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There’s always something fun about seeing a familiar genre through a completely different lens. Today on Salty Inspirations, I’m welcoming Valerie Taylor to share a guest post inspired by her latest release, A Jewel of a Crime. In this post, Valerie explores an unexpected connection between cozy mysteries and a story outside the genre that may have more in common with cozy readers than it first appears.
The Cozy Mystery We Didn’t Know We Needed
By Valerie Taylor
Here’s Breaking News: Project Hail Mary is the cozy mystery we didn’t know we needed — and needed now!
Wait! What? — Project Hail Mary is science fiction, not a cozy mystery! Technically, true. But the highly acclaimed novel by Andy Weir shares more DNA with classic mysteries, and even cozies, than you might expect.
Skeptical? I implore you to take a sip of your coffee or tea and give me a chance to explain.
Conventional wisdom agrees with me that the novel—and subsequently the movie—transported us to another dimension during a very anxious time right here on Earth. In fact, it’s reported, audiences couldn’t get enough of the story.
Why did many who were unfamiliar with the book rush to read it after they saw the film, and then return to see it again in the theater?
Perhaps because it was less a hard science spectacle and more of an inspiring story of a close-knit, isolated community with a complex problem to navigate in space.
Let’s agree to agree on some basics.
Cozy mysteries are lighthearted, charming, and nostalgic stories. They feature an amateur sleuth often with a side kick. Graphic violence and explicit intimacy happen off the page, or screen. Dialogue is mostly free of profanity. A crime or puzzle must be solved, and the fictional setting often becomes a character all its own.
Hmm. Sound familiar? See where I’m headed?
The ultimate crime!
Ryland Grace is a middle-school science teacher, not an astronaut, even one in training. He’s put into a medically-induced coma and, along with two professional astronauts, blasted into space. Once awake, Grace’s first problem is he doesn’t remember who he is and how the other two astronauts with him died. His mission is to stop the Sun from dying, thereby snuffing the life out of Earth and of every other planet out there. Seems like the ultimate crime!
Just when he thinks all is lost, a spider-like alien comes knocking. While Grace names his new friend Rocky, their relationship is far from that. Instead, as they commit to working together to solve the problem they face, their bond becomes heartwarming and trusting. Having left their planetary communities behind, Grace and Rocky depend on each other and the unique capabilities their space ships provide.
An optimistic tone.
More than giving us an amateur astronaut, or an alien side kick, or an unimaginable project set between two inhospitable environments, PHM soared to best-selling heights because it tapped into our sci-fi appetite and imagination in a lighthearted, satisfying, yes cozy, way. From its nod to The Beatles at the beginning of the book—or later in the movie, PHM elicits an uplifting, optimistic tone commonly associated with a cozy mystery.
Suffice it to say, timing is everything. Just as the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, the combination of the release of PHM (the movie) and the success of the Artemis II moon mission lifted our spirits, and perhaps instilled some hope, that humanity can solve even the most improbable problems.
Wouldn’t you agree that’s the good feeling we come to love about a great cozy mystery?
A Jewel of a Crime: A Venus Bixby Mystery by Valerie TaylorAbout A Jewel of a Crime
A Jewel of a Crime: A Venus Bixby Mystery
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Set in Chatham Crossing, a fictional whaling town between Providence and Cape Cod
Publisher : Aspetuck Publishing
Publication date : June 2, 2026
Print length : 322 pages
Paperback
ISBN-13 : 979-8986599564
ASIN : B0GVPVMJBS
Digital
ISBN-13 : 979-8986599571
ASIN : B0GRCG64BR
With green streaks in her hair and “Rock the Shamrock” polish on her nails, Venus Bixby is ready to trade dance recitals for airplane tickets.
After selling her dance studio, she has a brand-new plan: travel the world and recover stolen art. But life deals Venus an unexpected card. When she pulls back a curtain in the studio and finds the new owner dead on the couch, her next adventure becomes a very public nightmare.
With Chatham Crossing’s whisper mill in overdrive, Venus is now a prime suspect (because of course she is). In the process of clearing her name, she discovers her late husband secretly bought an emerald ring—and now it’s missing. As burglaries ripple through this charming town, Venus wonders if the studio owner’s death and the missing emerald are part of the same glittering crime spree.
Between gossiping neighbors, buried secrets, and one very inconvenient corpse, Venus will need sharp instincts—and maybe a touch of Irish luck—to solve the case before her passport dreams are grounded for good.
A Jewel of a Crime is book three in the Venus Bixby Mystery series. Expect cozy clues, small-town charm, amateur sleuthing, cats, and a mystery that keeps sparkling with surprises.
Includes cookie recipes and an oldies playlist!
About Valerie Taylor
Valerie Taylor considers herself an “average Jane.” She might remind you of a reclusive neighbor who’s secretly writing her next novel. Unlike many of the writers she admires, she doesn’t hold a degree in literature. Instead, she credits her love of storytelling to a steady diet of classic comedy and suspense.
She’s the award-winning author of the romantic comedy trilogy What’s Not Said, What’s Not True, and What’s Not Lost, as well as of the first two books in the Venus Bixby cozy mystery series, A Whale of a Murder and Switched at Death. Her affinity for humor and whodunits was shaped early on by watching Carol Burnett, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, and The Twilight Zone.
When she’s not writing, Valerie enjoys oldies music, a passion sparked by hours growing up spent listening and dancing to Elvis Presley and The Beatles—and by proudly belonging to the Bobby Darin fan club.
Valerie lives close to her family in Connecticut.
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June 19 – Sarcastically Yours, Jen – REVIEW
June 19 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
June 20 – Baseball, Books, and Banter podcast – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 21 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 22 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
June 23 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 24 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 25 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 26 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
June 27 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 28 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT
June 29 – Romance Novel Giveaways – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
July 1 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
July 2 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
Excerpt from A Jewel of a Crime: A Venus Bixby Mystery
“Where do you think Margo is?”
Rather than barge uninvited into the classroom looking for her, Gabby and I bided our time and hung out in the lobby. I shifted from one foot to the other while Gabby perused the business cards pinned to a brand-new combination whiteboard and corkboard.
“When I come back with that vase, I’ll bring a few business cards to tack up here.”
“Great idea!” I rifled through my purse until I found a couple of cards promoting Oldies & Goodies and Cats & Their Cradle. I affixed them to the cork and smiled. Part of me wondered whether Sam would take them down before anyone ever saw them.
Still no Margo. Did she not hear the bell when we entered a few minutes ago? Maybe not over Ol’ Blue Eyes. I considered writing a message on the whiteboard. I picked through the pens in the Tremont Regency Hotel mug on the desk, but there didn’t appear to be any of those dry-erase markers.
“Where could she be?” Gabby asked.
“Probably in the back. Should we check?”
I gently opened the glass door to the main classroom. A rush of crisp air reminded me how we’d kept the temperature in the low sixties so the students wouldn’t get overheated. The smell of fresh-cut grass suddenly wafted over me. My nose recognized dance floor wax, forcing me to stifle a sneeze.
The same song we heard when we walked into the lobby still played. Must be on a continuous loop. I listened closely. Ah, Frank was singing “Witchcraft.” An appropriate theme for the day.
The walls were painted a creamy shade of white. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors lined one wall and a row of barres ran parallel to the floor. The mirrors reflected framed images on the opposite wall. I turned to examine them up close. I walked along the wall, studying and touching each gently. Definitely Sam and Margo in their younger years.
This egotistical display was so unlike the studio Paul, and then I, owned. Our walls were proudly adorned with photographs of the young dancers who graced our ballroom.
Where are those pictures? Why didn’t they ask if I wanted them? What else did they keep from me?
“Margo?” I called.
Silence.
At the far end of the room, there was a royal purple floor-to-ceiling drape pulled closed across the width of the ballroom. As I walked toward it, I waved toward Gabby. “I’m gonna check back here.”
I noticed a universal restroom to my right. I motioned to Gabby. “You check in there.”
Then I drew back the curtain. “Never mind. Found her!” I cried out.
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Thank you to Valerie Taylor for stopping by Salty Inspirations and sharing this guest post. If A Jewel of a Crime sounds like a book for your mystery shelves, consider adding it to your TBR and following along with the rest of the tour stops. While you’re here, feel free to browse the blog for more cozy mysteries, author features, and bookish fun.
As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations! —Michelle❤️
Hi Michelle! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write this fun post and for promoting A Jewel of a Crime! Happy Summer to you!
Best,
Valerie