Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Genres -- Cozy Mysteries

A friend called me the other day and asked me to list some cozy mystery authors for her to read. I was totally blocked on this and had little to offer her. Just what is a cozy mystery? Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Reinhardt are two of the early writers of cozy mysteries that I read years ago. I've written a few cozy mysteries and my friend has read at least one of them and has been involved in critiquing others. Remembering some of the things I read in the past about cozy mysteries, I've come up with a few facts.

A cozy mystery involves an amateur detective. Much of the gritty parts of the murder takes place off stage. There is much attention to a kind of gossipy flavor with much studying of the other players in the story. Some cozy mysteries are done in first person so only the detective's thoughts are there for the readers view. When done in third person, the views are usually limited. The police can play a role but usually as support for the detective. These are not nitty-gritty stories. I'm sure there are other things that fit the subgenre.

What are your favorite cozy mystery writers? A good list would be fun to see.

1 comment:

Terri said...

For me, this is your voice.