Lindsey Hughes's Kill Zone guest post says plot should feel like dominoes, not beads on a string: each beat ought to come from pressure, choice, or revelation you already set up, not because chapter seven needs a chase.
She flags the usual slips - scenes that exist for mood, heroes who only react, exposition pretending to be story - and suggests ending each scene by asking what flipped and what new trouble that buys you. Works for cozies, thrillers, whatever.
(Shortened and summarised to avoid devaluing the source)