Curl Up & Clue In
Curl Up & Clue In is a cozy mystery podcast hosted by Courtny & Spencer -- 2 booktubers turned best friends. Join us every month as we dive into the enchanting world of cozy mysteries and find the cozy in everyday life!
Curl Up & Clue In
Curl Up with Ratings: The Heart of Cozy Mysteries
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Have you ever wondered how a book's ending can color your entire memory of the story? Our latest episode embraces that question as we cozy up with our favorite mysteries, discussing the sometimes-surprising ways we come to rate them. From the glitzy intrigue of "A Killing in Costumes" to the youthful thrills of "The Naturals" series, join us for a heart-to-heart on the characters and settings that nestle into our hearts and the community that blooms within the pages of a good cozy mystery.
Concluding with a reflection on the exceptional stories that have left their mark on us, we share those five-star favorites that resonate with a sense of belonging and the longing for the next installment. Our chat may inspire you to reconsider your rating system or curl up with a tale of mystery and community. So, get your favorite blanket ready, and join us in the cozy corner of the literary world, where every book promises a new adventure.
Meet your hosts:
Spencer @IntentionallyBookish
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Courtny @Courtagonist
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Find us over on Instagram! @Curl Up & Clue In
Cozy Mystery Book Rating System
Speaker 1Welcome to Curl Up and Clue In a Cozy, Mystery podcast hosted by two BookTubers turned best friends. I'm Courtney.
Speaker 2And I'm Spencer. Join us every episode as we dive into the enchanting world of cozy mysteries and find the cozy in everyday life.
Speaker 1Hello again, Hello hello.
Speaker 2So let's address the elephant in the room. It's been a little bit of a while.
Speaker 1It has, it has, it has Yep. But that's okay, because that is crazy hectic motherhood life right, it is yes, yes, there's just, you know, when you're two hours behind me. And then, with all of the extracurricular activities and all of those things, we had a little blip in not being able to record.
Speaker 2Yeah, but that's okay Because we are back. We are at it, I'm very excited. Yes, For the record, we've known what we've wanted to talk about for a while. Yes, Finding the time.
Speaker 1Whether it was I had to cancel because kids were not feeling well, or I was, I fell asleep. You know the the, you know life exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2Okay. Well then, catch me up then. What are you currently reading? What have you been up to? Give me the deets okay.
Speaker 1So since we uh, originally talked about this, I have already finished the book that I was going to be talking about, but I still think that people should read it. It's called A Killing in Costumes by Zach Bissonnette. I'm not going to say that correctly, it was fan-freaking-tastic. I love the idea of sort of like Hollywood vibes in a cozy mystery. I feel like it's just. It's something that I didn't know, that I was missing.
Speaker 1Jay Allen and Cindy Cooper were soap opera stars in the late 90s. They were the young, wholesome wife and husband duo until they both came out and divorced amicably. But then their show was sort of canceled and it was, you know, put to the back burner. And then we're fast forward 20 years and Cindy's wife has passed away from cancer. His wife has passed away from cancer and she is opening up a costume shop to sort of bow to the stars and starlets of old Hollywood and sell those memorabilia. And Jay Allen and his fancy self is coming down to help her run her shop. And it's just. It's so freaking good it was. It was so fun. I.
Speaker 2I had a blast reading it. That sounds so awesome, like anytime you think of that golden Hollywood era. I mean so many vivid images come to mind, so I could only imagine the plethora of descriptions. So tell me then is it part of a series? What book number if?
Speaker 1it is. This is book one. From what I have gathered, it's published by Penguin Random House and it's yeah, it's the first in the Hollywood Treasures Mystery Series. I got it when it was like two or three bucks on Libro FM because they do amazing cozy mystery sales, and it grabbed me when it says stardom fades fast when you're on the line for murder. In this debut cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Jen McKinley.
Speaker 2Oh well, you love the Thursday murder club.
Speaker 1I do, so I was like I mean, take my money, so I can't. I can't wait until the next book in the series. I don't know when it's going to be, because this one came out in 2022. What about you? What are you reading?
Speaker 2name sounds familiar. It's because she is the author of the inheritance games series. Um she I don't want to say she definitively writes ya, but both of those series are ya and the natural series that I've been binging. I'm currently on. I think I just finished book three. All in it is like criminal minds with a ya cast. Oh I love criminal minds.
Speaker 2Yeah, I do too kind of y8 ish. So I a little bit of backstory. I picked up the inheritance games a couple years ago when I was kind of in a reading slump and wanted to do something different and I loved it and binged that series until I kind of caught up with waiting on the latest book and, um, this time around, just coinc, coincidentally I did the same thing.
Speaker 2Like the natural series has been on my TBR for a while and I was in kind of a I don't want to say a slump, but I couldn't decide what direction I wanted to read and I'm like you know what, let me, let me shop my shelf, and I picked up the first one and, of course, inhaled it, and so I also love Criminal Minds and such a good show is that, I know, but like, weirdly enough, my barometer for gruesome dark crime has kind of. It's a little harder for me to digest these days, which is odd because I love dark stuff.
Speaker 1But no, I get that, I get that, I get that, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2I don't know if it's motherhood or like my current state of mind, where I need that soft life, but regardless, this is perfect because, since it's through a young adult lens, I don't want to say that it's completely devoid of any kind of darkness, obviously, because you've got that criminal, mind killing, hunting aspect, but it's way less gruesome than, say, like a nordic noir, and so anyway so it's like, it's like bloody light yes, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2So. Um, you follow the story through the main character who's one of the? Um. I guess you can call them like students or participants in this program.
Speaker 1It's called the.
Speaker 2Naturals Program and it's basically a group of young adults like 17, 18, who have extraordinary gifts that make them naturally or I guess in this case, unnaturally good and excel at um criminology type behaviors. So like reading people, um being able to detect lies, someone is really good with like any kind of numbers, whether it's patterns or like figuring things out on a map, anything like that. So the fbi basically like lets them solve cold cases, but of course our main character has her own baggage and backstory. That interweaves itself into the fourth book and it's really been hitting the spot. So I can definitely recommend it, especially for people. If you like cozies but you also like darker themed mysteries or thrillers, definitely check this one out.
Speaker 1So yeah, no, that. I mean you sold me literally like I just I'm I'm about to finish a cozy mystery that I'm pushing myself through finishing it, but I really didn't want to finish it, and so I'm going to need like a palate cleanser of sorts, because this one just was not my favorite.
Speaker 2Yeah, I know, we were talking about that earlier in a text message. Oh man, that's the worst, especially if you've gotten to a point to where you're almost too far to turn back.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2For me it's never too far, but I get it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Like I said earlier, I really wish I could just mute the main characters and then just have like the surrounding characters, kind of like fill in what the mystery is and the whodunit, mm-hmm in what the mystery is and the whodunit, yeah yeah. So, speaking of that today's episode, we wanted to sort of have more of a unfiltered, unscripted kind of chat about ratings but more specifically how we rate cozy mysteries.
Speaker 2Okay, yes, so when it comes to ratings, I think we can all agree that they are extremely subjective and we thought we would chat about our own personal rating system for cozies in particular, since obviously we like to talk about cozies on this podcast and we can compare notes and see how they stack up against each other. We have not, guys. We've not done any planning, so court's answers are going to be a total surprise for me and vice versa.
Rating Cozies and Book Trophies
Speaker 2I feel like that would be fun. But yeah, let's just kind of dive right into it. Starting off, I guess, just a blanket statement how do you rate your cozies?
Speaker 1So I go by feeling on how I feel at the end of the book. If I am in love with the characters and the cozy setting, I am way more likely to rate it high, even if the writing isn't as beautifully done. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2No, that totally makes sense. I also rate off of vibes and it's so funny I think you started the gate with hitting the nail on the head, which is how you feel at the end kind of summarizes or trumps the like that dictates everything, which sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes that's a bad thing. But yeah, like if there are bumps along the road, even in the beat, especially in the beginning, if it ends where I'm like oh, I feel so warm and cozy or I loved xyz character, then I'm like I will totally almost put blinders on with any fumbles that happen in the beginning.
Speaker 1It's almost like it's my favorite child now. And then if anybody says anything bad about it, I'm just like you have no taste Like, even if, even if what they're saying is like at the very beginning it was sluggish and yada, yada, yada, and I'm like, yeah, I agree with that. But then they're like and so I thought it was horrible. I'm like pause there, I jumped off your little truck of chugging because that is not no, no, this is bae and you are wrong so funny.
Speaker 2I mean you and I both have individual cozy mystery book club and it's really interesting because I will. So in the past I've nitpicked a book. Obviously when you are at book club you are supposed to really dig deep.
Speaker 2But I will nitpick a book and like really go in about, like why did they do this? And like, oh my God, wasn't it silly when this happened. But what's really funny is like after that I will still recommend the book and it's almost as if like digging in and talking about it has made me grow closer to the book yes, To where, even though I just not bashed it, but like put it under the microscope, I will still like. I will remember it fondly.
Speaker 1Yes, get out of my head. So, like with having the cozy escape book club, I have found myself like if I had rated a book like a solid three, which three isn't horrible, but like yeah, yeah, solid, uh. After book club, I find myself like so entranced with the characters because I've just talked for like an hour with people about it that like I come out in like this euphoric, like drunken state, oh my god. And then it's like, oh, I should really bump that up to a four. I am going to go to Goodreads and do that right now. Yes, oh my God.
Speaker 2I did the same thing. Okay, so either we're both crazy or I'm not crazy, and you proved my point. But that is so accurate and don't get me wrong. Like, obviously there are cozies that I don't love.
Speaker 1And.
Speaker 2I can come out of this even more so like eh, I this just verified that I didn't love it. But more often than not I think it's also because I DNF in a heartbeat, so if I'm not jibing by a certain point, I won't read past. So it's almost like everything will automatically get at the minimum and okay rating just because I didn't like it that much that early on. I'm never going to finish it.
Speaker 2But oh my gosh, you are so right. Oftentimes I've gone in and been like all right, so this three is actually a four, or even more so, and I should have pulled an example. Actually, I do know an example. There was a cozy mystery that I didn't love.
Speaker 2like I didn't hate it, but it was like a three and I like, but like a low three. But I remembered it so fondly and I for some reason recommended it to so many people and like the more I talked about it, I'm like, oh my god, this is amazing. Coincidentally, I went into goodreads just to familiarize myself with like when I read it and I saw my star rating and I was shocked that I was so low, because in my mind, I had built it up to be this amazing book. Yes, and it probably is, clearly because that's how I remembered it.
Speaker 1But, oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, it's, uh, yeah, so it's crazy, yeah, it's just, and and I need to be better at DNFing like I'm at I'm at like only 19 minutes left on this audiobook and I'm so mad about it, but, but am I gonna finish it?
Speaker 2hell yes, I'm gonna finish it because yeah I have to well, kudos to you, because sometimes my dnf gets the best of me and I have dnf stuff when I'm like I kid you, not like 75 through and I'm like push through it just to be a completionist. But my brain is like no, I'm done with you, you're dead.
Speaker 1To me it's. It's actually easier for me to dnf physical books than it is for me to dnf audiobooks interesting, interesting yeah, I can, I can DNF a physical book real quick. I can just be like, okay, nope, and I put it down on bun and bye.
Speaker 2Not the audio book, and I think that has, I mean I could be wrong, so let me know if I'm wrong. But for me, cause I'm the same way, I think it's because, let's be honest between our, like, current state in life, mothers on the go whatever.
Speaker 2I think it's because, in the hierarchy of book types, physical is the most inconvenient. Yes, and so it already has that. Strike against it because you know we of course we listen to a crap ton of audio books because it's so much easier to fit it in our pockets of time, and I think next comes e-books, because you can just fire up a Kindle, look on your phone app, whatever. And it takes like I have to be in the mood, like to have that tactile feel and like get into that whole romanticized state of picking up a physical book.
Speaker 2But like if the font's too small or I'm not immediately sucked in. I'm like I'm done with you.
Speaker 1Yep, yep. Pretty much I have come to the realization that most of the books on my bookshelves are now just book trophies. They're like, yes, they're, they're the books that I, that I love, that I want to read and everything. And then I'm trying not to buy anything new physically until I've listened to it or read it on ebook, because, one, I don't have enough room for that, and then, two, it's just, it's just easier that way.
Speaker 2Yeah, Uh. I think I need to come to terms with that, because I will never realistically finish all of the books on my shelf if I'm stuck reading the physical copy and in my mind I'm like, well, it's kind of a waste if I buy a duplicate as an audio or a physical. I got to get over that.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, I, there are a good majority of my books. I own all three. I own the physical, ebook and audio book, and it's just. I need to be able to consume my books in all forms. I am a book dragon and that is okay with me.
Speaker 2Yes, I love it. I love it. Okay. So I think we can agree that we rate off of vibes 100%, whether it's state of mind, whether it's how the book made us feel at the end. If something is so egregious to put me off earlier than that, then obviously I will dnf. But okay, so tell me then, because I feel like we've kind of talked about this just in general in the past but like, how do you rate or does your rating stack up when it comes to like the first book in the series versus the rest of the series, because obviously, yeah, they're the same series but like different in the sense to where one you're totally getting introduced, versus revisiting the characters?
Speaker 1Okay, that's a really good question. I feel like I'm harsher on the first book than I am on the rest of the series, because the first book is what has to hook you right. They have to be able to get you into the cozy town feeling. They have to be able to get you with the characters and whatever niche it is. It's a lot of work to write a first book in the cozy mystery and then, once you've got them, they'll be catnip for the rest of your series.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, I agree. It's almost like if you can pique my interest enough to make me pick up the second book. I'm way more forgiving and I think about it a lot fondly because, again, it's like building friendships. You know these people, you know your neighbors. They're not perfect, you know, you may have had a rough introduction to them, but you push past that and you like them enough to want to go back to their house.
Speaker 2Yes, yes exactly, that's perfect, you're absolutely right, Because I find myself and I'm pretty sure you asked this too, but I know when I have book club, one of the questions we ask is like are you going to finish the series, Whether it's the first book or anything else? Like would you pick up another book in this series?
Speaker 1Yes, or would you recommend it?
Speaker 2Yeah, exactly, and I think that that's a really good question because, as we know, one of the main pillars of Cozy Mysteries is the fact that they're a series. Yes, so yeah, you could be in for a real treat if you say yes to a series that's 20 books deep, versus. It didn't capture me enough to where I want to bother to get invested.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, no, I totally agree. And this, so this episode that we're recording gave me sort of like a creative vibe and juice to create a new video. Ooh, lovely of vibe and juice to create a new video. I haven't recorded it yet, but I'm going to tier rank the first books, so they're the first book in the series of. I'm going to do it for a hundred series that I have read from. I went all the way back to 2020 to now and I went through every book that I've read and I picked all of the first book in a series.
Speaker 2You've read a hundred series since 2020?
Speaker 1I've started, started a hundred series since 2020.
Speaker 2Well, still, that's reading at least a hundred books of cozies, but that's awesome, okay, well, obviously keep a lookout on our instagram for when court comes out with that, but I would love to see that, because then you're revisiting all of the books and your thoughts about them and whether or not like.
Speaker 1Do I remember reading it enough to like? Did I pick up the second book in the series? Did I not pick up the second? But but like, like it's gonna. I mean, 2020 was a long time ago, like, yeah, it was so. Pandemic years, yeah. So yeah, this, this inspired me to do that.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's awesome and it's interesting. I will be interested to see your notes about how much you remember, because, as we all know, know, and I'm sure there's been like various memes and other people have like articulated in like a very humorous way or a relatable way, the reason we go off of vibes is because, like 90 of the time, we can't remember the plot of the book, and I feel like that's especially true for cozies, because and and why it's so important to have that through line the plot of like just knowing the characters.
Speaker 2Yes, because as much as I love, like brie baker seaside series or um the um bibliophile mystery series, you cannot tell me to recount the plots for every single book, but I can certainly tell you, like our main character, who she ended up marrying what her family is like, because those are the things that stick with you yeah, that's what matters yeah, exactly that's exactly what matters and that's why we rate it by vibes yes, one million percent exactly. Exactly so then okay, so you don't DNF. Obviously I DNF.
Speaker 1Not very often there have been.
Speaker 2So you do, do it.
Speaker 1Sometimes yes, there have been times where I've picked up a book and it's just not given me the, the, the feels that I want, and so I put it down, but I don't, I don't know if I'd call it like a DNF. It's a not right now.
Speaker 2Soft, yes, yes, because I'm technically the same way. I never hard DNF as in. I'm never reading this again. I'm going to give it away. It's more like this is I'm not in the mood for this right now.
Speaker 1I feel like as a mood reader.
Speaker 2That's what DNFing is. It's more like I'm going to put this Now for later. I guess yeah. So then have you given? Have you ever rated a cozy a one or two star?
Speaker 1Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I have, I have and I should have. I should have read through these questions before, before we got on, because I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 2And don't, you don't have to list the book, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1No, there are. There are quite a few that like I can see in my head that I did rate, um, not not the best.
Speaker 2Do you remember why? Was it plot? Was it character?
Speaker 1um, a lot of the time it's characters. Um, like, if you're going to write a cozy mystery with annoying characters like I'm not going to lie the book that I'm currently reading right now it will be a two star. The sister relationship is so catty and childish and they seem as though like they are still tweens and it's driving me and freaking sane and like the privilege these two like characters have, like mommy and daddy are rich so they don't really have to worry about anything, and like they live with their mom, like it's just yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, I could see that, because it takes a lot, because, obviously, obviously, since the characters are what sticks with us, yes, any kind of foul committed on them will be a low ranking. I remember, I think I remember the book, but I'm trying to remember if I DNF'd it late in the game or if I actually finished and rated it low, but it also was for the character, who was very judgmental um and I did not like that, since obviously the main, the point of our main character is to kind of be a people person, because you have to go around, yeah, obviously, talking to people to find out clues and stuff.
Speaker 2And she just came across very judgmental in her, in her monologue, and it just puts such a bad taste in my mouth.
Speaker 2So, yeah, I mean, I feel like that's a really fair and valid reason for ranking something low because the character isn't likable and the character is supposed to be likable. Now, obviously, if we're talking about books where, you know, as often with cozy's, the side character there might be like um, I don't, I want to, I want to say evil villain, but that's not the case. But like, yeah, side character, that's like a taylor dozy or a um oh my god, what is the guy's?
Speaker 1richard lord.
Speaker 2Thank you um where they're supposed to be? Yeah, antagonistic and like you don't like them. That's obviously not what we're talking about. Our main character is supposed to be somebody who they don't have to be perfect, but they definitely have to be somebody who you trust.
Speaker 1You can relate to.
Speaker 2Exactly, Exactly, so yeah. I feel that on that front and it's unfortunate, but you know it happens and it is what it is. So obviously we're not just going to talk about the books or list out books that we didn't like. Let's end it on a high note and list out some cozies that we loved and gave five stars. So, court, give us a palate cleanser on what you loved.
Speaker 1Okay. So this year my first cozy five star was Resort to Murder, a Northwoods mystery by Anne McEwen. It like gave you, like I wanted to be a part of the main character's family. They were a hug on a page. They were just so freaking fantastic and I loved the whole entire vibe. And the next book comes out, I think, at the end of June or July.
Speaker 2That's close.
Speaker 1Yeah, and it's going to be a 4th of July themed book and I'm just, I freaking loved it so much, I freaking loved it so much.
Speaker 2Oh, I'm so excited to read it. I have it not only on my TBR, but I actually have it, so I'm going to definitely push it up with confidence. Yes, okay. So one that I not only love but gushed about for the longest time, and still do, and am eagerly anticipating the next book in the series, which should be coming out, I believe, later this month or next month, is magic lies and deadly pies by misha pop yes I know that you read this and, coincidentally, first of all I forgot uh, not because I wasn't listening, I just have the memory of a goldfish but I picked it up shortly after you mentioned that you read it.
Speaker 1But for those of you who don't know.
Speaker 2It's kind of like a humorously dark cozy where our amateur sleuth bakes murder pies. So by day she has her own kind of like independent catering food truck type thing where she does actually bake sweets and pies, but then she's got a side gig where she bakes pies intended for people who do bad things, so they're kind of like justice pies and she serves them up and essentially they die. So I, oh my god, I adore that book so much the writing is sharp and cheeky.
Speaker 2There is cursing in it which I don't mind but I feel like I need to mention to people, since a lot of movies are often clean language, but I love the writing and the dialogue. I love our main character. There were some instances where she had like inner monologue, battling with herself on like what's right and what's wrong? The side characters are very not very, but like they're complex and interesting, so they're not at all cookie cutter. Oh my God, it's so good. And the second book, it's so good, so good I'm drawing a blank Either the second book or the.
Speaker 2I think it's the third book Anyway, one of the books in the series other than the first one. It's set against like almost a baking Great British Bake Off backdrop. I'm a sucker for those, so automatic five stars for both of those.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, they were a million percent amazing. I second that.
Rating Guidelines for Cozy Mysteries
Speaker 2Yes, excellent, okay, well, I think we have gabbed enough about our rating system and what we love, how we rank stuff, but we'd love to know if your rating system is similar to ours. Do you have rules, what they are? When it comes to rating cozies, how is it different? Or if it's different than rating other genres, do you even rate cozies? I know some people who just read books, list them out and don't rate them, so we want to know all of that. Good, stuff.
Speaker 1Yes, so that's going to be it for today's episode. We hope that you consider sticking around for future episodes where we'll chat about all things bookish and cozy.
Speaker 2Make sure to subscribe so you know when our next episode drops. Until then, you can follow us online at Court Tagonist and Intentionally Bookish on Instagram and YouTube and on our Instagram. Curl Up and Clue In. Stay cozy, everyone. Bye, bye.
