The Perennial Appeal of Cozy Mysteries
Two weeks ago, it snowed. I live in the Deep South so any amount of The White Stuff is cause of celebration in my book. This was more than a bit; we were blanketed for three glorious days. Two of those days we weren’t able to leave the house because of ice on the roads.
It was lovely.
While P&P is still being consumed (albeit at a slower pace than started), I wasn’t really feeling the Edwardian roundabouts. There were three other books sitting under my coffee table, however, that called to me. Books that would never be considered “classics” or even “literature”. They are - to me at least - a part of one of the most enjoyable genres out there : the Cozy Mystery.
And yes, before you start, I have heard all the complaints.
“They’re not realistic!”
“They’re cheesy!”
“They’re not relevant!”
Maybe you feel this way and if you do, that’s fine. Stop reading here because I’m going to continue on to sing the praises of the Cozy Mystery and dig into why I think they are a much needed genre.
You’re still here?
Good.
No. They aren’t realistic. Sure they deal with real life problems. Every Cozy Mystery (CM) protagonist has a Back Story, a love interest, an “enemy”, family drama, business woes, small town theatrics and some sort of personal tragedy to get through. Sometimes in every book. Most of their side quests are personal and nothing to do with the main murder but that’s what makes the relatable.
Cheesy? Yeah, OK. I’ll give you that one too. Sometimes. No, I don’t read every CM that comes out. Some of them just don’t appeal to me. I’m never going to read something just because it’s a particular genre just like I won’t see a film just because a particular actor/director/composer was involved.
I’m picky when it comes to my time and entertainment.
Very. VERY picky.
I like the cheesiness. I like the over the top towns folk who cause drama at every turn. I like the ridiculous issues that crop up and tend to surround the MC like sharks surround a wounded surfer. I like the fact that most of them have a cat or a dog who helps them solve the murder. I like the “tragic” backstory, the “wounded” hero and the inevitable LOVE STORY side plot.
Not relevant? Hmmm. Now that’s a very interesting complaint. To be honest, the only novels I’ve ever read that tend to be “relevant” are, ironically enough, the Classics. They hold timeless truths about humanity and society and will always and forever be relevant. What I’ve deduced from people who say that about books they find “trite” or “childish” or “silly”, it actually means that they aren’t filled with gritty realism, tragedy and trauma inducing twists. Why oh why do people insist on “realism” in their fiction? I don’t mind a good, historical novel and I also don’t mind a consuming bit of literary fiction that pulls me in and makes me pause at the end and go, “Whoa! That could actually happen!” What I won’t read, however, is a book that just rife with miserable people doing miserable things to themselves and each other who have no redemption whatsoever offered to them through plot or twist.
I had to read too many of those in college.
When I sit down to read, I want something that’s going to engross me, pull me out of my current situation and send me off on a journey. An adventure. Let me meet quirky people who do mundane things that make their lives run and the bumps along the way that lead to the “who dunnit” part of the tale. Cozies tend to do that in spades. I get people who have “normal” jobs, who go about telling us how they “first went upstairs to shower and shave and then came down to eat a nice bowl of cereal.” It’s not until they open the paper, answer the phone, check and see who’s banging on the front door that there’s any indication that life’s not alright in Cozy-ville. Or they quite literally stumble upon the body.
Suddenly, their small town life is upended! They’re accused! They’re suspected! They’re determined to clear their best friend/mother’s/college crush/room mate’s name because they are sure the murderer is someone else! The make mistakes. They get hurt. They run afoul of the law who always says, “Stay OUT OF IT!” and yet, in the end, it’s our amateur detective who feels a deep sense of justice and curiosity that leads everyone to the answer.
Nice and Tidy.
Happy Ever After … but with enough of the backstory tossed in that you know there will be a NEXT book and you’ll be there, ready to follow along to learn more.
Now then. How can THAT be relevant?
Well, perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s simply a good way to see that right prevails over wrong and justice is served. Perhaps it’s a nice reminder of how things should go and, more often than not, does.
Bad news abounds, that’s for certain. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you’ll eventually stumble upon it or, sadly, be the recipient of it. That is, as they say, life. BUT we don’t have to immerse our selves in it. We don’t have to perpetuate the fear and the constant barrage of negativity on our hearts and our minds.
And before you start slinging words at me in the comments, I get it. I get that some people like the drama, the dark noir, the violence. I read horror novels too. Sometimes I do like a good scare at the hand of a messed up psyche or a terrifying creature. But for the most part, I don’t want a bunch of junk in my brain. If you can read things that are disturbing, that are more like current media than definite fiction, close the book and walk away, that’s awesome. I can’t. I have a hard time detaching my Eyes from my Rationalization. I can watch something and KNOW that it’s not capital “R” Real but my body will react as if it is. Hence why I don’t watch a lot of movies or shows and I don’t read everything in print. Yes, I’m writing from my own bias. We all do. I’m also writing from this side of a perplexing mental interpretation standard that won’t allow me to watch too much violence, blood, guts and gore.
I also tend to be pretty plot snobby.
The point is this : Cozy Mysteries are wonderful distractions from the outside world. They offer us a controlled area in which a “murder” takes place, off camera, little to no blood and the good guys will, always, catch the bad guy. There’s a healthy dose of quirky that charms us, a bunch of folks who annoy us and one character who seems to be at the center of it all that we root for. Most of them can be read in a day or two at the most and they offer a deep sense of satisfaction, not just with the Good Guys Win vibe but also in the I Accomplished Something dopamine rush.
Also, they’re lovely palette cleansers. Been reading something heavy and deep? Pick up a cozy between tomes. Deep into Moby Dick or The Brother’s Karamazov? Take a break and pick up a cozy. Usually lean to current event nonfiction? Why not clean out the mind with some wholesome who dunnits?
I’ll always go to bat for the Cozies. And I’ll always take a stand for the Happily Ever Afters. Even if every now and then you’ll catch me with a copy of something like The Secret History in my hands ;)
Maybe you’re not a fan and that’s OK. I’d love to know why. Really and truly. There’s no right or wrong answers here. Do you love CM? Do you hate them? Have you never read one and need some suggestions? Do you honest to goodness just not “get” them?Let me know in the comments. I’m always curious what catches your reading eyes, stirs your imaginations and fills your TBR piles!
Join me next week for the CONCLUSION of my thoughts on Pride and Prejudice. I’m as excited as anyone to see what turns up
!