision.

 What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

There are times when a story pops into my head – but it could happen anywhere. I’ll sometimes outline the victim, the murder, and the suspects first, and then decide where in the world they will be.  There are times when the plot drives the setting, and others when the setting drives the plot. 

Choosing where to place the story.

I always want to have a small, contained environment. Big city murders don’t blend well with my cozies. But there are lots of possibilities for locations! From small towns filled with local charm to cruise ships sailing around Hawaii, I like to place my mysteries in locales where the suspects, villains, and red-herrings can happen naturally among the small population.

Weather, Terrain, and Events Lend Themselves to Locations

Some stories lend themselves to small mid-western towns, and others lead me back in time to days long ago. Once the characters show themselves, I’m able to build a world that suits their needs.

Shifting and Shenanigans finds the group in a small farming town. Vampires and Villains takes the book club on a cruse to Hawaii. Cowboys and Chaos takes them back to the old Wild West. Bakeries and Buffooneries takes place in a charming Hallmark-Channel-worthy small town where everybody knows everybody, and no secret goes untold. These are all fun places to solve a mystery!