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?

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 2)

In the second installment of the Sookie Stackhouse books, Sookie and vampire boyfriend, Bill, fly to Dallas to investigate the disappearance of a member of a Dallas vampire family. She is quickly in over her head, but manages to get herself out of as much of the trouble as Bill does. I like that in a female lead. With a boyfriend as powerful as a vampire, the write could be tempted to let him solve everything. Kudos to Harris for not doing that.

We don't really learn anything new about our main characters, with possibly the exception of Sam, Sookie’s boss and friend. But that's nothing major and could have been thrown into a different story. It's a quick, fun read that's not at all taxing on the brain.

Sometimes you just need one of those.

Too Many Cats?

When Jenny conducted her study of cozies, she reviewed a book by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (her cat). Ali recently posted about a cozy I loaned her. It's called Curiosity Killed the Cat-Sitter.

You may notice a theme. Cats. Lots of cats. A cat (or a couple of them) feature prominently in the following series, sometimes solving the murders:

The Cat Who . . . Mysteries by Lillian Jackson Braun

Cat Lover's Mysteries by Susan Conant

Midnight Louie Mysteries by Carole Nelson Douglas

Cats & Curios Mysteries by Rebecca M. Hale

Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda James

Jane Stuart & Winky Mysteries by Evan Marshall

Jacques & Cleo, Cat Detectives Mysteries by Gilbert Morris

Joe Grey Cat Mysteries by Shirley Rouseau Murphy

Biscuit McKee & Marmalade Mysteries by Fran Stewart


You get the idea. In addition to these, a LOT of cozy mystery protagonists own a cat or two.

So, are mysteries over-saturated with cats? Or do you think, the more the merrier? I, personally, love cats, but probably won't give any of my protagonists one as a pet.

Needled to Death (Knitting Mysteries #2) by Maggie Sefton

Kelly Flynn is still staying at her late aunt's cottage in Fort Connor, Colorado while telecommuting to her job in DC. She's waiting to see how all the estate tangles play out since she is the only living relative of both her aunt and her aunt's late cousin. When she drives a carload of tourists to a friend's house so they can see the friend’s alpaca herd, Kelly finds the friend dead. Another death for her to figure out, with the help of the gang at the House of Lampspun knitting shop.

This installment of the series has the same strengths and weaknesses of the first with one addition--everyone says, "Ohhhhhh" and "Okaaaaaaay" a lot. But I have to admit that all the talk of knitting and using ribbon yarn have me wanting to pick up my needles again. Yarn shops should definitely carry this series.

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?