What's the definition of a 'cozy mystery'?

[rwam]

I've been seeing this term a lot lately. I know it can't mean something you'd read curled up on the couch with a fire and hot chocolate....right?

[TrainofThought]

My guess is they appeal to the overall readership and lack violence. I actually don’t know, maybe they really are about ‘curling up on the couch’. :)

[Sassenach]

Google is your friend:

The crime-solver in a cozy mystery is usually a woman who is an amateur sleuth. Almost always, she has a college degree, whether she is using it or not. Her education and life’s experiences have provided her with certain skills that she will utilize in order to solve all the crimes that are “thrown her way.” The cozy mystery heroine is usually a very intuitive, bright woman. The occupations of the amateur sleuths are very diverse: caterer, bed and breakfast owner, quilter, cat fancier/owner, nun, gardener, librarian, book store owner, herbalist, florist, dog trainer, homemaker, teacher, needlepoint store owner, etc. These are just a few examples of what the amateur sleuth does…. When she’s not solving crimes, that is!

http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Definition-of-a-Cozy-Mystery.html



Agatha Christie's Miss Marple is the quintessential cozy heroine.

[rwam]

Thanks Sassenach!

[Allynegirl]

Don't forget the amateur cat slueths too. Kitties like KoKo and YumYum (The Cat Who ... books by Lillian Jackson Braun) and Mrs. Murphy (Rita Mae Brown & SneakyPie).

Examples of other cozies: A is for ... (Sue Grafton series) and The Murder She Wrote mysteries.

There are a million of them.

[MyFirstMystery]

Cozies usually wrap up very satisfactorily. A murder will happen, but the description of the violence is usually more functional than gratuitous. Often they take place in regular settings (home towns) and with regular people.

I enjoy cozies, because they are about the intellectual unraveling of the crime, and they always tie up all the loose ends. They are inherently satisfying in that regard.

MFM

[Soccer Mom]

We've got a multiple threads of this on the mystery genre board--with lists of our favorite cozy mysteries. :D

[soloset]

For the record, Sue Grafton is not cozy, unless something has seriously changed since about "F".

And I always understood the term "cozy" in this case to have come from "tea cosie", which is that odd pot-holder-mitten-esque thing that goes over the teapot to keep it warm.

And what Soccer Mom said. :)

[aadams73]

We've got a multiple threads of this on the mystery genre board--with lists of our favorite cozy mysteries. :D

*perk* Why am I not hanging out at the mystery board?

[Sassenach]

Examples of other cozies: A is for ... (Sue Grafton series) and The Murder She Wrote mysteries.



Kinsey Milhone would kick your a$$ if you called her cozy!

[TrainofThought]

We've got a multiple threads of this on the mystery genre board--with lists of our favorite cozy mysteries. :DI need to get around more.

[Linda Adams]

I believe also they're meant to be disposable--think I read that in Publisher's Weekly or it might have been Romantic Times. That's why they're always published in paperback, not hardcover.

[Allynegirl]

Kinsey Milhone would kick your a$$ if you called her cozy!

HELP!! **runs from the thread in an effort to hide** :scared:

[Ken Schneider]

Think murder she wrote, or the Ms. Marple series.

[Norman D Gutter]

What about the Sherlock Holmes stories? Would they be what are today called cozy mysteries? Almost no violence; heavy on intellectual solving of the crime as opposed to action; strong on the relationship between Holmes and Watson; sometimes solved from the comfort of Holmes' sitting room.

It's been a while since I've read any of them. Hoping to get a three volume complete set for Christmas.

[NancyMehl]

My agent summed up the overall tenor of a cozy in one word: "charming." (I think she was right on.)

Your mystery should be pure and your violence low key. The characters must be interesting, eccentric and/or humorous, and your location must be memorable.

And your protag (almost always female) can't go galavanting around the world. The protag needs to stay in her location.

Of course, "Murder She Wrote" was a good example of a cozy, but Jessica Fletcher did finally have to leave Cabot Cove. The population was dwindling to nothing!

I have a cozy series coming out from Barbour. They limit almost all of their series to three books. You can only do so much with the same characters in the same place!

Nancy

[MyFirstMystery]

How would you categorize Kinsey Millhone & Sue Grafton then? I agree she's not exactly cozy, but I wouldn't call her hard-boiled either?

I love Kinsey. She kicks butt.

[NancyMehl]

How would you categorize Kinsey Millhone & Sue Grafton then? I agree she's not exactly cozy, but I wouldn't call her hard-boiled either?

I love Kinsey. She kicks butt.

Mystery / Detective

Almost all protags in cozies are amatuer sleuths - not actual detectives.

Nancy

[oswann]

I'm writing what I consider to be a cozy and am sticking to these guidelines from Minotaur Books. I actually found the rules after I had nearly finished the thing but they sum things up quite nicely.


Murder or another serious crime is at the heart of the story, and emphasis is on the solution rather than the details of the crime.
Whatever violence is necessarily involved should be neither excessive nor gratuitously detailed, nor is there to be explicit sex.
The crime is an extraordinary event in the lives of the characters.
The principal characters are people whom the reader might not like, but would be interested in knowing.
The suspects and the victims should know each other.
There are a limited number of suspects, each of whom has a credible motive and reasonable opportunity to have committed the crime.
The person who solves the crime is the central character.
The "detective" is an amateur, or, if a professional (private investigator, police officer) is not hardboiled and is as fully developed as the other characters.
The detective may find him or herself in serious peril, but he or she does not get beaten up to any serious extent.
All of the cast represent themselves as individuals, rather than large impersonal institutions like a national government, the Mafia, the CIA, etc.Os.

[NancyMehl]

These are the guidelines for a Barbour cozy:

THE COZY-MYSTERY FORMULA—What makes a cozy different?

A Mystery is set up as a maze to be navigated by the protagonist or solver. Typically, in a mystery, the protagonist sets out to solve a crime that has already been committed.
On the other hand. . .a Suspense (which we are not in the market for at this time) is best represented as a coil that tightens in around the protagonist. In other words, the protagonist is in a race to avoid being the victim of a crime.
A simplified generalization would be to say in a mystery, the protagonist is on the offensive—actively searching and solving, while a suspense puts the protagonist on the defensive—running and evading the villain as time runs out.

The Formula:


Introduce the Protagonist and her qualifications to solve the mystery. How and why is she able to sleuth?
Sleuths are typically at odds with the professionals, i.e. the police.
Sleuth has some insight or ability that, when redirected, enables her to solves the puzzle, i.e. intuition (like Miss Marple), religious insight (like Father Brown), hobbies (expert crossword puzzle solver, suburban chef, avid mystery novel reader), etc.


Identify the “mystery.” What is the crime the protagonist is attempting to solve? Who dies? What is stolen? This happens by Chapter 2.

Identify the Real Antagonist (RA) and Motive. This won’t be revealed until the end, but the author must know the ending before beginning.

Introduce cast of characters and potential suspects.
Give all the suspects a secret to be revealed later. These could be the relationships in Point C (below) or something else that adds to motive.
Give each suspect a link to the crime, as well as a motive. For instance, say the Victim is an art dealer. Perhaps Suspect 1 (S1) is the artist and his motive is anger at the low prices the Victim has set on S1’s art. S2 is the Victim’s wife and she is his life insurance beneficiary. S3 is a customer of the Victim and found he’d been sold a fake painting. S4 is the landlord of the victim’s shop and is losing money due to the rent ceiling held by the Victim.
Suspects can have relationships; this adds additional tension. For instance, S1 and S2 are having an affair. S3 is the son of S4. S4 is also the landlord for S1, etc. Now the motives become multiplied. Not only is S1 angry about the low price of his work, but he’s also motivated to knock the Victim out of the picture because of his affair with S2. S2 now stands to gain financially and romantically, so she maybe more motivated to kill the Victim.


Create clues that point to one or more Suspects. Include Red Herring Clues. Organize in such a way that the Solver is led down a certain paths in the maze that redirect her back toward the RA.

Solve. When all the clues have been presented and the final connection has been made, the RA is revealed.
The old cliché of the Dinner Party, J’Accuse-style unveiling is tired and to be avoided. However, it can be playfully presented, showing the author is aware and using it as parody.
Other possibilities include:
i. Confronting the RA at his workplace through a presentation of the clues and connections
ii. Announcing the solution to the police and letting them handle confronting the RA.
iii. Setting a trap for the RA.

Avoid “surprising” the reader. On the whole, readers do not enjoy when information is withheld. If the Protagonist leaves out an afternoon in which they engage in important activities that allow them to solve the crime, waiting to reveal this until the end is unfair to the readers. Readers like to participate in the solving and deserve to be included in the process.


Nancy

[HConn]

In a cosy, the murder is solved by rational analysis.