Cozy Mysteries…What are those?
I’m a new member here at Suspense Sisters, so I would like
to introduce myself and then talk about cozy mysteries. What defines cozy? And
why should you read them?
First, I’m the author of the Lily Gayle Lambert mystery
series. It’s a cozy mystery series set in a small fictional town in North Mississippi;
and has a multi-generational cast of characters who are a bit older than some
of the cozy series out there.
Lily Gayle is fifty, and so is her best friend (and
sidekick) Dixie. But there’s also Miss Edna who is eighty. She’s the town
busybody who’s always wearing her ‘bird watching’ binoculars and never misses
anything that goes on in town. In Book 3, I brought in Harley Ann. She’s Miss
Edna’s great-niece and is in her mid-twenties. I love to create interaction
between the women of different generations! And they get into some truly
funny situations.
Here’s the cover of the first book in the series, Death of a Wolfman.
So, what defines cozy mysteries? They are a sub-genre of
crime fiction with the most prevalent description being a mystery with all of the
violence and gory happening “off stage”. Some cozy mysteries don’t involve a
murder at all, they use theft as the mystery instead. Most are humorous and
take place in a small town. All of them involve an amateur detective.
In other words, in a
cozy mystery, you don’t read anything about the actual death of the character
or theft of the object. You come into the story when the body or theft is
discovered and try to determine who did the murder or theft based on the clues
in the story. And the amateur detective could be a next door neighbor or a
family member who is not a law enforcement officer although many of the amateur
detectives in cozy mysteries work with law enforcement officers.
The majority of cozy mysteries don’t involve any sex, out in
the open or behind closed doors, although some do have a background romance
building between characters. Cozies are considered clean reads. You may find a
few mild cuss words scattered in some, but not all of them. They are family
friendly humorous books that readers of all ages can enjoy.
If you enjoy the Hallmark Mystery channel, you’re enjoying
cozy mysteries on the screen. One of my own favorites series was the Miss Fisher’s
Murder Mysteries based on the books written by Kerry Greenwood. That wasn’t a
Hallmark Channel series, but it’s very, very good if you can find it on reruns.
AND, they’re going to make a movie based on the series soon! Be on the lookout
for it, if you enjoy 1920s shows.
Disclosure to potential readers/viewers, while this series
is a cozy mystery series, it’s also a bit racier than most.
Many cozy mysteries have baking or cooking as a theme and Ruth
Hartzler writes some excellent cozy mysteries utilizing the baking theme! Here’s
the cover of one of her books.
Some cozy mysteries have paranormal elements as the theme
rather than food. Leighann Dobbs writes a great paranormal series with a main
character who sees ghosts.
Whatever your favorite kind of mystery, you can probably
find a cozy mystery series that incorporates that element in it somewhere.
Baking, cooking, animals, and lots, lots more!
This blog only begins
to cover the themes contained within cozy mysteries. What’s your favorite theme
in cozy mysteries and what books do you recommend?
Leave a comment for a
chance to win a copy Death of a Wolfman.
Please leave your email address as well. The print copy will be for US
residents only, eBook for outside the US. I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday
July 3rd.