Wickeds, how do your sleuths celebrate finishing a case?
Jessie: They invariably celebrate with some form of cocktail that Beryl ably mixes up. Then Beryl lolls about doing nothing for a bit and Edwina sneaks some time in with her novel.
Edith/Maddie: In the Country Store Mysteries, you’ll often find Robbie Jordan hashing over the final details of the case at night in her country store sharing a bit of Four Roses bourbon with her gang: Aunt Adele, Lieutenant Buck, Robbie’s boyfriend Abe, and one or two of her staff members or friends.
Barb: In the Maine Clambake Mysteries that take place during the tourist season, the books usually end with a gathering at the Snowden Family Clambake of all the parties in the mystery. Sometimes it will be weeks or months later, when some of the plot threads will have played out. The books and novellas that take place in the off-season usually end with a dinner party at Julia’s mother’s house. Jacqueline often gives a toast that serves as a coda to a theme in the book.
Liz: In the Cat Cafe series, workaholic Maddie James usually celebrates with her best pal JJ, Grandpa Leo, Lucas, and her collection of cat-rescuing friends by planning new things for the cafe. Sometimes Lucas can even pry her away for dinner and a drink if things have gone particularly well at the end of a case.
Sherry: This is so interesting — first the question and then the answers. I don’t think Sarah has ever celebrated, but most of those books ends with her surrounded by her friends who have become her family. Now, I want to go back and take a look to see.
Julie: Sherry, I wrote the question and had to figure it out for my own books. In the Garden Squad series, there’s usually a wrap up scene with Lilly explaining the gaps to whoever missed them. Sometimes there’s a meal. There’s always the entire Garden Squad there. Lately I’ve been adding another wrap up scene for any other loose ends.
Readers, do you enjoy a good wrap up scene beside the mystery being solved?
I do enjoy those wrap-up scenes (although I remember reading one book by a MAJOR author with a name I won’t drop, but you’d all know it if I did, who took another seven chapters to wrap everything up–that’s TOO MUCH). I like to see the impact the case has had on our sleuth and how they’re handling the changes that have come about because of the story.
Annette, was it a false ending? Any surprises in those 7 chapters?
Yes, I do enjoy those epilogues.
They’re also a good chance to say goodbye to the characters.
I love the wrap up scenes. I think it’s the perfect way to show order has been restored and life is back to normal.
I agree. And in cozies, we need to see order restored. It’s part of our “deal” with our readers.
I also like the wrap up, but Annette – seven chapters? Yeah, too long. I like to see the impact of events on everyone involved.
Agree, seeing how the characters fare matters.
Most definitely! It’s fun to have a final discussion about the whys and the twists of the finding out whodunit with friends. It’s also cool to get a hint as to the direction the main characters life may be taking next too.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I agree Kay, hints on the next book are fun.
Yes, I really like it if there is some kind of after crisis resolve. Usually a climax is dramatic and involved so it’s nice to get a calm rehash and summary at the end of it all. I do kind of enjoy seeing characters I like getting to relax with friends or family at the end.
The coming together is great.
The Wrap-up is most anticipated. That’s when most of the loose ends get to be explained and we can find closure as readers. Some authors…not any of you 🙂 tend t o go on and on, adding ‘fluff’ at the end, and that is too much…”we’re done here”, is what I think to myself if I see 3 chapters ahead, but the story had concluded.
Pre-pandemic, our Book Club used to get together at the end of the last mystery and have a high tea. We each dressed up to look like one of the characters, and we had to guess who was who. We also had one of our members write a funny script based on the last chapter or chapters, and we each got a part to red out loud, changing the voices to sound like the character we chose to read. It was loads of fun, and we look forward to doing it again. Thanks for keeping us enthusiastically reading all the stories you write, and for allowing us to travel to your worlds. God bless you!
Your Book Club sounds like a blast. How much fun is that? I love the idea of acting out a scene as well–my theater roots are showing.
Yep, love the wrap up scenes. And as a writer, it’s a nice opportunity to showcase the relationships among sleuth and posse, and to drop a broad hint about what’s next.
Showcasing relationships is such an important part of them, especially in cozies. Plots are important, but it’s all about the characters.
Yes to a celebratory gathering, setting all to rights and leaving the crew of friends in a very good place.
Absolute NO to cliffhangers . . . readers will return without them. I feel cheated without a good conclusion.
Now thinking of the teacher lunches at the end of a school year, celebrating work well done, and having more than 22 minutes to eat a meal. There was also much joyous drinking after graduation, toasting the departure of an especially “difficult” student, but that’s another story . . . 😉
I’ve done that toast as well. 😉 I agree on cliffhangers. If I know a book has one, I wait until the next book is out to read them both.
I love the wrap up sessions. But as mentioned, they have to be the right length. I certainly wouldn’t bother with seven additional chapters. On the other hand, I hate when the book has been going along at a nice pace, and all of the sudden it wraps up on half a page, as if the author suddenly realized she has to get it done in x number of pages and rushes the end.
Pacing is always such a challenge–I think I’ve gotten better at it over time, but there are still scenes that I have to work on over and over again to get it right.
I do value the wrap up scenes. There are usually one or two things that I’ve either missed or haven’t been explained yet, and I do like all those details and red herrings being tied up.
I agree–I like them tied up, and making sense.
I so love the series from the authors of the cozy series. I applaud Sherry Harris( I laugh so much from the yard sale series), Maddie Day ( love the cafe series) Kate Carlisle, Sarah Graves, Ellery Adams, Lauren Elliott and many more 😎
I love mysteries
What a great list!
A big YES to wrap up scenes…keep them coming!
We’ll do our best!
I like it when the community gathers with a potluck and demonstrates that we are all in life together.