by Miko Johnston
A diva actress infuriates everyone with her demands. A rich businessman takes pride, even joy, out of snookering his customers. A domineering tycoon sets ultimatums for his relatives lest they be cut out of the will. They’re spoiled, stingy, slick, or just plain mean, and the next thing you know, they’ve been murdered. News spreads, often through a small town filled with quirky folks, and soon a person with no experience in criminology (beyond, perhaps, reading or writing mystery novels, or selling them in their charming bookshop) takes an interest in the murder and decides to investigate. They may not have access to the minutiae of crime scene investigations or forensic reports, but thanks to a police force with little skill or interest in solving the mystery, they unmask the perpetrator.
Welcome to the world of cozy mysteries, where life can be pleasant, eccentric, and even humorous in the face of death. Where someone’s humdrum existence can be invigorated by a murder.
A sub-genre of cozies takes crime more seriously, dealing with social issues such as addiction, abuse, homelessness, and trafficking, however peripherally. Others feature amateur sleuths who partner with the real investigators – police detectives – sometimes literally; many have spouses on the force.
Bearing those exceptions in mind, please don’t hate me for what I’m about to say – I do not, and will not, read cozy mysteries that involve murder, for one simple reason: the punishment rarely fits the crime.
People kill or get killed for a variety of reasons. Some killings are justified, as in self-defense or on the battlefield. And don’t confuse the broader legal term, homicide, with murder, as the former includes the accidental and the justifiable killing of another. The law defines murder as a deliberate act, targeting a person with the “intent to kill,” “cause grievous bodily harm,” or “a depraved indifference to human life”. This does not sound very “cozy” to me. Nor does killing someone simply because they’re not nice, or did something mean-spirited or even ruinous (short of murder) sound justifiable.
Some cozy murders occur “off the page”. I’ll grant the more grisly details of murder can be the exception to the “show, don’t tell” rule, but even so a murder has been committed. I’ve also heard cozy murders described as bloodless, or even “painless”, but is there such a thing? Any police officer who’s been to a crime scene, or EMT who tried unsuccessfully to save the victim, will tell you NO. Most poisons cause pain, convulsions and organ collapse. And what about other methods, such as strangulation, drowning and suffocation? I feel miserable when I’m congested with a cold. I can’t accept being deprived of oxygen as anything less than cruel and unusual. Even if the crime is violent, such as a gunshot, the description sidesteps the gory details. Really? Please tell me how a gunshot wound wouldn’t be gruesome to an average person. And don’t get me started on humorous murder mysteries. I’ve seen farces that involve a dead body where the death occurred from natural causes, or an accident due to the victim’s stupidity, silly but harmless. However, a murder victim’s body crosses the line for me.
I have two other reasons for not reading cozies. I lived in New York during the crime-riddled seventies. I knew two people who had dear ones murdered. A co-worker’s boyfriend was shot to death in a case of mistaken identity, and a gang of robbers murdered my friend’s nineteen-year-old cousin as he was unloading a delivery truck. Fifty years may have passed, but I still recall the anguish in their faces, the tremble in their voices when they told me what happened. They never witnessed the crime in progress, nor saw the bloody crime scene, but from the moment the police notified them, their lives changed. Forever.
I get it. A mystery can be enjoyable without forensic-level descriptions of crime scenes, as is trying to put the clues together and solve the puzzle. Of course, if that’s what readers want, then there’s no reason to include murder, rape or kidnapping – a non-violent crime would allow the reader to solve the case along with the sleuth. Why does it have to be murder? Apparently, having a cozy revolve around a high crime raises the stakes, and the level of interest, beyond lesser crimes. Making the victim as unsympathetic as possible makes us feel less guilty as we focus on the clues and not on the tragedy.
This is just my opinion, and I don’t expect others to share it. Yet I can’t help but think no matter how horrible, difficult or mean the victim is, and even if the characters in your story aren’t upset by the murder, somewhere in the world beyond your pages is someone who will care, who’ll mourn the loss and be devastated by the cruelty of it.
Miko Johnston, a founding member of The Writers in Residence, is the author of the historical fiction series, “A Petal in the Wind”, as well as a contributor to several anthologies including the recently released “Whidbey Island: An Insider’s Guide”. Miko lives in Washington (the big one) with her rocket scientist husband. Contact her at mikojohnstonauthor@gmail.com
The Writers in Residence 
Wonderful post 🙏🎸
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Thank you, Satyam. I knew this would be a controversial topic.
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Very thought provoking.
I worked in live theatre for many years and viewed many mysteries there. But I knew that the action on stage was not real. After the show, the actors would come out and greet the audience. I don’t read cozies per se, but for another reason: they are usually very cookie-cutter in plot. You read one, set in a coffee house, another in a book store, a third in a Bed and Breakfast, and they are almost exactly the same. But even in those (perhaps to my shame), I read them for entertainment. I know they are not real.
On the other hand, I don’t like to read hardcore crime novels. Too much violence, gore, sex, and gross language is a real put-off for me, even if they are more realistic. So I guess “traditional mysteries” i. e. Agatha Christie, Ronald Balson, Sara Johnson, Paul Vidich, and Iona Whishaw, are my preference.
And actually, recently, I’ve been reading a lot of 9-12-year-old, award-winning books. Well written, clean, educational, and fun.
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I understand why many readers won’t touch a hardcore novel. I find overly graphic depictions of crime as off-putting as the silliness I’ve seen in some cozies. I’m glad there’s something out there for every reader, regardless of their taste and tolerance.
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Jackie is right that cozies are not “real” and are not meant to be. The average person does not hunt down killers! Cozies, or the less-cozy traditional mysteries (which is what I write), are about relationships and offer readers a puzzle to solve. The amateur detectives often have a strong sense of justice and want to see justice served, even in a fictional setting. I agree about the humorous cozies, which I avoid. Humor in mysteries is fine, but humorous mysteries are inappropriate in my view. Much of what I’ve written can be applied to any crime fiction sub genre, even the more realistic ones.
Jackie is also right about the cookie cutter aspect of many contemporary cozies. That is largely due to publishers wanting to appeal to readers. I prefer older, less cutesy cozies like Gillian Roberts, Joan Smith, Melinda Wells, and Hazel Holt to name a few.
Thanks for a thought-provoking post, Miko.
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You make some interesting points, Maggie, which I will consider. I guess it comes down to what appeals to the reader, and as you state, many read – devour – cozies. I prefer more realism in my stories, or as I’ve mentioned many times, believability.
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Wow, interesting opinion, Miko, and it makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, I do write some cozy mysteries, and often tell people “I kill people for a living,” and laugh about it as I explain. Mysteries are just that–mysteries, and sometimes people do get killed in them, right or wrong. And I’m certainly never graphic about explaining those murders. Hopefully, our readers do understand that it’s all fiction, not true, but mysteries to be solved on the page.
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I understand the pleasure in solving the mystery, like assembling the pieces of a puzzle (which I don’t enjoy either). I also have great respect for what you’ve accomplished as a writer. You couldn’t have built the audience you have if readers didn’t enjoy what you write. Something for everyone.
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I always want the bad guy or gal caught. That’s why I write detective novels where they don’t sip tea in between stumbling over the next dead body and before they have the miraculous revelation as to whodunit on the second to the last page. The formula-cozies on TV are only fun if you watch them like a drinking game. Each time they do one of the obvious scenes, you have another drink of booze. My detectives just want to solve the crime before anybody else dies. Good post.
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I never tried your drinking game, but if I do I’ll make sure not to drive – I’d rather read or write about criminals than be one 🙂 . Seriously, we always want the crime to be solved, the criminals caught and punished, which unfortunately did not happen with either of the murders I wrote about. Gayle, your mysteries entertain the reader but they never treat crime lightly.
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Like Jackie, I read Cozies for entertainment. They don’t even all have murders, but some other crime or mystery. I enjoy the escapism of reading something that is not too harsh and doesn’t tax my brain too much – and I’m partial to interesting or different locations. Although I do read about harsh and gruesome murders for ‘work’ when I’m doing research. But not for relaxation…
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I agree with you about enjoying something lighter. I believe some authors can write cozy mysteries that don’t include murder, or at least won’t trivialize it. I’m open to suggestions….
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