Genre Conventions: Cozy Mystery
Greetings and salutations Scribblers!
Today’s video is part of our genre conventions playlist. Today we’re tackling cozy mysteries. Cozy mysteries ranks right up there with romance books in being one of the most bought and read genres. The ability of a cozy to take on something a bit difficult like a murder and keep it light hearted and fun keeps readers coming back for more. Escapism has become even more popular as the world continues to shift towards a darker reality every day.
Cozy mysteries are a subgenre of crime fiction. Crime fiction includes a crime, an investigation, a dedicated detective, and a limited number of suspects that had the motive and opportunity to commit the crime. There’s usually also a deadline of some sort to help build suspense.
The cozy has all of these things, but they’re approached in very specific ways. In general, what sets a cozy mystery apart is that there is no on page violence, sex, or inappropriate language. Other subgenres of crime fiction can and will include those elements, but a cozy never does.
Agatha Christie is considered as one of the main creators of this genre, so if you’re looking for good examples, pick up any of her books! Also, fun fact, National Cozy Mystery Day is celebrated on her birthday, September 15th, so mark your calendars and tuck in to read your favorite cozy mystery that day!
Let’s examine some other elements of the cozy mystery. First, the investigation is normally run by an amateur sleuth who has no actual background in investigation. The sleuth, who is the POV character, is searching for the truth mainly for justice. A key theme of a cozy is the idea that if you break the law or harm someone, you will be caught and punished. So the amateur sleuth is always in it for the right reasons. Because these are often set in small towns, the crime will usually have something to do with the niche job or career the amateur sleuth has. In Dead and Breakfast by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor, Arthur is the owner of the bed and breakfast where the first body is found and he and his husband quickly become prime suspects. In A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell, knitting enthusiast Lia is at the fair when her best friend’s ex-husband is murder, rumors spread quick and Lia needs to clear her best friend’s name.
In both these examples, the amateur sleuth has no investigative background. Both are competent and independent and border on being a busy body–this gives the amateur sleuth the wherewithal to hunt down and talk to suspects. They want to know everyone’s business, although it’s often purely because they want to solve the crime, not because they’re gossips–though there can absolutely be some overlap!
They’re going to make mistakes as they proceed, usually wrongly accusing someone or getting a clue confused. But they learn from them and will, eventually, solve the mystery. The POV character will also have their own quirks and flaws they’ll need to work through for their character arc in the story.
Element two is the small town setting. This is a staple of a cozy for several reasons. One is that it limits the number of suspects and allows the amateur sleuth to revisit key locations and people multiple times. Another reason is that small towns are often characterized by everyone knowing everyone else’s business. This serves to complicate the investigation because people (including the sleuth!) are going to get things wrong because they only have part of the story. And finally, there’s the theme of a simple small town life that appeals to a lot of readers. You see this in a lot of romances as well–the character returns to the small town they grew up in and reconnects with their hopes and dreams, and sometimes, their life-long crush.
A third element of a cozy is the supporting characters. These often fall into archetypal roles such as the nemesis, the sidekick, a love interest, or a mentor. The nemesis isn’t usually the perpetrator of the crime, but they could be! Often the nemesis is someone the sleuth will be investigating as a prime suspect, only to eventually be proven wrong and, usually, they walk away with a new, kinder understanding of their nemesis. Each of these roles exists to help the amateur sleuth solve the mystery in some way–whether they hinder or help, they’re assisting the sleuth in getting to the bottom of the crime.
The supporting cast adds to the quirkiness and humor because they’re often filling secondary character archetypes too such as the jock, the nerd, or the recluse.
It’s likely that at some point, each of the supporting characters may come under suspicion of being the perpetrator of the crime. Many will have had the means and the motive to have done it. They all usually have something they’re hiding as well–and it doesn’t necessarily have to be something directly related to the crime. These become red herrings to distract the reader from the true criminal. In the end, your goal is for the reader to have an aha moment when the truth is revealed and leave them thinking “How did I miss that?”
A fourth element is the victim. The initial victim in a cozy mystery is often someone who was not well-liked in the town. This not only gives you a specific pool of suspects because people disliked them, but it adds to the justice theme because they likely brought the crime upon themselves due to their unscrupulous behavior. As a note, children and animals are not used as victims in a cozy mystery because that would be too dark. It should be a flawed adult who’s made some bad choices or been involved in something illegal.
The fifth and final element I’m going to talk about is how the end is set up. When the amateur sleuth breaks the case, they often confront the perpetrator and manage to get them to confess just as law enforcement arrives. This brings closure to the case and gives our sleuth their moment of glory as justice triumphs and the perpetrator is punished for their crimes. Following this scene, there is often a final chapter that depicts the new equilibrium of the amateur sleuth. The author might touch on how they’ve grown emotionally or maybe how they’ve grown closer to family or a neighbor they didn’t fully trust early on in the book. But it’s tranquil and peaceful, reinforcing the theme that your actions will always have consequences and that when you do the right thing, you’re rewarded with happiness.
And a final note is that murder isn’t the only crime that cozy mysteries solve. It could be a heist, a kidnapping, blackmail, etc–just remember the rules about no on page violence, no sex, and no foul language.
You can also blend the cozy mystery with other genres. Romance, fantasy, or historical, just to name a few.
Drop your favorite cozy mystery in the comments below, I’d love to add more books to my TBR!
That’s it for today, happy writing scribblers!
Get anytime access to our growing collection writing resources! All compiled in one place!
