Who Reads Cozies?

Obviously, I do. But who else?

I think the stereotypical reader one thinks of picking up a cozy mystery is a white-haired old lady, reading glasses perched on the end of her button nose. She sits primly in her overstuffed, doily-laden chair, a pot of freshly brewed tea on the pie-crust table next to her. Of course, the teapot is enswathed by a hand-knitted tea cozy.

But is that really who reads them? I guess a few, but seriously. How many women like that do you know?

I started reading Agatha Christie before I was in my teens. Could some of the readers be those middle graders who aren't happy with the books that are supposed to be for them? Maybe, but I sorta doubt it.

Many of the cozies I've been reading have a bit of chick-lit feel to them. The protagonist is a young woman (usually white, btw) who works for a living. While most don't live in the big city--something the heroines in chick-lit tend to do, or so I'm told--they often have an interest in the latest fashion, coffee, chocolate, etc. Oh, and handsome young men. So, I think the audience may cross over there.

What do you think? Do you read cozies and chick-lit? If you don't read both, what is it about cozies that draws you in? Do we have any guys out there who like the cozies?