Query Letter: Devil’s Chew Toy: A Critically Acclaimed Quozy Mystery

Rob Osler exploded onto the mystery scene with his debut, Devil’s Chew Toy.  On top of making several best of lists, Osler’s charming “quozy mystery” was nominated for a Lefty, an Agatha, a Macavity, and an Anthony Award. The story follows Hayden McCall, a Seattle teacher who becomes an amateur sleuth when Camilo Rodriguez, a dancer he’s been crushing on disappears.  You can check out the book from a writer Kirkus called “[a] welcome new voice” here.

Next up on your reading list, the sequel Cirque Du Slay, coming March 5, 2024, which Raquel V. Reyes called “[c]ozy, queer, so much fun!”

Osler was kind enough to share the query letter that landed him a deal for Devil’s Chew Toy:

Dear _______,

DEVIL’S CHEW TOY is a traditional mystery featuring heroic gay and lesbian leads of diverse ethnicities. The story is a fast-paced, comedic adventure that takes place in Seattle, Washington.

Young, fun-sized, ginger Hayden McCall is a mild-mannered elementary teacher and part-time blogger. A night out at the club ends in a spectacularly unlikely place: a go-go boy’s bed. The next morning, there’s a knock at the door. The other guy, Camilo Rodriguez, has disappeared, and the police think Hayden is involved. Determined to clear his name and find the truth, Hayden returns to the club. He meets Camilo’s lesbian friends, Hollister, a take-charge, African-American furniture maker, and giant Burley Driggs, an eccentric stoner and master baker. Convinced the police won’t take a brown boy's disappearance seriously, Hayden's new friends join the search. When clues lead to Barkingham Palace, a marvel of a pet store, and then to an airport warehouse filled with space-age shipping containers, the unlikely threesome knows they’re getting close. Too close. The stakes are raised when someone nabs Hollister. If Hayden is to save his friends, he’ll have to muster the courage to take on an enemy that plays to kill.

For character and genre comparables, imagine the characters of a Janet Evanovich novel dropped into the good-hearted queer world of Armistead Maupin. The manuscript is complete at 74,000 words. Although the novel can stand alone, it also has strong series potential.

As a gay man who loves mysteries, I wrote the kind of book I want to read: a fun, fast-paced adventure with heroic LGBTQ characters. While this is my debut novel, my story, Analogue, is out now in the Jan/Feb 2021 edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I am a member of Mystery Writers of America, Inked Voices, and the Palm Springs Writers Guild. I have a BA in philosophy and an MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

In accordance with your submission guidance, the _______ of the manuscript is attached.

Kind regards,

Rob Osler