For authors making the query rounds in the hopes of landing a publisher or an agent, much is made of being able to categorize the genre and sub-genre of your book. Defining an entire series is equally, if not more, important, if for no other reason than to inform the reader of what they can expect. It’s especially important if an author has more than one series. Are they the same? Or has your favorite cozy author veered into darker territory, maybe tried their hand at sci-fi or paranormal?

Back in 2019 at Left Coast Crime Vancouver, I was invited to be a participant in a “speed dating” author event, basically pairs of authors, each with two minutes to woo a tableful of readers. My partner in crime that day was the renowned cozy writer, Vicki Delany (who also writes as Eva Gates).

Being paired with such esteemed company was nerve wracking, to say the least. And while my Glass Dolphin series is decidedly cozy: an amateur sleuth (an antiques shop owner and a journalist who becomes a partner in the antiques shop business), set in the requisite small town, I needed something to set me apart from Vicki and the rest of the cozy authors in the room. I decided to define the series as “cozy mysteries without the cats, crafts, or cookie recipes.” It was catchy enough to work, and I’ve kept that definition to this day.

Defining my Marketville mystery series was a bit more difficult. Still leaning to the cozy side—no overt violence, sex, or bad language—but told in the first person, with slightly more ambitious plots, an amateur-turned professional sleuth, and cases that delved deep into the past. Work with that, I thought, and after a lot of mulling over, I had the answer: Cold Case Cozies.

And yes, you guessed it. There’s not a cat, craft, or cookie recipe to be found in either series, though I won’t rule out the possibility of going there in another series. After all, I have nothing against cats or crafts, and I’ve never tasted a cookie I didn’t like (okay, maybe gingerbread, I really don’t get gingerbread). Until then, you can find a few recipes and their book origins on my Food & Drink page, including the drink recipe for the Treasontini pictured on the front of The Hanged Man’s Noose/Glass Dolphin Box set. Salut!

*A version of this post appeared on Kevin’s Corner, an award-winning review and blog site.