Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Ways to Stay Out of Trouble in a Cozy Mystery

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is a Genre Freebie.  So for my Genre Freebie I'm talking about 10 ways to stay out of trouble if you find yourself in a cozy mystery.

1.  Never agree to judge something last minute - or be a last minute contestant in some kind of competition.  It will go badly and someone will die.  And then you or someone you are close too will be a suspect and then you'll have to investigate and that will eat into your free time.

2.  Never ever ever say anything even resembling a threat in public or where someone can overhear you.  That person will be killed and you will be a suspect and things will be awkward.  This is probably not a bad rule for life.  Threatening people just in general is a bad idea.

3.  Don't travel - Ever - Seriously it's a terrible idea.  Did you ever watch Murder, She Wrote?  Anytime Jessica Fletcher someone died and if you are in cozy mystery land the same thing will happen to you. 

4.  Don't befriend the new person in town.  So this isn't the nicest piece of advice but there's a 95% chance that that new person will either be a murderer or a victim so you're saving yourself some stress.

5.  Don't open a business - Any business at all is dangerous but businesses involving food are especially dangerous.

6.  Don't move to a new town.  I don't care if you inherited a house or all your analysis says this particular town is the magic place to open a business or that's where all your family lives.  If you up and move to a new town go on and make your piece with stumbling over a body every few months.  It will happen.

7.  Don't get involved in local causes or let friends and family get involved.  Bad things happen and once again you're caught up in a murder investigation.

8.  Don't have a specific hobby, career, or interest that involves conventions.  Conventions are just death traps with mediocre food and seminars.

9.  Don't have a nemesis either in the past or present.  They're either going to be in the police force and accuse you of killing someone or they're going to die and you're going to have to prove your innocence.  Either way it'll be inconvenient.

10.  Don't live in a small town - especially not one in Maine or Northern California.  These are death traps with a violent death rate of about 50% of the population.  Luckily, most of the victims/killers are people who are new to town so it doesn't decimate the population too much.

So here's a few tips on how to stay out of your trouble if you happen to find yourself trapped in a book in one of my favorite genres.  Hope it helps!