Is The Term "Cozy" Insulting?

A few years back, Deb moderated a panel of mystery authors at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. One of the panelists is a best-selling, award-winning author of what I would call a cozy series. An attendee asked a question that included the term "cozy mystery." Famous Author just about went ballistic.

"'Cozy' is a derogatory term," she stated. "It brings to mind tea pots with crocheted tea cozies around them. Like in the Miss Marple books."

There seemed to be a bit of bafflement among the other three authors. As well as Deb and me. Being compared to Agatha Christie is a bad thing? Isn't there a prestigious award for mystery authors that's named for her?

The attendee sputtered out and sat down. Finally, one of the other panelists--a not quite as famous cozy writer--spoke up. "I don't mind the term at all. But, Famous Author, what would you call the genre?"

"They are domestic mysteries."

Famous Author has the right to say her books fall into whatever genre she wants. She can call them "Regular folks doing detective-y work mysteries" if she sees fit.

However, to me, domestic mystery sounds like they never leave the house. A murder happens to one family member, another family member solves it by figuring out which other family member committed it.

I'm with Not Quite As Famous Author. You can call my books cozies. That's what I call them.

What do you think? What would you call mysteries in which the protagonist isn't a professional detective?

If you don't write mysteries, is there a term for the genre you write that you don't like? I know some science fiction writers hate the term sci-fi. Is there a taboo genre name for what you write? What is it?

Heat Wave by "Richard Castle"

The author name is in quotes, because we don't really know who wrote the book. It's a television show tie-in. There was much speculation at the time it was published that it might be one of the authors who sometime appear on Castle. James Patterson? Stephen J. Cannell? Michael Connelly? Someone else entirely? Fun speculation, but once I started reading, I really didn't care.

This was a quick, fun read. A bit like an episode of Castle with name changes. As a matter of fact, I recognized a few plot points from the show. Nothing deep or meaningful. Nothing that will stay with me beyond "The End." But a nice little bite of brain candy.

What Is A Cozy?

Jenny tackled this question a few months ago in her blog. She did a series of posts starting with this one.

But I don't know that I've ever answered that question in my own blog. If not, it's about time. The question seems straightforward enough but, as with any genre or sub-genre, not everyone agrees. The following is my take on what constitutes a "cozy" mystery.

-The protagonist is not a law enforcement professional. That is, the person who solves the murder is not who you would expect to do so. She (and it's most often a she) would not be a police office, a forensics expert, a private investigator, etc.

-Violence happens off-stage. This is especially true with regard to the murder(s). The reader doesn't get a lot of blood and gore. A protagonist or other character may be threatened with violence, but usually isn't seriously hurt. I have read a couple lately with our heroine being conked on the head or some such, but it's still pretty rare.

-Often the police are depicted as inept. I'm glad to see this trend changing in the newer cozies. It's not that the professionals don't know what they are doing, but they may not have the specialized knowledge of a certain job that the protagonist does, or they are hampered by the rules they have to follow. Rules that a tea shop owner or a housewife doesn't have to obey.

-Pets, particularly cats, seem to be involved a lot. Some books have them front and center, like Rita Mae Brown's The Cat Who series. Others are just pets. But it's unusual to find a protagonist in a newer cozy who doesn't own at least one pet.

-Bonus material, as Jenny calls it, has become de rigueur. It's hard to find a cozy published within the last two years that does not include at least one recipe. And depending on the protagonist's job, there can be patterns or how-to advice as well. These are fun little additions at the end of the book, but they can make a write want to shy away from career for her amateur detective that wouldn't easily lend itself to these bonuses.

-The tone is light. Even though we're dealing with murder, the overall tone of cozies is light. The murder itself is treated with seriousness, but the investigation often finds our protagonist in embarrassing, if not downright compromising, situations.

-(Addendum)Most are written in first person, so the reader only knows what the protagonist knows. This can be effective, but also annoying. As when the protagonist describes herself using terminology no woman I know would use.

-(Addendum) Titles are often puns on the job the protagonist holds. Curiosity Killed the Cat-sitter is one of the better ones.


That's about it. Are you familiar with cozies? Have I missed anything. Do those descriptions sound like anything you've read? Or would like to read?

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I hadn’t read a single vampire book in years, then I read the Twilight series and this book within a week of each other. FYI, Dead Until Dark was published four years before Twilight.

The Sookie Stackhouse books are located in the Fantasy section of the book store. However, I do consider them mysteries, because each one has a murder to solve. And I guess they can be considered cozies since the person solving the mysteries is a waitress, not a professional detective.

Sookie is a waitress in a local bar in rural Louisiana. Vampires have come out of the closet and are working to become integrated in society. She meets vampire Bill at the bar and soon embarks on a romantic relationship with him. Sookie can hear other people’s thoughts but can't hear the vampire’s. Soon women who have become vampire groupies are being killed, and Bill is a suspect. Can Sookie find out who the real killer is before the town turns on her cold (but smokin' hot) lover?

This was an incredibly fun and sexy read. The mystery was well-done and the characters were believable, for vampires and mind-readers and more. Ms. Harris is a funny and talented author.

The television show, True Blood, may be based on the books, but the story lines of the show have veered rather sharply away from the source material. Liking one may not mean you’ll like the other, but I think it’s worth a little time for fans of the show to check out the books. And vice versa.

Knit One Kill Two

This is the first in the Knitting Mysteries by Maggie Sefton

Kelly Flynn, accountant and financial planner, returns to the small town in Colorado where she was raised to bury her murdered aunt and see to the estate. While trying to settle her aunt's finances, she discovers a large loan that was taken out without Kelly's knowledge. Kelly gets involved with her aunt's knitting friends, who help give her insight into the life her aunt lived in recent years.

The mystery in this cozy is first-rate. Sefton had me guessing pretty much up to the end. There was also a pretty hefty body count, given that it is a cozy. The main characters—the ones integral to solving the crime—are quite well-written. There are a ton of characters, and I see now why my critique group complains about that. They can be hard to sort out.

Which leads to picking nits. Many of the knitting store regulars are interchangeable. That is until I realized that they fall into the different female stereotypes: The Party Girl, The Tomboy/Athlete, The Homemaker, The Dithery Old Lady, The Imperious Old Lady, etc. And Kelly always seems to be a step behind the reader, which can get annoying. I like to be neck and neck with the protagonist.

Some of the knitting scenes seem off to me, but that just be how I was taught to knit. I don't work on one sleeve at a time--it's easy to end up with different length sleeves that way. My teacher had me use two balls of yard and knit both sleeves together on the same needle. Most people probably won’t care.

This was truly a fun read. I've since read the next five books in the series (those reviews to follow). There are two more in hardcover. Since this writer is on a budget, I’ll have to wait until the paperback versions come out. Something to look forward to.