Authors lament that writing a summary of their book is really difficult. Hard agree. Imagine spending the better part of a year writing a novel, getting feedback, rewriting, getting more feedback, editing, and reading it more times than you want. Now, summarize that in a few sentences.
I spent about two days writing the summary of Twilight Splash, the second book in the Lake Waluga Cozy Mystery series. Some experts said I needed three important elements in the summary: the hook, the character, and the conflict. Others emphasized that I needed to tease the main conflict, explain the stakes, and tease potential readers.
Moreover, the summary needs to be easily digestible because people will only spend seconds deciding whether the novel addresses what they’re looking for. Speaking of that, I needed to throw in the stakes, or why else keep reading? That’s a lot to put into a few sentences!
Since I’m writing a cozy mystery, I wanted to set the scene. My characters, Mary, Ned, and Chompers, are on the lake in a rowboat right before the 4th of July laser light show that is set to begin. Then, the inciting event happens: Splash!
My trilogy isn’t just about finding who murdered who and why, though. I built narrative arcs for all the main characters, and I desired to show their growth throughout the series. I wanted Mary, the protagonist, to face not only the problem of solving who fell off the cliff but also the revelation of a secret she’d been harboring for decades and the consequences of that revelation.
But cozies need to be comfortable and fun as well. Enter Chompers, the yellow Lab, who brings levity to the story. I relished sharing the setting in the novel so that fellow Pacific Northwesterners will feel seen, and so people not from this area will get a taste for what it’s like.
Given all the above, here’s what I came up with for Twilight Splash’s summary:
As the townspeople look up to the twilight sky for the laser show to begin, Mary sees something plunge from the cliff into the lake below.
Was it a tree limb, an osprey, or, as Mary fears, a human body?
Undeterred by doubters, amateur sleuth Mary begins a quest to ensure all her friends and neighbors are safe. Meanwhile, her decades-long buried secret gets revealed, threatening all she holds dear.
Will Mary’s hidden past jeopardize her future happiness? Will she solve the mystery splash in the lake?
Return to Lake Waluga, Oregon, where the 50s diner welcomes you, the Community Garden thrives, and the lovable, quirky characters—including an irrepressible yellow Lab named Chompers—draw you into a page-turning, plot-twisting cozy mystery.
That being said, would this summary entice you into the Lake Waluga Cozy Mystery series? Twilight Splash comes out later this year (2026) but you can learn more about the first book in the series below.
If you want to escape to a compelling, cozy mystery, check out Willful Obsession: A Lake Waluga Mystery. If you admire strong women amateur sleuths, suspenseful stories with surprising twists, quirky characters, a charming town with loads of secrets, community gardens and friendly neighborhoods, and most of all love animals, this story is for you. For reviews and to learn more head here.
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