A Sister in Need

A cozy mystery is one that takes place in a small town, or community, where we have some sort of amateur sleuth who is solving a murder. We don't actually see or read the details of that murder, or any other murderous violence throughout the story. But it's there, affecting the characters in the story.

The Adam Parker Mystery series approaches the cozy mystery sub-genre. But I go a bit too far with the violence for it qualify. Still, it has the same tenets with my amateur sleuth, some murders off-screen, and the small town atmosphere. The inspiration for Adam Parker partially came from my enjoyment of mystery stories. Novels, television shows, movies — I've experienced plenty of cozy mysteries in those mediums. (That em dash is human created, not AI)

A few years ago, I attended a film festival in a small town in Vermont. It was a nice weekend, and the town absolutely had that Hallmark movie charm. It didn't take long for the idea to form for a cozy mystery set in this small town. Now, the other spark that lit the fire to write this story came from multiple conversations with a producer friend of mine. We wanted to create something we could potentially sell, that would look to capitalize on the Hallmark movie trend.

Thus, A Sister in Need, was born.

A Sister in Need Synopsis

Laura Bellmore is found at the bottom of a cliff. Dead. But only her sister, Megan Collins, believes there to be foul play. Escaping her stalled existence of a life of, Megan travels to Northbury and finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy set to quiet anyone who knew Laura and the reason for her death.

Megan is helped on her journey by the sheriff, Melody Crane, and a friend of Laura's, Tanner Hinton. The trio navigate the dangerous, rumor-infested lifestyle of small-town living to uncover the reason behind Laura's death as well as series of murders that plague the once, quiet town of Northbury.

---

Pretty standard synopsis for a cozy mystery, right? And for the most part, the script is cozy (if you'll allow me). Check out this excerpt. This is one of those scripts, which lent itself to the possibility of future stories within the Megan Collins universe.

Megan Collins' Mysteries

The Coldest of Feet

The Bellmore Inn is booked for the whole weekend for a destination wedding. The entire wedding party arrives, but one by one the members of the party keep turning up dead. The bride and groom ask Megan for help, as she matches wits with a murderer with no clear agenda.

The Festival Witch

Northbury High School hosts a Halloween festival every year and the whole town is usually in attendance. This year’s festival is one to remember as a group of kids enter the corn maze and exit with one less teenager. But the kids all have the same story of seeing a witch in the maze and watching her kidnap their friend. A skeptical Megan investigates and becomes increasingly concerned that the children may be telling the truth.

Holiday in Northbury

The holiday season is upon the town of Northbury, but that excitement is tempered when a rash of burglaries in town has everyone on edge. But when one of the robberies ends with a murder, Megan discovers a link to a past case involving Melody’s former boss and mentor, Wyatt Tuttle.

---

So, clearly, I had a plan for this story, and quite frankly, why didn't I keep going? Hallmark! Call me. :)