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Cozy Cliffhangers – Do They Make You Feel Cozy?

CliffHow do you feel about Cozy Mysteries with cliffhangers? Do they make you anticipate the next book in a series OR do they irritate you? Do you think an author is making the mystery all that more intriguing OR do you think the author is trying to insure that people will read the next book in her/his series? Are you okay with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter but not at the end of the Cozy OR do you like your chapters self-contained with a cliffhanger at the end of the book?

During the past eleven years I have heard from lots and lots of Cozy Mystery readers, some who like cliffhangers and say things like “It has such a real cliffhanger that I can’t wait for the next one!”, “… there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end which has me anxiously awaiting the next book.“, and “I, too, can’t wait for the next.” (referring to a Cozy with a cliffhanger). But at the same time I have read comments saying “I was bothered by the ‘cliffhanger’ ending.” and “The story just seems to end without the conflict being settled. I know some writers will leave cliff hangers for future books but it just seems the writer is tired of writing and just wants to get the book finished.”

Before I decided to write this entry, I knew that I was going to have to come clean >>> and be negative. I won’t mention any authors’ names but I will say this: I like my Cozy Mysteries to be wrapped up in each book. I want my sleuth to be able to start a fresh mystery each time I join her on a mystery-solving adventure. I don’t like the idea of having to wait a year to find out what is going on with my sleuth. I don’t even like the romantic interest to not be settled within, let’s say, five books >>> although I admit that I follow series that have the romantic triangle going for book after book, after even more books!  (I wish I could commit to not reading those doggone romantic triangle Cozies, but they’re like potato chips…)

So, without naming any particular authors, please post a comment to let us know how you feel about cliffhangers in your Cozy Mysteries?  Thanks!

Comments

  1. I love finding a series that is acceptable to me with a long list of books so I know just what’s coming up and I don’t have to keep trying and failing to find an acceptable book. (All cozies are NOT cozy!) With that said, yes I love cliffhangers.

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  2. Well, sad to say, I have stopped reading a particular series because of the cliff hanger situation. I found it frustrating. For me there are too many other series out there to read that didn’t leave me hanging off the cliff, life has too many cliffs and I didn’t need that in my relaxing reading as well. So … on to different cozy authors that take me off the cliff before the end of the book. 🙂

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    • I want the story wrapped up in the one book, and a new one begun. Relationship cliffhangers don’t bother me nearly as much as the mystery going unsolved beyond its original book. I too will not name names, but I’ve quit reading a couple of ‘cliffhanger’ authors.

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    • I agree, Hooked. I like my cliffhangers settled within a book so that I can decide myself instead of being manipulated into reading another of an author’s books. I can handle a certain amount of anticipation but not a year and have been known to stop reading when they employ those cheap tactics.

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    • HookedOnCozyMysteries, you’re so right about life throwing all sorts of cliffs at us. I don’t want my Cozies to have what most television shows rely on >>> an ending that will bring us back for another helping.

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  4. I like the story to be wrapped up, but if it is part of a series then the parts pertaining to the characters who are going to be in subsequent books don’t have to be. Thus I will have found out whodunit, but there need to be some threads that are going to be part of a longer story arc. This gives the characters room to change and grow, and keeps me reading the rest of the series. If there seems to be nothing left to discover I might not bother reading more unless the book was really excellent.

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  5. I am with you 100%, if a book’s mystery leaves me with a cliff hanger it’s a sure sign that I will not continue and purchase more/read more in that series. Too much of a chance that there won’t be another book at some point and we get left in a lurch.

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  6. I agree. I hate cliffhangers. By the time the next book comes out, I have forgotten most of the story. It is also surprising how many writers stop writing (for whatever reason) and don’t finish the story line.

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  7. I want the mystery solved by the end, but I also want to know if the series is going to be continuing. For example one of my favorites is the Apple orchard series. The last book seems to be the last. If it is I guess I’ll have to adjust.

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  8. I’m not a cliffhanger fan at all. It is so aggravating when reading a book and it ends with a cliffhanger. Then you impatiently have to wait to the book is released … heaven knows when.

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  9. I am also anti-cliffhangers. If it’s a favorite author, I will probably read the next book, but if that ends in a cliffhanger as well, that’s it; I’m out!

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  11. I’m with you. I don’t like cliffhanger endings. I love following characters through a series and watching their lives change and grow. But I feel cheated if the mystery isn’t solved by the book. There can be “to be continued” threads in personal lives. But I get great satisfaction from a crime solved.

    BTW, my pet peeve is when a detective or sleuth doesn’t actually SOLVE the mystery. They just find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun and go, “So it was you.” It was their job to figure that out in the first place!

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  12. I like cliffhangers at the end of a chapter, except that it will often keep me reading to find out what happens long after I should have turned out the lights & gotten some sleep. Not so crazy about them at the end of a book, especially if it means waiting a year or more for the next book to be published.

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  13. I hate cliffhangers. If I like a book and the author’s writing style I will continue to buy those books. I like the mystery solved by the end of the book, but personal relationships are always changing so if it’s not resolved by the end of one book it’s OK to go on for a few more. When I buy a book and find out it’s a cliffhanger I won’t buy that author’s books again!

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  14. I guess it depends on the book and the author for me. Usually I prefer to have the main mystery resolved by the end of the book, but there are a few (VERY few) authors who do cliffhangers so well that I keep coming back for more. I don’t mind minor cliffhangers — such as will she choose suitor A or suitor B — or will he marry the girl of his dreams — or will they have a son or a daughter — because this is how real life is. Not everything wraps up neatly at the end of the day. I like series and if everything is resolved by the end of the book there’s really no reason to read the next. My favorite authors keep unpeeling layers as they go along, and that’s fine by me, but if the mystery is going to take several books to resolve, then warn me ahead of time. That way, I can decide for myself if I want to read the book or not.

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  15. I agree. I don’t like cliffhangers at all. And for the same reasons others have mentioned – the author will stop writing the series or sometimes the author doesn’t make it as big a deal in the next book. I do find them annoying. And I will only read another book if the author is someone I truly enjoy. I have definitely stopped reading a series if the author keeps doing this. Good question and I enjoyed reading others responses.

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  16. I love cliffhangers. I just finished reading the newest book in one of my favorite series and it ended with, if not a cliffhanger then certainly foreshadowing for the next book. Can’t wait to see how things develop!

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  17. There is a very famous author who I’ve read all of her books in a series more than once with great enjoyment. Then her last book that I had not read I checked out at the library and in it she had killed off the new husband and the unborn baby of the main character. This was so upsetting to me that I called my friend who had given me her series of these books when she moved away from our town and we discussed this happening. We were both stunned and upset with such a horrible story line after we’d read all of her books and of course I did not finish reading that book. A brutal and unhappy ending for this woman who we had grown attached to.

    My sister was going to purchase her latest book for me for a belated Christmas gift which was coming out in the spring of 2016. After reading this section of her book I called her and asked her to cancel the advance order. I’ll never read her books again and I’m planning on giving them away. It seems that maybe some therapy would have been money well spend on her part instead of making her readers upset like me and my friend and now who plan on never buying her books again.

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    • Judy, I’m pretty sure I know who you mean, and I totally agree. I don’t think I’ve ever invested myself quite so much in a book’s protagonist before, and that book broke my heart. It spoiled that series for me completely. I still read another series or two by that author, but not that one. Ever again.

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      • That seems like a really terrible way to “reset” a character! Sometimes writers of long series like to do something to have the main character go through a new personal crisis, show the grieving process, how the character copes, and what new relationship(s) the main character will form. But it seems a secondary character would be a more appropriate person for the main character to mourn.

        Ugh! I hope I don’t run into whatever writer this is.

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    • Judy, any chance you’d share the author’s name with us? I have a suspicion about whom it might be (It’s definitely NOT Diane Mott Davidson, Marja, so you can safely read the next book), and if I’m right, I REALLY don’t want to read that book.

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  18. As a general rule, I’m not a cliffhanger fan, especially because I know that I’ll have to wait at minimum of a year. Yet, I find that I get sucked in and buy the next book to find out what happens. Sometimes, I find that I can recreate my excitement and quickly pick up the threads. Recently, though, there are two series by one of my favored authors that I just haven’t been able to re-engage after the last books ended in cliffhangers! Ugh! And please don’t get me started on the lingering romantic angles….

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    • Kimberley, one author with two series that both use cliffhangers? Hmmm… It seems like that author is expecting her/his audience to be able to keep the plots totally sorted. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to remember two cliffhangers over a year’s span…

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  19. I’m with the negatives. I like the main mystery/story tied up in one book. Other less pressing plot threads can carry on though. I like my characters to have a life question for example that they find a bit of in each story. Or, as mentioned, the romance as sub-plot can continue through the books as long as there is some progress made in each separate title.

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    • Mahire, you make very valid points about the characters having life questions vs. the plot of the actual mystery. (I would have liked “progress made” in each of the books I read in the love triangle Cozy I read, however there wasn’t a whole lot of that going on! But, I still stayed with the series!)

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  20. Let me start by saying I don’t like cliffhangers. They irritate me rather than make me anticipate the next book. I don’t mind when a minor secondary thread is left hanging, but I want the main mystery (and any loose threads concerning the main mystery) wrapped up. I don’t mind cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. You just have to turn the page to see what happens next. As for the romantic interest being settled by about the fifth book, well, I’d rather see it settled by about book 3. I’m laughing here, Danna, at your comment about those romantic triangle cozies and potato chips. So funny. The triangles make me soooooooo crazy! I’ve stopped reading a lot of series because the protagonist won’t make up her mind about which man to choose. I want to tell these guys to run away and find someone else. The protagonist certainly doesn’t deserve them!! LOL! Great topic, Danna–as always!

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    • By the time the next book has come out, I have usually forgotten there was a cliffhanger. It seems that the mystery is usually solved in most books but they might have as Anita stated a foreshadowing of the next book. I do remember one book-not a cozy- that at the end when all seemed ok disaster struck and either the protagonist’s mother or fiancé was shot. The reader wasn’t told which one but either was equally bad. The next book started out with the protagonist at the funeral of her loved one. That is an extreme cliffhanger.
      Actually romance in the books bugs me more than cliffhangers. All of these triangle romances do not interest me at all. I don’t really care-just get on with the mystery and don’t fill the pages with romance. I find my favorite cozy series have little romance in them but the trend is more for romantic mysteries. I know I am in the minority as many others enjoy this aspect of their reads. It is good that there are a lot of choices for the readers. It always amazes me when Danna shows the new books coming out each month. There are so many new books and when I look it says 5th in series etc. It seems like an explosion in this genre since we entered the 21st century. So we have a lot of choices and that is where the reader’s recommendations help.

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  21. Add me to the list of readers who don’t like cliffhangers. I gave up a series after just a few books because of the continued use of this device. I’ve also given up several series because of the long-running romantic triangles. In one series (that I like and continue to read) there was a cliffhanger at the end of one book but when the next book came out, this storyline was ignored and the author went in a very different direction. I even went back to the previous book to make sure that I was remembering it correctly. I don’t know if the author or the publisher initiated the change but it seemed to be a good move and made for a better story.

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    • Janice, it looks like there are lots of us who could do without cliffhangers! It’s good that you think the author who changed course on the cliffhanger went a better way, however, it sounds strange that she/he did… sort of like thinking the readers wouldn’t remember…

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  22. One of my very favorite series ended on a major cliffhanger because the author died before the next book was completed. That is driving me crazy, and I know many other fans feel the same way. To me, that’s a very good reason for not reading books with cliffhangers. You never know what’s going to happen.

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    • Dragons3,
      I agree. I read a series (ended about 8 years ago) that I loved. The author stopped writing the series after Book 4. Book 4 had a cliffhanger ending that I was actually thrilled about and couldn’t wait for the next book….which never came. So annoying. It was a very unsatisfying way to end a series. I was never able to find out if it was the publisher’s idea to end the series or the author’s idea, but I would love to see the author self-publish another book in this series.

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    • Dragan3, you reminded me of a series I read a couple of years ago. After about three books the author died. It didn’t have a ‘mystery’ cliff-hanger ending. But I thought it was great that the publisher brought in another author (MacInerney) to complete the series, resolving character loose end story lines.

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      • Barbara Burnett Smith’s Kitzi Camden series? Yes, MacInerney did a nice job finishing it up. The series I was referring to is The Cat Who. The irony there is, the last book is the only one in the series that ends on a cliffhanger!

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  23. I agree with the majority – no to cliffhangers! To me, they are a cheap literary trick to force readers to buy the next book to discover the resolution. I won’t buy the next book in a series when the mystery isn’t resolved.

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  24. I can’t stand cliffhangers! They drive me crazy!!!!! There are a few authors whose books I adore (and some of them write multiple series to boot!) — and besides the mystery happening in the book itself, they have to have a continuing background mystery arc going on…. and this just drives me to distraction. First of all — if I like the books & like the series, I *will* read the next book. Second of all — I don’t always get to read the books in order — so if there is a “cliffhanger” — you need to read them in order to be able to follow that background arc — or it doesn’t make sense (who was that mysterious stranger???? what was that secret letter all about???) — Third of all — by the time I get to the next book — I don’t always remember *what* happened in the previous cliffhanger (now *who* was that mysterious stranger again? and what was in that secret letter again??????) (Going back to the post about remembering all the characters & stuff from one book to the next in a series — so the background secondary mystery arc falls into that category — I might remember who is the main character, her job, and her two boyfriends — the boyfriend-who-is-a-cop and the boyfriend-who-is-NOT-a-cop — but darned if I can keep track of all the mysterious strangers & secret letters!!!!)

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    • Margaret StashEmpress, I also hate background arcs! As I have mentioned, I wish the love triangles would be resolved quickly. However, I don’t think of those as background arcs since they have absolutely nothing to do with the mystery itself. You got me smiling with “her two boyfriends — the boyfriend-who-is-a-cop and the boyfriend-who-is-NOT-a-cop“!

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  26. this is very disturbing – I totally hate cliff hanger books. Why add more ‘drama’ and ‘upset’ to my life

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  27. I like the main mystery/story tied up in one book. Glad to hear the Orchid series is continuing. Wish she’d do another book at Atwell – I enjoyed the glass blowing series, also.

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    • Kathleen, I think it would be nice if she would continue her other series too, but I doubt that she will. I imagine that between the Orchard, Museum, County Cork, and Relatively Dead series, she’s already busy enough writing!

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  28. When I invest time and heart in a book, by the end, I want all questions answered. I may not get to the next book. Inquiring minds always have to know!

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  29. I do not like cliffhangers. A book should be a stand-alone product. If I get into a series and discover a cliffhanger, it goes on the don’t bother list.

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  30. A cliffhanger cozy is on par with buying a couple cozies with recipes just to find the last page missing because the owner chose to tear the recipe page out. – pity party, sorry.

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  31. As I’ve said earlier, in response to someone else who feels the same way, I don’t mind cliffhangers at the end of a chapter, but I DON’T like them at the end of a book. It’s not fair on the reader.
    The end of the chapter is just dramatic tension – like somebody pulling a gun on the TV hero just before the ad-break – but leaving the book unfinished that way? No. The wait to find out what happens is too long, and as other people have stated, it’s possible it may never be resolved at all. (I possess at least one book like that.)
    It’s a cheap, manipulative, gimmick. It’s unfair, unworthy of a decent author, and just plain irritating. (And I’ll get off my soapbox, now. Sorry all. S.)

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      • Thankyou! (Blush)
        A bit of trivia: The term ‘cliffhanger’ comes from the early silent movie serials where the hero or heroine was always left in peril at the end of an episode – sometimes literally hanging off a cliff!

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        • Susan*, I didn’t know where the term “cliffhanger” came from, but from reading your description I can tell you that’s exactly where I don’t want my sleuths to find themselves at the end of a book! Thanks!

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  32. I read a lot of books. I like to be able to pick up one in a series when others are unavailable and not feel as though I am coming in mid conversation. And, unless the follow-up is released soon, I tend to move on and forget it is coming.

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  33. They are fine if the next book is coming out within a month. If I have to wait for a whole year, no way! If there is a secondary sort of mystery going on in the background, it is OK for that not to be wrapped up at the end. But, otherwise I prefer to know that everything is figured out.

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  34. I hate cliffhangers! Continue a new story with the same characters and I’m happy. Even though if I really like a cozy mystery and would most likely get the next book in the series I don’t like feeling like I’m being forced to get the next book to find out what happens. Another thing I hate about cliffhangers is it takes months to pick up the storyline again.

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  35. I don’t mind when a subplot involving the characters, especially the romance ones, leaves the reader ‘wondering what’s going to happen next with these characters?’ In actuality, I don’t even consider this a ‘cliff-hanger’. BUT I disagree that that component is NECESSARY to interest me in reading the next book.

    When an author writes a compelling mystery and the characters are richly developed, then I always look forward to the next book, even without a ‘carry over story line’ from the previous book. As an example — right now I’m reading Jeanne Dams latest release. At the end of the book the story ends. There are no carry overs – subplots OR mystery plot. AND, I always read the next book when it’s released.

    There are many other authors I enjoy that complete the story lines with little, if any, carry over – Margaret Maron, Hank Phillip Ryan, Katherine Hall Page, Jane Cleland, Sally Goldenbaum, Susan Wittig Albert just to name a few. They’re all good story tellers.

    But like most others commenting on this topic, I DO NOT like a cliff-hanger. It’s very disconcerting. Even though the main mystery may be resolved, sometimes an author will have a dark horse story line/sub plot (usually menacing) that remains unresolved until several books later – don’t like that, either!

    If an author writes fluently and is creative and original she/he doesn’t need all these gimmicks to get readers to follow their series. We read the next book because there’s something ‘cozy’ about sitting in a comfy chair and reacquainting ourselves with favorite characters about to embark on another mystery journey.

    I do believe, however, authors probably have the greatest difficulty getting readers to read the FIRST book in a series. I’ve noticed in several acknowledgements lately that authors have asked readers to post comments about their book (assuming they liked it). Most likely, this site is quite helpful to many of those authors.

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  36. As long as The Murder/Mystery is solved at the end of each book.. I haven’t read any Fave Cozies so far that are not solved…But There is one Series That is Sort of Cozy that I binge read… The Cliffhanger was/is in this series part of the charm.I must read a Cozy even if I’m reading another genre;)

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  38. I’m also not a fan of cliff hangers having to do with the main plot of the book but I have found a few authors that while they do solve the murders/mysteries at the end of the book they leave enough of an intrigue that could continue to the next book yet at the same time if the series were to end all questions would be answered and wouldn’t leave you hanging in the air. Unfortunately most of these authors and series are long gone. I wish modern authors could do this.

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    • Suzanne – I hear you and I’m doing what I can to add to the list of such books. I am writing a series that has an ongoing community of people. Later this year, I’m doing a spin off with a baby-boomer protagonist. I am studying and applying in advance so that I have both stand-alone with the main mystery in each book, and a lighter, ongoing problem or goal for the main character to cover the series. If you find and read mine – I’d love any feedback you may have. (www.mahriegreid.com)

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  39. CLIFFHANGERS AT THE END?? WHAT A NASTY GIMMICK!

    Cliffhangers from chapter to chapter are fine, although I like the level of them to vary. This is a technique even Grand Master authors employ.

    However, if one wants to classify one’s book as a mystery, one had better wrap up the solution by the end of the book! [One exception I might make is if an author has, say, three books completed and in the pipeline to come out every couple of months — but no more than that, and they should certainly warn you at the beginning, on the title page, that this is book 1 of a 3-part mystery, and book 2 will be released (date) with #3 to follow on (date)]

    Diane Mott Davidson is the first example I can think of who’s a good writer who wraps things up well, but has an arc going that continues, sort of in the distant background. (Her best friend has a heart condition but loves eating grand meals.) (In the first few books she was divorced from an abusive spouse, and there was almost constant tension concerning his possible return.)

    In each mystery she has a central whodunit Goldy is investigating, and in the last one I read, a subplot mystery with her son, Arch. Both were wound up by the end of the book.

    And there is an “expectation,” if I may, at the end of the book. [But UH-OH, I hope this isn’t the series some folks above left, upset by circumstances the author set up at the beginning of the next book! OMG, I may have to check the first chapters of the next book!]

    I stopped reading one series because it looked like the main character was torn between a lover and a possible lover to be, and I don’t like that. Looked like Lover A was going to get killed in the line of duty in the next book.

    Unlike Danna and others, I hate romantic triangles — they seem kinda cheesy-manipulative to me.

    Margaret Maron, Sue Grafton, and others are tidy about their mysteries and that’s one reason I continue to enjoy them year after year.

    Carole Nelson Douglas has done an interesting series in which the main mystery is always solved by the end of the book, but there are constantly evolving background elements with a *huge* number of characters. She has a summary of what’s been going on at the beginning of each book, but I can still be confused about certain characters because Douglas must tread a fine line of how much she can explain at the beginning of a book, lest some poor soul pick up a book out of order. This is a series you MUST read in order. There are certain elements I don’t care for, but overall I love the author’s sense of humor and the characters she has made, and I feel affection for nearly every one of them, especially the Sam Spade in black fur who narrates every few chapters!

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    • Marja, I’m not crazy about romantic triangles that go on and on, although I do read Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen series, and I thought that triangle would never end! Remembering back to my dating days >>> I never had two boyfriends who would have stuck around as long as some of these sleuths’ multiple boyfriends do. I guess I just wasn’t as phenomenal as many of our romantic-triangle sleuths are! 😉

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  40. No, I do NOT like cliff hangers. I will not buy the next one. When this happens, I just make up my own ending and drop the series.

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  41. I always think that a cliff hanger means that the author is trying to make sure that the next book will be purchased. I resent cliffhangers, UNLESS the next book is to be published very very soon.

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  42. Dislike cliff hangers in cozies. I don’t mind references to an incident in a previous book, but I rarely remember enough to continue a story when the new book comes out. Sometimes I don’t have the books in order (gasp), then what? I read the conclusion before the set up? I am just fine with romantic involvements working their way out through several stories.

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    • Su, I’m like you with not remembering the cliffhanger for the next book in the series. I’d have to take notes in order to remember just what was going on. I already get some of my Cozies mixed up >>> I doubt I’d be able to follow the continued action the next year.

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  43. Wow! The Cozy Readers speak!
    Looks like cliffhangers are about as popular as too much / too graphic sex in Cozies. Ie: Not at all!

    That’s about the only other topic I can remember that garnered this much – and this strong – a response. (And I think that was a strong enough response that it ended up split over two blog posts.)

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  44. Don’t like a big cliffhanger at the end of the book. The mystery should be contained within one book, but an ongoing story line between recurring characters is okay, as long as it doesn’t distract from the mystery. I don’t care for a lot of indecision in romantic relationships, either. If a character can’t decide between two men within a few books, she probably shouldn’t be dating either one of them! It just gets annoying when a romance keeps on and on, with no real progress to something more serious. Kinda like real life. 🙂

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  45. I have certainly enjoy reading ALL of your comments. Thank you for posting them. I can’t get over how many of us aren’t crazy about those doggone cliffhangers! They’re frustrating!

    I was going to try to answer all of you, but when I started to do that, I found myself repeating the same things. (I do that a lot in life, as my husband would attest to!)

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