Blog tour ~ guest post: Death on the High Seas by Anna Legat

I am delighted to share a guest post today ~ thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organizing.

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Genre ~ mystery

Publication date ~ February 8, 2024

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Cosying up to murder

Cosy murder seems like a contradiction in terms. How can murder be cosy? After all, it is the violent and brutal act of terminating another’s life, performed with premeditation. The killer identifies his or her target, systematically plans the method and his/her alibi for the time of death, and then strikes. After that, he or she works tirelessly on getting away with … murder.

The death itself is far from snuggly. Whether it is done by poison, decapitation, strangulation or a bullet to the back of the head, it never looks pretty. There is blood, entry and exit wounds, missing limbs, skin discolouration, foaming at the mouth – you name it. There are also the grieving friends and family members. There is a fear of who may be next. None of that is cosy by any stretch of the imagination.

And yet, cosy murder mystery is a widely read genre because it offers an escape from the grisly realities of violent death while engaging the reader in the vigorous intellectual exercise of working out who the killer is.

The cosiness is irreconcilable with murder but it wraps it in cotton wool to make it palatable for the reader. It sweeps the gore under the carpet. It wipes the blood from the kitchen knife. It closes the victim’s staring eyes and throws a blanket over a mutilated body before the reader opens the book.

So, what constitutes cosiness in crime fiction?

First and foremost, it’s the detective. He/she has to be likeable – dare I say even slightly loveable? Apart from being exceptionally perceptive, the detective must also possess quirks of character that are strange but endearing. The reader must feel affection towards them even if it is tinted with slight bemusement. Take Hercule Poirot’s eccentricities: his obsessive tidiness and self-aggrandisement combined with his astute mind and kind heart.

Secondly, the crime can’t be gory. It should be what I describe as “white-gloves” murder: discreet, clean and out of the reader’s sight. The victim should be thoroughly unlikeable so the reader thinks, “Oh well, they had it coming the way they were carrying on…” There should be some level of poetic justice and even the murderer has to have acceptable justification for his actions. In cosy crime you can’t possibly have a psychopathic serial killer on the prowl.

The setting comes last, but not least. It should be pleasant, even idyllic – preferably somewhere deep in picturesque rural England. Thatched roofs, a little stream whispering in the reeds, an old pub and an even older church… The sleuth/s should be surrounded by admiring friends and relations, all of whom generate that comforting – cosy – community spirit, and all is well until… someone dies in rather suspicious circumstances.

I tried to keep the above criteria in mind when writing my cosy crime series, The Shires Mysteries. Thus, the series is set in the small English village (sorry, town) of Bishops Well whose streets are cobbled with rich history, idiosyncratic customs and traditions going back to the Stone Age. The residents are unique in their ways, but their eccentricities pale by comparison with Maggie Kaye, a sleuth extraordinaire, blessed with psychic abilities. Her besotted companion, Sam Dee, complements her excesses with a cool head and common sense. Together, they are invincible.

In book 4, Death on the High Seas, Maggie and Sam leave the safety of Bishops Well to go on  

a chilly cruise across the northern seas. Soon they have not just one but two bodies on their hands (metaphorically speaking, of course), and Maggie insists that more deaths remain hidden under the surface of the stormy Baltic Sea. And then she herself becomes a target.

Book blurb:

Maggie and Sam take a break from the murder and mayhem of Bishops Well and embark on a relaxing mid-winter cruise across the northern seas. The brochure promises smooth sailing, good food and dazzling entertainment. Sam is hoping to sprinkle the mix with romance.

But nothing goes to plan.

Maggie runs into an old lover, the mesmerising Benedict Rawbotham, who goes out of his way to sweep her off her feet. Sam is left seething with jealousy.

A mayday signal sent by a fishing boat forces the cruise liner off course. But there is something fishy about the rescued crew and Maggie insists that two young women have died on that boat. Alas, no one believes her.

Soon one of the alleged fishermen is also dead and so is one of the cruise passengers. Cordelia Conti Lang, nicknamed the Bitcoin Queen, with links to London’s criminal underworld, is found in her cabin, stabbed to death.

In pursuit of the killer, Maggie hurtles from one disaster to another and Sam begins to fear for her life. Has he taken her on a cruise to hell?

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Author Bio – Although she writes in a wide range of genres, Anna Legat is best known for her DI Gillian Marsh detective series and The Shires, her cosy murder mysteries. Anna is also the author of the historical thriller, Buried in the Past. She lives near Bath.

Social Media Links –

To find out more: https://annalegatblog.wordpress.com/

Follow Anna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LegatWriter

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And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legatauthor/

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