About a month ago, I wrote a blog post listing three reasons I love writing fantasy. But these days, fantasy is only one of the genres I dabble in. Mystery is the other big genre in my life, the yin — perhaps? — to fantasy’s yang.
Though many of my early novels incorporated mysterious subplots, I shied away from writing mystery for a long time. Even more so than fantasy, writing good mystery is hard! Writing good fantasy, in my opinion, is all about imagination and inspiration. But writing good mystery requires much more thoroughness and attention to detail.
So why write it — and specifically, why write cozies?
1. Community
For those who are unfamiliar with the “cozy” subgenre, it’s loosely defined as mysteries without too much gore, on-screen violence, cursing, or sex. But the modern cozy mystery also tends to have a lot of very specific tropes: the super-supportive best friend, the adorable-if-rascally animal companion, the quirky townsfolk, the strong sense of place (beachside, lakeside, Amish, etc). The protagonist who has left a world that didn’t feel right (high-powered city life with a hardhearted ex, usually) and now finds a home (in a cute little neighborhood doing something she loves).
It’s comfort reading, in the same way romance or light fantasy can be. But I think it’s also more than that. Not everyone can have a pet, or has a best friend right around the corner. The community aspect of cozy mystery is so prominent that it wraps itself around the reader, giving them a little of that empowerment that comes from being surrounded by friends.
And also — outside of the books themselves — the cozy mystery reading community is AWESOME. I will never be able to say that enough. 🙂
2. Puzzles!
Cozies are generally nonviolent and their sleuths are amateur, which means that the genre doesn’t include a lot of procedural details or nail-biting suspense. And because they don’t have those aspects of mystery, a lot more emphasis gets put on the puzzle of solving the crime. Instead of car chases and gun fights, you get a lot of talk about motive and uncovering characters’ backstories (in one cozy I read recently, the characters even created a “murder board!”).
As someone who grew up with Sherlock Holmes, I love this. I am also very intimidated by this! A lot of “classic” mystery — even greats like Agatha Christie — can be considered “cozy,” so the puzzle bar is pretty high. Not every cozy mystery prioritizes this, to be fair. But I personally love the challenge. 🙂
3. Inspiration
This circles back around to point #1 (and one of the points I made in the fantasy article, too!). Cozy sleuths are amateurs trying to stand up for their friends (or themselves). The story always ends with some form of justice. The message is clear: if you have to save the day, you can.
Now, I’m not at all saying that cozy mysteries encourage people to go out and interfere with the police. In fact, cozy mystery readers sometimes complain if the protagonist is too reckless, too careless, or too brazen in confronting criminals. It’s understood that the escapades and showdowns are entertainment, not a how-to.
But the message is there — it’s just in the background. Like subliminal messages in ads that tell you if you just lose ten pounds, you’ll be more successful at life. 😉 It’s a general sense that even though awful things happen, you can face the challenges in front of you, that things could be worse, that truth will prevail. That when things get tough, a good first step is coming together.
Concluding Thoughts
I love cozy mysteries — the sense of community, the challenge of a puzzle, and the underlying messages. And on top of all that, there’s usually fun humor in them as well! I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m really pleased I stumbled into this genre. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my characters and trying to make even better mysteries. 🙂
