Why is Character Development Important in a Cozy Mystery?
Back in the Golden Age of mystery, sleuths didn’t change much from the beginning of the novel to the end.
Miss Marple aged slightly from one book to the next, but her character and personality didn’t alter much within each story. There was nothing particularly transformative.
Hercules Poirot never changed, except perhaps that his black hair and mustache became a bit more blatantly black from year to year.
That’s not so true with mysteries written today. Today’s readers expect their sleuths to grow and evolve, especially through a series, in ways their predecessors did not. It gives a more realistic picture of life, but adds some complications for the writer.
It also helps carry the series along. For example, in Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series, we see Molly as she flees Ireland, falls in love, marries, and has a child, all while solving crimes, getting herself (and sometimes her police detective lover/husband) into and out of danger, making friends, and, you know, having something resembling a life outside of the mysteries.
Except for a few little hints here and there (what was Poirot’s real relationship with the fascinating Russian countess?) we simply don’t see Poirot, Miss Marple, Maud Silver, and their ilk outside of the mysteries they’re solving.
When I was thinking recently about the series I’m starting, I had to devote some pondering time to what sort of character development arc I want for Lily. And once I had some ideas, how and where would I introduce them in the current work in progress?
So I started a mind map (I use the free version of XMind). It’s another helpful tool in the writer’s arsenal. Then, I added it to my Milanote board. Tada!
Here’s what it looks like (and yes, I am keeping some parts of it hidden because, you know, spoilers 😎).
Tools
I’ve been testing an app called Novel Factory for a while now, using it to map out my second book in the series.
It’s early days yet, but I like that it’s a system based on what Dwight Swain teaches in his book Techniques of the Selling Writer. It gives a writer a methodical roadmap for structuring their story and developing their characters.
One thing that’s very important to me in the tools I choose is that they have to be platform agnostic so I can use them on my laptop, my tablet, and my phone. For me, that includes both the iOS and Android operating systems. (I ditched Windows back in 2014, but that’s a story for another day.) This doesn’t quite meet that criterion since there’s no Android app, but I’m testing it out anyway for now.
I’ll give you a more complete report when I’ve had a chance to give it more of a workout. In the meantime, if you want to explore it yourself, they do offer a 30-day free trial.
If you try it, let me know what you think.
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Notable Quotes
“When she stepped off the flight, Audrey paused and inhaled deeply. The scent of freedom. Actually, she was still stuck in the airport, and the air here wasn’t much different from that in Logan. But still. It felt cleaner. Freer.”
- A Villa in Sicily: Olive Oil and Murder by Fiona Grace
This reminds me of a wonderful scene from one of my favorite movies — an oldie but a goodie — called Enchanted April. Two women from London, anxious to get away from the foul rain at home, have rented an Italian castle for the month of April. They arrive after dark, on a train that was delayed for hours, and find that there’s nobody there to meet them and it’s raining.
“How is this different?” Rose (played by Miranda Richardon) asks. “This is Italian rain,” announces Lottie (played by Josie Lawrence). The all-star cast includes Joan Plowright, one of my all-time favorites, and Polly Walker, Alfred Molina, and Jim Broadbent.
Well worth a watch. Or, you can read the original book of the same name by Elizabeth Van Arnim, which is also enchanting.