What Makes Cozy Mystery Towns Feel "Cozy"?

It's been years (okay, decades) since I read Agatha Christie, but I still remember St. Mary Mead, where Miss Marple solved murders by paying close attention to the behavior of her friends and neighbors.

What made the town so memorable? The people.

Quirky characters are essential to a giving the fictional town in a cozy mystery that "cozy" feel--especially important for those cozy mystery towns that have a higher-than-average death rate.

So if you're reading (or writing) a cozy mystery, sure it's nice to have a charming Main Street with flower baskets and a gazebo. Or an annual Pumpkin Festival, or a bookstore that hosts monthly crochet classes. But the heart of that fictional town has to be the characters who populate the pages.

Think about Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series. Would it be the same without Doc Florence, the local veterinarian who'd rather treat a rabid raccoon than a placid poodle? Louise Penny's Three Pines is immediately recognizable thanks to Ruth Zardo, the scotch-drinking, foul-mouthed poet who travels with a pet duck. And where would Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen be without Myra Dilley, who times her bakery visits so she can eavesdrop, and uses "checking on the cats" as a cover for trespassing and snooping on her neighbors.

When I first started writing my new cozy mystery set in the fictional small town of Almond Grove, CA, I had to come up with my own set of quirky locals. Like Lisa Walker, who runs the town's clinic. Lisa knows pretty much everything about everyone, and as long as it’s not a HIPAA violation, she’s happy to share. Which is a boon to my doctor-turned-amateur sleuth, Phoebe Sharpe. She's new in town and needs a little background intel on her neighbors—who also happen to be her suspects when she stumbles across her first dead body.

One of the things I realized in writing is that what I enjoy most in fiction wouldn't be as fun in real life. When Phoebe overhears Mrs. Henderson dishing about the mayor's nephew at the Corner Cafe, it brings her one step closer to figuring out who the killer is. But if Almond Grove were real, and I overheard someone discussing me over coffee and scones…well, it might feel a bit claustrophobic.

What do you love about cozy mystery towns?