By Sally Carpenter
In my mysteries I use song titles as my chapter headers. The protagonist in my cozies is a former teen idol, so the stories slanty heavy into music. And just saying “chapter one, “chapter two,” etc. is boring.
The chapter title makes some reference to what’s going on in that section so I can keep track of how the action progresses throughout the book. And I like the challenge and fun of finding songs to fit. It amuses me.
And no, quoting song titles in a book does not violate copyright law. If it did, writers would be in trouble every time they used phrases like “she loves you” or “I feel fine” or “I want to know” or even the word “misery.”
Below are the chapter titles to my upcoming cozy. “The Quirky Quiz Show Caper.” See if you know the artist who recorded the song.
1. Monday, Monday
2. I Want To Know
3. We Just Disagree
4. Carry On Wayward Son
5. Be True to Your School
6. Stiletto
7. (It’s a) Family Affair
8. If You’ve Got Trouble
9. Call Me
10. Games People Play
11. Xanadu
12. Listen to the Band
13. Sometimes She’s a Little Girl
14. Saturday in the Park.
15. Up, Up and Away
16. We Can Work It Out
17. FM (No Static at All)
18. (I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden
19 You Won’t See Me
20. Diary
21. Your Lying Eyes
22. Mr. Success
23. Thanks for the Pepperoni
24. I Can’t Get Her Off My Mind
26. Garden Party
26. Live and Let Die
27. Last Dance
Answers:
1. The Mamas and The Papas
2. Eric Clapton and The Powerhouse
3. Dave Mason
4. Kansas
5. The Beach Boys
6. Billy Joel
7. Sly and the Family Stone
8. Beatles, but didn’t appear until “Anthology”
9. Blondie
10. The Spinners
11. Olivia Newton-John from the movie soundtrack
12. The Monkees
13. Boyce and Hart
15. Fifth Dimension
16. Beatles again
17. Steely Dan
18. Lynn Anderson
19. Beatles one more time
20. Bread on the original version but Micky Dolenz recorded it years later
21. The Eagles
22. First recorded by Frank Sinatra but I have a version by Bobby Sherman
23. Extra points as this one’s obscure. An instrumental jam on the third disc of George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” opus.
24. Monkees once more
25. Ricky Nelson
26. Paul McCartney and Wings
27. Donna Summers
Cross posted in The Cozy Cat Chronicles
Ladies of Mystery 
You skipped the answer to number 14, which happened to be one of the few I know– Saturday in the Park by Chicago.
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Good catch, my bad. Yes, you’re right. No. 14 was not intended as a trick question.
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