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Topic: This might be a strange question, but what are cozies?
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I have seen a number of people talking about these type books. Theresa |
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I found this definition at about.com: Cozies are mystery novels typically set in English country houses, villages, or other benign environments. Cozies feature very little violence, aside for the murder, and few gory details. The term arose from the relatively genteel settings, the common use of amateur sleuths as protagonists, and the fact that all loose ends are tied up and the villain caught and punished by the novel's conclusion. Agatha Christie's Jane Marple novels typify the subgenre. Hard-boiled detective novels are the opposite of the cozy. :) Last Edited on: 10/22/07 5:09 PM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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IMHO they are the literary equivalent to Murder She Wrote. The ameteur sleuths typically have some other job or interest that is incorporated into the book or series as a theme: e.g. cooking, pets, knitting, or teddy bear collecting, and live in small towns that seem to have a disproportionate amount of murders. :-) |
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Check out http://www.cozy-mystery.com/ for more information. These books are not always set in England--there are American cozies set in various states/regions, and I just finished two in a series that were set in Quebec. Typically, one will not find gratuitous sex, excessive cursing or extreme violence in these books. |
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Typically, one will not find gratuitous sex, excessive cursing or extreme violence in these books.
Other than several murders, of course. ;-) |
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I'm glad someone finally asked this question! I've been trying to figure it out for some time now. I was way off!! Thanks guys for explaining it to us. |
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Hi all, I thought cozies were all that you said, but did not have to be mysteries. Are the Mitford books by Jan Karon cozy ? They seem to be,but they are not mysteries. Please help me clear this up if you can Thanks, Jill |
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Nope, cozy mysteries are mysteries. The Mitford books don't qualify although they are nice gentle reads. The annual Malice Domestic mystery convention celebrates the cozy mystery, although the diehards don't like that term and programs have branched out in recent years. See their website http://www.malicedomestic.org/ for a list of authors who usually attend the conference, that will give you an idea of who writes cozy series. |
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