Defining the Traditional or Cozy Mystery Novel Genre

Apr 11, 2010
Vickie Britton

The Tea Cozy Mystery - Juditu, Morguefile

The cozy mystery, also called the traditional mystery, is a specific genre light on sex and gore whose focus is on "whodunnit" .

Agatha Christie's novels and the long-running television show Murder She Wrote are good examples of cozy mysteries. Cozies are the kind of stories one might read while curled up on the couch with a cup of tea.

What is a Cozy Mystery?

The Agatha Awards, sponsored by Malice Domestic, defines the traditional mystery, also often called the cozy mystery, as one that "contains no explicit sex and contains no excessive gore or gratuitous violence".

A cozy mystery is one written in the tradition of Agatha Christie. It usually takes place in a closely-knit setting with a limited group of suspects. A small town or English village where people are well-acquainted is a common setting for the cozy. An amateur detective is usually responsible for solving the crime. The cozy is light-hearted in tone rather than heavy. The murder often takes place offstage, as opposed to the hard-boiled mystery which contains a professional police officer, graphic violence and a sense of gritty reality. There may be a body and blood in the cozy mystery, but the murder is introduced with the minimum of gore or descriptions of violence. The main focus of the book is a puzzle and always centers around "whodunnit."

The Cozy Setting

Many cozy mysteries are set in a small town or small section of a larger city, and have a local business as their base. The story may center around a tea shop, a bed and breakfast, or have a more unique setting such as a hairdressing salon, laundry or even a tattoo shop. Others may be set at a special event such as a meeting of archaeologists or a writer's convention, where all the attendees are suspects. The sleuth's occupation often plays a strong role in solving the crime.

Culiinary mysteries, such as Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery Series, are very popular cozy themes. These books focus around a cooking or a catering business. Cozies of this type often offer recipes at the end of the book. Some examples of books with culinary themes are Catering to Nobody, the first in the Mott Davidson series, The Chocolate Cupid Killings, JoAnna Carl, (Chocoholic Mystery Series #9), Death Takes the Cake, Melinda Wells, (The Della Cooks Mystery series #2), and Carrot Cake Murder, Joanna Fluke, (The Hannah Swenson Mysteries #10).

The Cozy Sleuth

The cozy sleuth is usually an amateur sleuth, often a woman, who uses a specialized skill or knowledge to solve the crime. The sleuth may also be male and can be a detective or private eye, such as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, as long as the focus is in keeping with the cozy genre's lighter tone.

It is common for a cozy sleuth to have an expertise derived from a special occupation or hobby. Bird-watching, knitting, and gardening are popular cozy themes. Many cozies have an archaeologist or anthropologist as the main character, such as Aaron Elkin's Gideon Oliver series, or Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson Series. The book often centers around such a theme, and the unusual occupation not only draws the amateur sleuth into the crime, but some special knowledge of theirs actually helps solve the mystery,