Mysteries, cozies, and crime fiction all live on the same contract: the reader trusts you’ll pay off the setup. If the premise doesn’t telegraph a payoff the comp titles are already delivering, you’re not selling the book you think you are.
AuthorPilot scores the four axes that matter most for mystery: Market Fit (sub-niche demand — cozy, procedural, true crime, psychological), Originality (the hook that earns the read), Audience Fit (who’s actually buying this lane right now), and Genre Competition (comp density in the lane).
It works on a working concept, a synopsis, or a finished draft — same transparent weighted 0–100 read with the rewrites that pull the score up.