With any book genre, settings are important. With cozy mysteries, however, a good setting makes the book more charming, intriguing, and believable. The setting sets the tone and builds a cozy atmosphere. While the writing process can be challenging and trying to develop a setting for your book can be difficult, it doesn’t have to be. To make this process a little easier for you, we provide some of the top cozy mystery settings in books. Let’s begin!

Small Town/Familiar Locations

You can’t go wrong with using a small town or village for a cozy mystery. Cute small towns are close-knit and give a cozy and welcoming vibe. You could also pick a location that’s a familiar place for many readers, like Cape Cod. People love reading books about places they’ve been to before, even if the book is fictional. This allows them to connect to the book even more. 

A Bed And Breakfast

What’s cozier than a quaint bed and breakfast? This is an intimate setting where everyone is in close quarters. It gives you a chance to explore the relationships and dynamics with the guests and staff. Some situations for a bed and breakfast setting could include theft, murder among the staff and guests, or a haunted bed and breakfast. 

Museums 

Museums are a great location for a cozy mystery. Some readers are also art buffs, and when it’s included in a book, it’s like getting two interests bundled into one. There are several situations that you can explore in a museum setting, like stolen artifacts, a counterfeit artifact, murder, etc. 

Bakeries

You can’t resist snuggling up and reading a cozy mystery that takes place in a bakery. Between the descriptions of the incredible aromas, the warm decor, and the descriptions of the desserts, you can’t get a cozier environment than this one. Bakeries bring a familiar vibe to readers, and they are deliciously packed with baked goods and mysteries to solve. Some situations that can take place at a bakery could include someone being poisoned, something at the bakery being stolen, or a rivalry sabotaging the bakery. 

Cruise Ships

Cruise ships are a unique, fun, and luxurious location for your story. There are also many storylines that you can come up with, like theft, murder, or a crime. With everyone being stuck on the cruise ship, it’ll be a great location for a who did it book. 

A Manor

A manor is a classic setting choice for a cozy mystery. You can make the manor as quaint or as eccentric as you want. You’ll have that creative room to customize the manor to your liking. Manors typically have a family history about them, which means you could include that in the crime that occurs. Some of the situations that could go into your manor story include a family heirloom being stolen, murder, paranormal situations, sabotage of an event, etc. 

In Conclusion

When writing a cozy mystery, the setting options are practically endless. Hopefully, the list of top cozy mystery settings we’ve provided helps get the creativity flowing for you when writing your book. There are many locations you can choose from, and you can customize and make it your own to add that uniqueness. 

When you’ve completed your cozy mystery, you can’t forget to promote your book. At Book Brush, we have several cozy mystery templates that you can easily edit and customize. Our graphics are eye-catching, unique, and a great way to promote your new cozy mystery book. Make sure you check out all of our cozy mystery and crime templates!