Not exactly a setting on it's own, but rather an examination of cozy mysteries: A cozy mystery is usually defined as a light-hearted and charming whodunit, typically set
in a small, quaint town, featuring an amateur sleuth who solves a murder
mystery in a cozy and non-graphic manner.
Main Document
A fictional town in Northern California to host your Cozy Mysteries
A companion to Lassen Valley with information on the Indian Reservation.
Origin & Inspiration
This one started nearly 20 years when I drove a lot, and for hours, as part of my job at the time. My wife got me some books on tape (actually they were CDs) to listen to, and one of them was A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters. I ended up purchasing all of the Brother Cadfael books of a particular printing, and then I dived deep into the rabbit hole of cozy mysteries with my second favorite series being the Father Brown mysteries by G. K. Chesterton. From there are the TV shows like Monk or Death In Paradise that I adore. It's all such a guilty pleasure. It's not deep art, nor is it as compelling as Chandler's Marlowe books, but there is something undeniably fun and captivating.
As soon as Father Brown with Mark Williams appeared on TV, I knew I had to capture that somehow, the whole cozy mystery genre. I've been tinkering with it for a long while and quickly realized it had to be more of a source book with settings in different places and times to really make it sing (with Lassen Valley being the first of hopefully more to come).
When I heard that Father Brown had been renewed for an 11th season in 2024, I finally buckled down and started to write in earnest.
The rest is just details.
