Welcome to the Cozy Mystery

For the longest time, I only read mystery books. 

Nancy Drew books were some of the first - their eye catching art motivating me to learn how to read. The logic was easy to follow and occasionally, I could solve the mystery before the big reveal. After Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown, I jumped right into Agatha Christi. 

Agatha Christi is the Queen of mystery series. She wrote Hercule Poirot, "And Then There Were None", and of course, the little granny knitting away and catching murderers, Miss. Marple. My grandparents had a ton of Agatha Christi books for me to pick from. And when I went through all of those books, I started going through the other mystery series they had stacked up in the many different bookshelves scattered throughout their house. 

Eventually I found my way to "The Cat Who..." series by Lillian Jackson Braun. I loved how easy to read the books were and enjoyed the narration of the main character Jim Qwilleran and hearing about the antics of his two Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. 

It was this series that formerly introduced me to the Cozy Mystery genre and its many wonderful tropes. Since my family seems to be drawn to these types of stories, they are the books I most commonly read outside of school (even to this day). 

My latest venture into this genre was "A Margin for Murder" the 8th book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery by Lauren Elliott. I'd say the book was fairly standard as far as Cozy Mystery Tropes are concerned, though not all of the big tropes were present. 

An alliteration for the title keeps it in the reader's memory better.

I most associate Cozy Mysteries with the following: 

• Amateur sleuth. Bonus points if this sleuth is a woman in her mid-30s (it seems to be the most popular main character right now in this genre)
• Romantic ties to law enforcement (either a new boyfriend/girlfriend or an ex). Could be a police officer, a government agent, or a lawyer. 
• A hobby that links the sleuth to the mystery. Bonus points for ties to writing, books, knitting, cooking, fashion, or home remodeling (can also be an occupation).
• The sleuth owns their own business or is a writer. I'm lumping these two together because this occupation allows for the main character to go off on adventures without risking their livelihood (at least too much). Typically these jobs are seen as quaint like tea room operators, fashion reporters, columnists, bookstore owners, or wedding planners. Home remodeling can be a hobby or an occupation. Bonus points for coffeeshop owners.
• An animal side kick. Typically this is a dog or a cat, but there was one book I read that included a bird as the cute animal companion. 
• Something to do with the paranormal or psychics. I've read series with witches, tarot readers, and psychics. Even "The Cat Who..." series had a cat that might have had some psychic abilities. Extra bonus points for ghosts and poltergeist activity.
• Small towns or cities - it wouldn't be a Cozy Mystery if everyone didn't know everyone else. That way there are plenty of local suspects as well as shifty out-of-towners to be vary of. Think Cabot Cove in "Murder She Wrote". The majority of "The Cat Who..." books take place in Mouse County which is "300 miles North of everywhere".

There are other tropes that I've noticed over the years. Cozy Mystery titles usually have some kind of pun that centers on the main character's occupation or hobby and the mystery at large. At some point the sleuth becomes a suspect. Or (my current least favorite) the too many boyfriends problem - and it's always boyfriends for a mid-30s super-sleuth. 

However many predictable tropes these series have or how complicated it can be solve the mystery (sometimes its really obvious and other times the author pulls one of Christi's famous last minute clues), I enjoy returning to the genre every so often. When I go into a Cozy Mystery, I expect all of those things (yes, even the too many boyfriend).

What keeps me coming back to the many series in this genre are the characters and how they interact with each other. 

Sometimes its a fun aunt/niece duo, other times its a pet causing all kinds of trouble, or it could be a bored retiree looking for a little excitement. The characters typically have a ton of friends with big personalities. The suspects are all distinct and memorable. And the murder victims sometimes deserve what's coming to them. 

With the Cozy Mystery market so saturated, it takes a lot to stand out in the crowd. I've noticed that more Cozy Mysteries are branching out into other subgenres. I've already mentioned the witches and paranormal angles, but historical fiction is equally becoming a popular subgenre to host a Cozy. 

Personally, I'd like to see more mixing genres for Cozies. Science Fiction Cozies could take place on a space station with plenty of locked room scenarios (there are actually a few Star Trek books that might count as Cozies in this example). Western Cozies could offer a new perspective on law enforcement in the wild west. Fantasy Cozies apparently already exist, but could you imagine the potential for Urban Fantasy Cozies like the "Dresden Files" meets Miss Marple? 

I'm not sure how horror might work as a Cozy subgenre, as a Cozy Mystery is supposed to be relaxing and not high-stakes, but I'm sure some ambitious author (not me) could make it work.

Have you guys read Cozy Mysteries and if so, what were some of your favorite series? Did your Cozies mix genres at all? What are some of your favorite tropes in the genre. Leave a comment and let me know.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Patterns in Hindsight

How many TV shows or movies have you guys watched and known exactly which characters aren't going to make it to the end? Or what about the crime shows that have you figuring out who the killer is in the first 15 minutes?

I've been watching a lot of Murder, She Wrote lately, and it has a fairly formulaic structure. Within the first few minutes a problem is introduced and the wacky group of characters are introduced. It's in these moments that I can usually pin point whose murder J B Fletcher is going to be solving. It takes me another twenty minutes or so to figure out who did it. 

The killer and the person killed are nearly always introduced at the very start of the show.

This formula can be seen in a lot of other crime or mystery based dramas. Heck, even my beloved Scooby Doo uses it. It's rare when we have no idea who's under the mask. 

It's even easier to pick up these hints when watching multiple episodes at a time. Until I actually started binge watching Murder She Wrote, I almost never picked up on the subtle clues that were peppered throughout, but once you know what to look for (usually a throw away line about some important piece of information that the character in question shouldn't know about) that leads to picking out the killer way before the big reveal. 

Horror movies follow a similar patter that has now been deconstructed to death (let's conclude that this pun was intended). Cabin in the Woods is the most famous modern example. The iconic Scream even has a scene where the character Randy lists all of the rules that keep you alive in movies. Since Randy follows the rules, he gets to live to the sequel.

Re-watching these movies, I start to pick up on the hints of what led to a person dying. Either they broke one of the cardinal rules of horror movies ("don't have sex, don't drink or do drugs, and never, ever say you'll be right back") or they made a mistake that led them right to the killer.

Real life isn't entirely like horror movies or 60 minute mystery shows. The hero isn't always around to stumble across a dead body and piece together the clues like a prefect puzzle. Real life is messy, chaotic, and even senseless.

However, that doesn't mean that there aren't patterns that don't emerge when horrible events do occur. Humans like patterns, our brains are built to recognize them (even when they aren't there, but that's another blog post). It could be a person's search history, the posts they tweet on Twitter, the groups they like on Facebook, or if they're on an FBI watch list. 

These patterns that our brains detect have helped our species survive and thrive. It's why some people are extremely intuitive and know when to listen to their "gut". It's why we sometimes get a creepy feeling that tells us that danger is around in an otherwise perfectly normal setting.

I sometimes feel like Sid and the cameraman trying to tell Randy, who's screaming at movie Jamie Lee Curtis that Michael Myers is right behind her in a movie, that Ghost Face is behind him with a knife. I can see the danger, but there's nothing I can do about it. I can't change a story that's already been written.

But isn't that how some of us who watch scary movies or murder mysteries feel when we know what's about to happen? We've figured out who and where the killer is and can do nothing to help the victim. We're just watching events unfold on a screen, wishing, praying that our favorite characters will survive. 

We know the patterns and unless we're willing to do something about them, the horror movie killer will keep coming back.

If you liked this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. 

Until next week.