WHO PUT THE COZY IN MYSTERIES? BY: KIMBERLY R. THORN

Who Put the Cozy in Mysteries?                            By: Kimberly R. Thorn

Some people credit ‘Golden Age’ authors like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers with writing some of the very first considered cozy mysteries.  Others credit the genre as being more of a modern return to stories like these Golden Age writers wrote.  Ones with the murder not being as deep, dark and bloodthirsty.  Where the writers present the mystery as more of a puzzle for the reader to solve in real time with the sleuth.

What Ingredients Are Needed for a Cozy?

~ Includes an amateur sleuth.  It helps is they at least are considered a suspect at least first, as the actual police or detective do not like our sleuth meddling in their work.

~ Usually takes place in a small town, with a very tight knit community.  Everyone knows everyone.  Sometimes a small business is included.

~ Can include specific interests, hobbies or businesses.  Many include cooking, bookshops, knitting or even wine clubs.

~ There can be a character that includes the sleuth’s pet.

~ There is no violence or blood thirstiness.  The murder is usually revealed when the body is found so the reader is not privy to the actual violent death.

~ The characters are likable, so much so that this is why there are so many books in one series.  Readers generally want to learn more about the characters as they grow and develop along through the course of the series.

~ There’s usually a short timeline that the sleuth has to solve the murder before a big event happens.  For instance, a festival, a book launch, or a restaurant’s grand opening.

Have You Noticed? 

A couple of observations that I have made are as follows:

1)      Have you noticed that while the amateur sleuth seems intelligent, they never actually seem to figure out who the culprit is?  Not until they get themselves into a predicament and are left stranded with the murderer or are threatened directly, only then it starts to make sense to the sleuth.

2)      Have you noticed that the main police officer or detective of the story never seems to ever have a weapon on them?  Some television shows that come to mind for me are: Columbo, Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, Sister Boniface. 

Maybe these observations need to be added as a requirement in addition to the above ones to be a cozy mystery.

First Cozy Mystery   

My first cozy mystery series that I read and fell in love with is the Desiree Shapiro series by Selma Eichler.  Desiree is a New York PI that is not what Hollywood would consider a female PI to be.  She’s a later in life widow who loves her food and cooking.  But she always gets to the bottom of a case (like she gets to the bottom of her food bowl) and gets her man, or woman, whoever is the guilty person.  Desiree takes you on a wild ride with her hilarious mishaps, funny failures and well… her day-to-day life.  If you haven’t checked out this cozy mystery series, please, please do yourself a favor and do so.  I promise you that you will NOT be disappointed! 

What are some of the things that you notice in cozy mysteries?  What are some of your favorites?  Have you read Selma Eichler’s Desiree Shapiro series?  What did you think?  Let me know in the comments.  I am always looking for new books to go on my North American sized TBR pile!

Resources:

The History of Cozy Mysteries.  By Sam Parker.  December 18, 2024.

https://www.pinereadsreview.com/blog/the-history-of-cozy-mysteries/

A Brief History of Cozy Mysteries By: Emily Martin.

https://www.novelsuspects.com/articles/novel-investigations-a-brief-history-of-cozy-mysteries/

MALICE DOMESTIC - WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME by Teresa Inge

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending Malice Domestic, an annual convention that celebrates traditional mysteries, with a focus on Agatha Christie-style storytelling. Since its inception in 1989, this event has brought fans and authors together for a fun and friendly experience. Currently held each April in Bethesda, Maryland, it offers a mix of author panels, book signings, and engaging mystery-themed activities.

My own journey with Malice began twenty years ago, accompanied by my husband, daughter, and mother. Although I was initially nervous—surrounded by so many accomplished writers and knowing no one—I was warmly welcomed by Malice volunteers, members of Sisters in Crime (SinC) an organization dedicated to supporting female crime writers, as well as other authors and fans. I then realized I had found a place where I truly belonged which reminded me of the Cheers show theme song.

Fast forward to last month, and Malice Domestic still exudes the same heartwarming “family reunion” vibe, complete with cheerful hugs, laughter, and enthusiasm shared with old friends and new ones. Over the years, this convention has had a profound impact on my writing career. It has helped me forge connections with fellow writers, build lasting friendships, discover publishing opportunities, and hone my writing craft. Now, I take pride in welcoming newcomers, just as I was embraced all those years ago.

This year's highlights included Malice Go Round Speed Dating, New Authors Breakfast, an annual lunch with the Short Mystery Fiction Society, a SinC gathering featuring an "Agatha signature cocktail" and appetizers, a captivating Sherlock Holmes play, the Agatha Awards banquet, an after-party, and panels like "Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys" and "Living in a Modern World: Women Take the Lead." There were fabulous interviews with the guest of honor Marcia Talley, lifetime achievement honoree Donna Andrews, and toastmaster Gigi Pandian as well as a book room overflowing with literary treasures, rounded out an unforgettable experience. 

Agatha Christie - Pick Your Poison by Teresa Inge

While participating on the Agatha Christie panel at the Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem event this year, we discussed Christie’s fascination with using poisons to kill many of her characters. Thanks to her work as a nurse and a pharmacy dispenser during World War I, her knowledge of poisons was extensive.

In her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, strychnine is featured, and it is described as an ideal poison for a writer due to its rapid onset and dramatic effects. But the poison she used most frequently is Cyanide, appearing in And Then There Were None and The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. In other books, victims die from arsenic, digitalis, and morphine.

However, Christie was not the first writer to introduce poison in a mystery novel. She just used them with such incredible detail, that a reader could learn about a new poison and its effects instantly. This method made her novels quite sophisticated to readers during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, which is often referred to as the Golden Age of Poisons, largely due to Christie and her contemporaries who used toxins to dispatch characters in their novels.

The panel discussion continued with the methods of murder that mystery writers use today to bring about a character’s demise. These include stabbings, shootings, blunt objects, fire, drowning, and strangulation.

However, the use of poison still continues in culinary mysteries and other genres. Writers use plant poisons such as hemlock, lily of the valley, poisoned mushroom, Nicotine, and Oleander. Drugs and medicine include insulin, sedatives, Tylenol, and Fentanyl. All of which are fascinating to today’s mystery readers.

Since Agatha Christie was a "pick your poison" writer and most likely had fun with it, in many ways, poison became a personality in her stories which is almost a cliché today. But her novels live on due to her well-crafted plots, interesting characters, and realistic descriptions of the toxin's symptoms, which is why she is crowned "The Queen of Crime."