Stop Staring at a Blank Page. Start With a Murder.

The Cozy Mystery Outline Builder is an interactive AI skill for Claude Desktop that takes you from “I want to write a cozy mystery” to a complete, publish-ready chapter outline — with every clue tracked, every red herring planted, and every suspect fully developed.

No more tangled plot holes. No more forgetting which clue went where. This skill walks you through 15 guided steps, asking you questions along the way so the outline is yours — not a generic template.

Here’s What You’ll Build (Step by Step)

1. Subgenre & Style Selection — Paranormal or traditional? Romance subplot or not? Novella or full novel? Cozy or cozy-with-edge? The skill asks, you choose.
2. Market Data Check — Upload your K-Lytics cozy mystery reports for real market intelligence, or use the built-in data on what’s selling right now in cozy.
3. 5 Unique Story Ideas — Generated from your subgenre picks and current market trends. You pick your favorite (or mix and match).
4. Hook & Pitch — A polished one-liner and back-cover-ready pitch for your chosen concept.
5. The Crime — Victim profile, method of murder, and killer’s motive — all designed to create maximum suspect tension.
6. Your Sleuth — A full character bio with personality, backstory, investigation style, blind spots, and voice — ready to drop into your writing tool of choice.
7. Suspect Pool — 4-6 fully developed suspects, each with apparent and hidden motives, alibis with weaknesses, and red herring potential.
8. Mystery Architecture — The complete clue trail, red herring strategy, and solution logic mapped out so your whodunit actually works.
9. Romance Arc — If you chose a romance subplot, get a full slow-burn arc mapped to your chapter structure (meet-cute through first kiss or further).
10. Paranormal Framework — If you’re writing paranormal cozy, build your magical system, familiar characters, and how magic intersects with the mystery.
11. Supporting Cast — Sidekicks, community members, and recurring characters with full bios.
12. Settings & Atmosphere — Your cozy town, key locations, and the sensory details that make your world feel lived-in.
13. Chapter-by-Chapter Outline — Every chapter includes: summary, mystery beat, clue or red herring planted, suspect focus, trope tags, tone, character decisions, consequences, and emotional arc.
14. Epilogue & Teaser — Choose your ending style and plant seeds for the next book.
15. Series Potential — See how your standalone mystery could become a series (pairs perfectly with our Series Creator skill).

What Makes This Different

• Interactive, not automated. The skill asks you questions at every decision point using popup-style choices. You’re steering — it’s building.
• Mystery-first architecture. Every chapter is tracked for clue planting, suspect tension, and investigation progress. No more “I forgot to plant the clue in Act 1.”
• Market-informed creativity. Integrates with K-Lytics market data so your trope choices and subgenre picks are backed by what cozy readers are actually buying.
• Copy-paste character bios. Every character bio is structured and detailed — ready to drop straight into your writing tool.
• Anti-AI writing guardrails. Built-in rules prevent overused AI names (no Elara, no Willowbrook, no Thornton) and the dreaded “always picks 7” bias.

Supports Every Cozy Subgenre

• Traditional / Classic Cozy
• Paranormal Cozy (magical familiars, psychic abilities, witchy settings)
• Culinary Cozy (bakery, restaurant, food-themed)
• Craft Cozy (knitting, quilting, bookshop)
• Pet Cozy (animal sidekicks, veterinary, rescue)
• Holiday / Seasonal Cozy
• Cozy with Romance Subplot (slow-burn, sweet heat)

What’s in the Download

• cozy-mystery-outline.skill — The installable skill file for Claude Desktop
• Installation Guide (PDF) — Step-by-step setup instructions with screenshots

Requirements

• Claude Desktop app (free download from claude.ai/download)
• An active Claude Pro, Team, or Enterprise subscription
• K-Lytics cozy mystery reports (optional but recommended for market data — grab yours here)

Perfect Companion: Series Creator Skill

Love your outline? Turn it into a full series. The Series Creator skill takes any completed outline and builds overarching arcs, per-book premises, character progression maps, a continuity bible with thread tracking, and natural expansion points. Works for cozy mystery, romance, thriller, fantasy — any genre. Available separately.