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.

The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver

This is the first of Deaver's books to feature Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic criminologist. Rhyme has given up on life, literally. He has decided to have a doctor help him commit suicide. But a spree killer who starts taking tourists just before a big event at the UN and a gutsy female officer with problems of her own pique his interest.

Deaver's protagonist would provoke no sympathy if we weren't handicapped. He's a jerk, plain and simple. A brilliant jerk, but a jerk. Amelia Sachs, the female cop, isn't much more likeable. But their dedication to figuring out the clues, both the planted and accidental, keeps the story racing forward.

This is a page turner. The pace is often frenetic, but Deaver slows down--sometimes excruciatingly so--when the killer is at his cruelest. The book has a different outcome than the movie of the same name. I did feel a bit cheated by the big reveal, because it felt like the villain was a character who was chosen simply to throw the reader a curve.

I'd recommend it as a lesson in the art of pacing.

Definitely not a cozy.

An Addendum

I hope this is a one-off. After posting my review of Death by Darjeeling, I had a new insight. So here's the addendum.

I commented about the plethora of unusual names in Laura Childs' novel. That it bothered me and seemed excessive. The next day, though, I decided it might now be a tradition with tales set in the American South. Think of Steel Magnolias and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I will give Ms. Childs the benefit of the doubt.

In the twelve years I lived in Florida, I can't remember running into anyone with such an unusual name. But a lot of people will tell you that Florida isn't really the South anymore.

Death by Darjeeling

It appears that everyone--at least in my little group--is looking for a way to distinguish her blog. Jenny's doing Mentors, Deb's doing WILAWF, Ali's thinking up something new. And we're nothing if not copycats.

I've decided to review mysteries. Probably mostly cozies, but all mysteries are fair game. And I decide what to call a mystery.

I'm starting with the first entry in the Teashop Mysteries by Laura Childs. Ms. Childs also writes the Scrapbooking Mysteries and Cackleberry Club Mysteries.


Death by Darjeeling

A genteel Southern woman, Theodosia Browning, runs a tea shop in Charleston, SC. At the annual Lamplighter tour, a shady developer is poisoned while drinking a cup of her special blend. Suspicion falls on the shop in general and one waitress in particular.

A 4-star cozy. Childs pretty much hits all the right notes with this one. Lots of credible potential suspects. A likeable cast of regulars. Good dialogue. Nice pacing. And a plausible plot. The tension builds all the way through. And she got me. I didn't see the culprit coming, but there were no author cheats involved.

My one nitpick would be the extremely unusual character names. When you start with a protagonist called Theodosia, adding in first names of Drayton, Jory, Doe, Dundy, Delaine,
and then a Miss Dimple--well, it gets overwhelming. But it's a very small nit to pick.

In addition to the fun puzzle, setting and characters, the author includes yummy recipes. Earl Grey Sorbet, Tea Scones and Cucumber & Lobster Sandwiches are all tempting. And then there is the Liver Brownie Cake for the pooches in your life.

Well played, Ms. Childs, well played.

First Post of 2011

It truly seems like last week that I wrote my first blog post ever. Now it's time to sum up 2010 and plan for 2011. Which shouldn't take long. I didn't get much done in 2010. The same goals for the year can remain for 2011 with just a section title change.

Why didn't I get any of those goals done? Now there's a question.

Let's see--my workload increased dramatically, there were more house-related tasks that couldn't be put off any longer and I committed to making more craft items as gifts and such.

BUT, those aren't responsible for my not meeting my goals. The reason is that I was struggling with the process. I tried making some major changes to HM that might have been great suggestions, but that just didn't resonate with me. And that held me up. A lot. When I finally figured out what I really wanted to do with the story, I felt burned out on it. I needed to leave Sloan and Caleb and the gang for a while. I need to miss them just a touch more so when I do revisit them, it'll be a celebration.

So, what should my goals be for this year? I'm going to do something a little different. Agent Rachelle Gardner talked on her blog about how regular resolutions feel too much like another to-do list. She's opting for resolutions that are more about feeling rather than doing. She posted a list of adjectives. I like that.

Without further ado, my goals for 2011:

--Confident
--Healthy
--Peaceful
--Caring
--Funny
--Optimistic