Are The English Better At Cozies?

I think it’s safe to say that the British invented cozy mysteries. Famous Author, who was offended by the term, said that the name comes from tea cozies, “like the English use.” So, are cozy mysteries penned by British authors better?

My own introduction to mystery novels was courtesy of three British authors: Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier.

Ms. Christie wrote both the Hercule Poirot mysteries (which I would not classify as cozy since he is a professional detective) and the Miss Marple books. Between my mother’s book collection and the local library, I read just about every one of Agatha Christie’s books before I graduated from high school. She is, not surprisingly, a big influence on my choice of genres.

Mary Stewart is probably best known for her Merlin series (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, etc.). However, she wrote many other books that fall into the mystery/suspense genre. The ones I remember reading are Madam, Will You Talk?, My Brother Michael, Touch Not the Cat, and Airs Above the Ground. They are all a bit darker than most cozies, with elements of the supernatural, but the construction of the mystery was always strong.

Daphne du Maurier’s books can’t really be called cozies either. But, again, there is that supernatural undercurrent with a strong mystery at the heart of her stories. Rebecca, The House on the Strand, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Don’t Look Now are all stories that I can go back to time and time again--and still have nightmares.

Dorothy L Sayers, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Margery Allingham, Jo Bannister, M.C. Beaton, Rhys Bown, Simon Brett, and Jonathan Gash are just a few of the other well-known and respected British cozy authors.

Then we have the American authors who set their mysteries in Jolly Olde England. Sometimes literally in Olde England.

-Nancy Atherton writes the Aunt Dimity mysteries

-Stephanie Barron’s novels feature Jane Austen as the sleuth

-Carrie Bebris uses Austen’s characters of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy to solve mysteries

-Susan Wittig Albert writes a series featuring Beatrix Potter

-Emily Brightwell writes the Mrs. Jeffries mysteries

-Margaret Frazer pens the Sister Frevisse medieval mysteries

-Laurie R King’s sleuth is Mary Russell, a protégé of Sherlock Holmes

-Elizabeth Peters writes the Amelia Peabody mysteries

I leave it to you. Are the British better at writing cozies? Or are we Yanks just as good?