# Cozy Mystery Tropes



## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

I've just started the writing of my first Cozy mystery which will be under a pen name. I have mapped out most of the Tropes for a mystery and worked those into my outline, however before I get too far into it I was wanting to identify specific cozy mystery tropes.

I have read the book 'Writing The Cozy Mystery' by Nancy Cohen which was great and highly recommended.

So I was wondering if members here are aware of any other resources that might prove to be helpful specifically for Cozies?

One burning question I have, and would greatly appreciate feedback on, is my outline for the new mystery in the new series see's the murder taking place in chapter 6. The other chapters are all world building and character introduction. Is chapter 6 of about 21 too far in or okay for Cozies? In a regular mystery I would have it in chapter 1 but I suspect cozies may be a little different.

Would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas and suggestions


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

As a reader of cozy mysteries, I wouldn't like to wait six chapters for the murder.


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## Lucey Phillips (Aug 31, 2015)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> As a reader of cozy mysteries, I wouldn't like to wait six chapters for the murder.


+1 I read cozies regularly and it's pretty unusual not to have a the murder in chapter one.


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

I am a cozy mystery reader and writer. My suggestion is to read cozy mysteries -- lots of them -- to discover the structure.


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## Genre Hoarder (Oct 4, 2014)

I write cozies. They don't all involve a murder, but each of them has something (murder, theft, etc.) happen in the first chapter. Definitely read some cozies and study them. Good luck!


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. I have mostly read and wrote hard boiled mysteries in past. Will go and read a lot of cozies


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## ElizaDee (Nov 25, 2013)

I had a stack of recent, trad published cozies sitting by my desk so I thought I'd check for you.

1. Body appears in Chapter One, on page 14 of 288 (but this one was odd, because the body was briefly discovered, then disappeared, the police didn't believe it ever existed, and it didn't reappear until page 70).

2. Body first mentioned in Chapter Four, on page 38 of 293.

3. Death first mentioned in Chapter Five, on page 38 of 318.

4. Body in Chapter Four, page 18 of 279.

5. Body on page 64 of 312 (book uses dates instead of traditional chapters, so it's nine days in but some entries are shorter than typical chapters).

In these examples, the murder is first discovered or mentioned anywhere between 5% and 20% of the way through the book, with an average of about 11%. It's a small sample size, but the pattern is consistent with my first inclination, which was to say "the discovery of the body in a murder mystery is usually the inciting event, which takes place around the 1/8 mark."


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

ElizaDee said:


> I had a stack of recent, trad published cozies sitting by my desk so I thought I'd check for you.
> 
> 1. Body appears in Chapter One, on page 14 of 288 (but this one was odd, because the body was briefly discovered, then disappeared, the police didn't believe it ever existed, and it didn't reappear until page 70).
> 
> ...


Fascinating ... thanks for taking the time. Yes I was sure I had read some Christie mysteries in the past were the inciting incident took place some way into the story.

Based on the other feedback above though it did get me thinking and I have come up with a cunning plan (over lunch) to introduce a second victim right on page one


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## ElizaDee (Nov 25, 2013)

MooreFiction said:


> Fascinating ... thanks for taking the time. Yes I was sure I had read some Christie mysteries in the past were the inciting incident took place some way into the story.
> 
> Based on the other feedback above though it did get me thinking and I have come up with a cunning plan (over lunch) to introduce a second victim right on page one


You're welcome! For Christie, if memory serves, it varied, depending on whether Poirot happened to be on the scene when a murder just happened to occur (in which case, it happened a bit into the story) or whether the story would start with Inspector Japp showing up and asking for help--but that's a bit different since he's a professional detective, when most cozies now have amateur solvers. (Plus it's not a very good gauge of what sells now, as opposed to in the 1930s...)

I also noticed that, in the book I mentioned above in which the murder happened the latest of the five, the woman who eventually becomes the victim is introduced at exactly the 12.5% mark, so the inciting event in that case is her appearance--and that book won an Agatha for best first novel...


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Modern "cozy" mysteries are a subgenre of what used to be called Cozy and is now called "traditional." If you break a rule, you can just start calling it traditional mystery.

Basically, publishers became hardened into certain formulas, and the audience came to expect those formulas -- but there is a larger audience that likes things a little looser. (It's just that that audience is harder to promote to.)

IMHO, if you want to delay the body in a cozy, you can do it. And you can even please the hard-wired cozy readers who want things to happen in step with the formula... but you have to be sure that there is some driving, page-turning element that happens at least by page one. You have to have something for the amateur sleuth to be investigating, and it has to feel like it's central to the story, and is a puzzle, and is important.

Now, if you are writing for the slightly wider cozy audience, you have more leeway. Agatha Christie fans (and Dorothy Sayers and fans of all the "Golden Age" writers) are fine with a slower pace if you are giving them a rich world, and they feel you are setting up the suspects and story, etc. You can, sometimes, delay the murder to very late in the book.

A while ago I wrote a blog post about how to delay finding a body in a cozy (and also why I think it's important not to rush it). I think I included a few techniques in it. The main one that comes to mind is what I call the "Jaws" method. If you MUST have a quiet setup before the crime enters the lives of the characters, give us a teaser scene at the beginning so we know where it's going. Just like in Jaws, where we see a shark attack before the characters are aware of it.

Edit to add: here's the blog post, Delaying the Body in a Cozy

Camille


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

daringnovelist said:


> Modern "cozy" mysteries are a subgenre of what used to be called Cozy and is now called "traditional." If you break a rule, you can just start calling it traditional mystery.
> 
> Basically, publishers became hardened into certain formulas, and the audience came to expect those formulas -- but there is a larger audience that likes things a little looser. (It's just that that audience is harder to promote to.)
> 
> ...


Thanks so much Camille. That is great information and clarified a few things for me. So greatly appreciate your help.
I think when I used the word Cozy in my mind I was thinking along the lines of Christie where there was a build to the inciting incident.

I definitely feel that the six chapter lead in is important to my overall story and that there is enough of a hook to pull the reader through. Fingers crossed anyway.

Will go and read your blog post. Again thanks


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## joyceharmon (May 21, 2012)

MooreFiction said:


> One burning question I have, and would greatly appreciate feedback on, is my outline for the new mystery in the new series see's the murder taking place in chapter 6. The other chapters are all world building and character introduction. Is chapter 6 of about 21 too far in or okay for Cozies? In a regular mystery I would have it in chapter 1 but I suspect cozies may be a little different.


I actually prefer the mysteries that delay the murder, and introduce you to the victim before he/she is The Body. And the cozy genre allows it, so long as you keep the reader's interest otherwise. Most cozies that are series have the sleuth (usually an amateur) and the sleuth's wacky friends and relations, so that can keep things percolating while you're waiting for the corpse to show up. I've continued to follow some series when the murders and the solution to the mysteries were really kinda lame, because the continuing saga of the sleuth's life and the wacky friends kept my interest. But intricate mystery solutions and a boring cast of characters, not so much.


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

MooreFiction said:


> I definitely feel that the six chapter lead in is important to my overall story and that there is enough of a hook to pull the reader through. Fingers crossed anyway.
> 
> Will go and read your blog post. Again thanks


The body didn't show up until the 5 chapter on my third novel. I couldn't move it up because of the set-up. I've seen cozies where the body doesn't even show up until halfway through the book (although I'm usually bored by then).


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## jec (May 13, 2015)

Cozies give you a little more latitude to have the body show up later. I always think it's more interesting to see the amateur sleuth interact with the soon to be dearly departed before they actually depart. Delaying the murder gives you an opportunity to plant potential clues regarding motive and potentially show why the sleuth would choose to investigate that particular murderer. Cozies are as much about the relationships between the characters as they are about the murders.


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## Maia Sepp Ross (May 10, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> Edit to add: here's the blog post, Delaying the Body in a Cozy
> 
> Camille


Thanks so much for this, Camille! I'm also writing a cozy, and have read a ton of modern ones lately, and it's also my impression that you can delay it a little bit.


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## Lou Harpr (Nov 5, 2014)

Ngaio Marsh books take a long time to get to the murder but it never bothers me because I enjoy the writing, but contemporary custom is to introduce the murder early on. Maybe you could introduce another crime/mystery at the start to engage the readers and work your way up to the real case.


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

You can delay the body. It can be a good way of establishing multiple motives among your characters.

I'm dabbling with a three act murder mystery play. The first act has the victim wandering around being thoroughly unpleasant to the rest of the cast, only to die at the first curtain. The second act is the bulk of the murder investigation. And then the third act is the twist.


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

artan said:


> The body didn't show up until the 5 chapter on my third novel. I couldn't move it up because of the set-up. I've seen cozies where the body doesn't even show up until halfway through the book (although I'm usually bored by then).


Thanks for that artan. Yes I have tried to play around with the set up in my story and deleted a chapter. So my body will be showing up in chapter 5 as well.


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

joyceharmon said:


> I actually prefer the mysteries that delay the murder, and introduce you to the victim before he/she is The Body. And the cozy genre allows it, so long as you keep the reader's interest otherwise. Most cozies that are series have the sleuth (usually an amateur) and the sleuth's wacky friends and relations, so that can keep things percolating while you're waiting for the corpse to show up. I've continued to follow some series when the murders and the solution to the mysteries were really kinda lame, because the continuing saga of the sleuth's life and the wacky friends kept my interest. But intricate mystery solutions and a boring cast of characters, not so much.


Thanks Joyce. Yes agreed the key will be to keep the readers interest in the build up. I have introduced a mystery with a twist in the first page to ensure it happens which is related to the murder in chapter 5 so hopefully that will work. Defintely think if the characters and their relationships is strong it will carry the reader through


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

jec said:


> Cozies give you a little more latitude to have the body show up later. I always think it's more interesting to see the amateur sleuth interact with the soon to be dearly departed before they actually depart. Delaying the murder gives you an opportunity to plant potential clues regarding motive and potentially show why the sleuth would choose to investigate that particular murderer. Cozies are as much about the relationships between the characters as they are about the murders.


Glad to read your comment " I always think it's more interesting to see the amateur sleuth interact with the soon to be dearly departed before they actually depart" as that is how my story unfolds. So thanks


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

Lou Harpr said:


> Ngaio Marsh books take a long time to get to the murder but it never bothers me because I enjoy the writing, but contemporary custom is to introduce the murder early on. Maybe you could introduce another crime/mystery at the start to engage the readers and work your way up to the real case.


Thanks Lou ... thats excatly what I have done after reading yours and others comments.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

In a couple of the Cat Who.... books by Lilian Jackson Braun (yes, they're somewhat ancient), the murder takes place halfway through the book, or in some cases takes place in another location away from the main character.  In fact there are a couple of books in which the MC solves a murder that occurred years in the past.  (However, in the interest of full disclosure, the Cat Who... books were starting to decline in quality toward the end, so make of that what you will.   )


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## juliatheswede (Mar 26, 2014)

I can't help but feel that most of the stuff mentioned here fits a regular murder mystery, not necessarily a cozy. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone tells me their story is a cozy, I think first and foremost that this will be a fluffy, light murder mystery, emphasis on the light and fluffy. Absolutely no gore and often lots of humor. I consider Christie a traditional mystery writer more than a cozy mystery writer. At least the stories with Poirot.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

juliatheswede said:


> I can't help but feel that most of the stuff mentioned here fits a regular murder mystery, not necessarily a cozy. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone tells me their story is a cozy, I think first and foremost that this will be a fluffy, light murder mystery, emphasis on the light and fluffy. Absolutely no gore and often lots of humor. I consider Christie a traditional mystery writer more than a cozy mystery writer. At least the stories with Poirot.


Originally, most of the classic mystery writers were considered "cozy" writers. It was simply an insult hurled at them by writers of hard-boiled fiction. And it included anything not gritty. There is a generation gap now surrounding the Cozy -- those who started in on cozy books from before the mystery publishing crash of the 1990s, and those who started reading them after. It's very upsetting for those of use who love old cozies -- and yes, they are cozy, and clean and comfortable books, about murder -- for the category to narrow so much it excludes every single one of the top writers in our field.

But you are right that what is being published today -- and the audience that looks for those books -- is much narrower and more strict, and I think that any writer who wants to write a cozy should be aware of that. If your book is exactly like the previous generation's cozy mysteries, then it probably should be called "traditional" even though it is actually cozy in tone and subject matter.

However, I do think that the genre is broadening out again. It was always the very most popular genre of all, and the one with the widest variety of subgenres, but it got slammed by a series of forces in publishing. (I wrote about this in a blog post "The Murder of the Mystery Genre.")

It seems that the general audience is coming back, and that means that restrictions are going to go out the window -- but new ones will form.

Camille


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

juliatheswede said:


> I can't help but feel that most of the stuff mentioned here fits a regular murder mystery, not necessarily a cozy. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone tells me their story is a cozy, I think first and foremost that this will be a fluffy, light murder mystery, emphasis on the light and fluffy. Absolutely no gore and often lots of humor. I consider Christie a traditional mystery writer more than a cozy mystery writer. At least the stories with Poirot.


For me, a cozy is pretty light, as you say. Poirot is NOT Cozy; Miss Marple is sometimes. The actual 'kill' is never described. Tommy and Tuppence were actually closer to a modern cozy.

The investigator has to be an amateur -- who is probably a big headache for the local law in that they keep meddling because they think the _professional_ investigators are ignoring critical clues and/or not competent.

There's often some semblance of a romance, but that's not to say that it IS a _Romance_.

Investigators are almost always female, often single, and usually have a regular activity that means that it's not completely unbelievable that she keeps tripping over dead bodies.  I'm thinking a series when I say that -- think Jessica Fletcher of _Murder She Wrote_ who lives in the murder capital of Maine. 

There are popular cozy series where the sleuth runs a bookshop, a bakery, an antique/used clothing shop, is a realtor, or delivery person. But there is also a series that features a chef as the amateur detective. *He* works with a female professional detective. Which is a nice twist. 

The amateur's specialized knowledge is often critical to the solution.

She (usually a she, as I said, so I'm sticking with that pronoun) may also have a sidekick. One or the other one is often single and looking . . . which is where the hint of romance often comes in. She may have a close friend or relative who is a more professional sort of investigator -- who spends most of the book telling her to stay out of it.

It's usually set in a small town, or in a very specific neighborhood of a larger city. Everyone knows everyone. Always suspect the strangers, but sometimes the killer is someone they've known all their lives or closely related.

The body doesn't have to show up RIGHT away, but there ought to be something weird that happens in the first chapter . . . maybe a mysterious something going missing or a break in or something like that.

Red Herrings are perfectly appropriate, but the reader must be able to figure it out based on clues provided.

The denouement is usually triggered by the main sleuth getting herself into trouble/putting herself in danger either on purpose or accidentally. But please, PLEASE, _PLEASE_ don't make her too stupid to live!


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

daringnovelist said:


> Originally, most of the classic mystery writers were considered "cozy" writers. It was simply an insult hurled at them by writers of hard-boiled fiction. And it included anything not gritty. There is a generation gap now surrounding the Cozy -- those who started in on cozy books from before the mystery publishing crash of the 1990s, and those who started reading them after. It's very upsetting for those of use who love old cozies -- and yes, they are cozy, and clean and comfortable books, about murder -- for the category to narrow so much it excludes every single one of the top writers in our field.
> 
> But you are right that what is being published today -- and the audience that looks for those books -- is much narrower and more strict, and I think that any writer who wants to write a cozy should be aware of that. If your book is exactly like the previous generation's cozy mysteries, then it probably should be called "traditional" even though it is actually cozy in tone and subject matter.
> 
> ...


You have a wonderful knowledge of the genre Camille. Thanks for sharing it.

My understanding of a cosy it that they typically:

- The protagonist is an amateur sleuth, usually a female who is reluctant to get involved but does anyway.
- The protagonist is often assisted by a sidekick
- Is set in a familiar place such as an English village. Same location used in each story in series so it become familiar
- A regular set of characters who are the friends, family and locals of the setting.
- A Murder occurs though not described in detail and not focused on police procedures
- The victim is typically someone that lots of people wanted dead so anyone could have done it
- Clues and red herrings are threaded throughout allowing the protagonist (and astute reader) to piece it together
- The authorities investigating are typically incompetent in some manner and miss vital clues or jump to the wrong conclusions.
- Protagonist solves the mystery after a twist in the story line
- There is a reveal scene at the end where Protagonist identifies the killer who is usually the least suspected
- Graphic violence, sex scenes and bad language are virtually non existent
- Characters and their relationships that develop during the story are the real key to holding readers interests.

Anything I have missed?

I guess the key things in my mind that make it a cosy and not just a traditional mystery is the confined setting, the nature of the protagonist, and the toned down nature of the story by comparison to a hard boilded.

Just my thoughts.


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For me, a cozy is pretty light, as you say. Poirot is NOT Cozy; Miss Marple is sometimes. The actual 'kill' is never described. Tommy and Tuppence were actually closer to a modern cozy.
> 
> The investigator has to be an amateur -- who is probably a big headache for the local law in that they keep meddling because they think the _professional_ investigators are ignoring critical clues and/or not competent.
> 
> ...


That is a wonderful summary thanks Ann. Echoes a lot of what I listed in my post at the same time as yours. You have some great thoughts here which I am going to factor in to the story line of my book so thank you.


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## juliatheswede (Mar 26, 2014)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For me, a cozy is pretty light, as you say. Poirot is NOT Cozy; Miss Marple is sometimes. The actual 'kill' is never described. Tommy and Tuppence were actually closer to a modern cozy.
> 
> The investigator has to be an amateur -- who is probably a big headache for the local law in that they keep meddling because they think the _professional_ investigators are ignoring critical clues and/or not competent.
> 
> ...


Yes, this is exactly what I think of when someone tells me they've written a cozy. Thanks for the summary, Ann. Agree that Poirot is not cozy, but that Ms. Maples might be...


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## 57280 (Feb 20, 2012)

Hi Friends:

Rather than start anew, I stumbled across this thread and thought I'd add my questions.

I'm used to the old-school cozy, which I think of as Miss Marple. Is the main difference with old and new, that the new has to have the hint of romance? I'm also noting the modern device of what I call the venue gimmick: bakery, craft shop, antique shop, fabric shop, complete with recipes, craft ideas, etc. Is this trope hard and fast for the new cozy?

Finally, page count. Are we in category romance territory, say 55-65k? Or do most modern cozy readers demand more?


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## Mari Oliver (Feb 12, 2016)

Hi MooreFiction, cozy mysteries are so fun! Best of luck with your publication. As a mystery fan since I could read books, definitely my advice is to read a lot of cozies, especially the master Agatha Christie. She's amazing and has a lot of books to choose from. There's also a tv series made from her novels (Poirot & Miss Marple from PBS), I'd say to watch those as well. M.C. Beaton is pretty good too and her Agatha Raisin novels are hilariously murderous.  

The best way to learn a genre is to read non-stop in it, absorb it, and roll around in it. Books, movies, plays...yes, those murder mystery plays are super fun as well. 

Far as word count, cozies tend to be around 70ishk.


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## George Saoulidis (Feb 2, 2016)

If you didn't know it already, you are going to hate me for ruining your productivity: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MysteryFiction
See ya in three days.


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## DashaGLogan (Jan 30, 2014)

I say, write your mystery the way you think it works best and worry less about "how it has to be".
In some books, it can be great when the initial conflict takes up quite a bit of space and the reader has to wonder who of all these people will be the victim. The knowledge that a murder is coming can make for very compelling reading.
Do your thing and do it well.


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## noirhvy (Dec 29, 2015)

Any old time is a good time for a nice murder (in a novel, of course).


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## Anna Drake (Sep 22, 2014)

George Saoulidis said:


> If you didn't know it already, you are going to hate me for ruining your productivity: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MysteryFiction
> See ya in three days.


Thanks.


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## Spin52 (Sep 6, 2015)

Casper Bogart said:


> Hi Friends:
> 
> Rather than start anew, I stumbled across this thread and thought I'd add my questions.
> 
> ...


I sure hope the food/crafts venue gimmick isn't essential, as I have one series set in a research lab and the other simply in a particular neighborhood. My characters in the first series are a team of five scientists and a nosy Italian-American widow in the second. And far from her becoming involved reluctantly, the perfectly competent police fight a constant battle to discourage her. 
I had a look at where I committed my murders, so to speak, and over 14 books, the average was on page 44. (that's in books of 75,000 words for the first series and 65,000 for the second). There are also three books where the murder happens (or the body is discovered) in the prologue and then the narrative catches up to it later.


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## Lou Harpr (Nov 5, 2014)

In Simon Brett's Charles Paris mysteries the amateur sleuth is a hard drinking actor, who keeps stumbling into murders. In Ngaio Marsh' books it's a police detective--most of the time. All cozies I can think of have a set of characters from the start, one dies, and another one is the murderer. The investigation is mostly about digging into the characters, as opposed to following police procedures.


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## MooreFiction (Jan 8, 2016)

Thanks everyone for your responses. They have been great to read. Apologies also for the delay in getting back here to this thread. 
Well I am happy to report that I finished my first cozy novel 'Murder At Ash Castle' and published it under the pen name Jessica Moore.

Thought I should go with a pen name as I have not seen many cozies written by males.

The murder ended up in the fifth chapter and I think it works well. Overall I was very happy with the result given it was my first novel and I really still learning what I am doing. Thanks again everyone for your input and taking the time to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

ElizaDee said:


> You're welcome! For Christie, if memory serves, it varied, depending on whether Poirot happened to be on the scene when a murder just happened to occur (in which case, it happened a bit into the story) or whether the story would start with Inspector Japp showing up and asking for help--but that's a bit different since he's a professional detective, when most cozies now have amateur solvers. (Plus it's not a very good gauge of what sells now, as opposed to in the 1930s...)
> 
> I also noticed that, in the book I mentioned above in which the murder happened the latest of the five, the woman who eventually becomes the victim is introduced at exactly the 12.5% mark, so the inciting event in that case is her appearance--and that book won an Agatha for best first novel...


Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I have been looking into this genre and as I understand it, the cozy part is that the detective is not a professional. So, by that token, is Poirot 'cozy' at all? I can see where Miss Marple would be, but Poirot was a professional detective.


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## juliatheswede (Mar 26, 2014)

Doglover said:


> Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I have been looking into this genre and as I understand it, the cozy part is that the detective is not a professional. So, by that token, is Poirot 'cozy' at all? I can see where Miss Marple would be, but Poirot was a professional detective.


Since he's a professional detective, Poirot mysteries are not considered cozies.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

juliatheswede said:


> Since he's a professional detective, Poirot mysteries are not considered cozies.


They are by me.  I think "cosy" really just refers to the tone of the books. The more grit and authenticity, the less cosy it is. Poirot mysteries are not in any way gory or disturbing, but are character-based rather than procedure-based. That, to me, makes them cosy.


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## NoBlackHats (Oct 17, 2012)

Lydniz said:


> They are by me.  I think "cosy" really just refers to the tone of the books. The more grit and authenticity, the less cosy it is. Poirot mysteries are not in any way gory or disturbing, but are character-based rather than procedure-based. That, to me, makes them cosy.


I'd agree with that.  There are definitely different flavors of cozies as the genre has developed, including paranormal and some with stronger language or grittier bad guys, but to me, it's all about the interesting characters.


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## noirhvy (Dec 29, 2015)

Remember, its not so much what you do, it's how you do it. Can YOU keep the reader entertained while waiting for the body to appear?


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## AliceS (Dec 28, 2014)

> Originally, most of the classic mystery writers were considered "cozy" writers. It was simply an insult hurled at them by writers of hard-boiled fiction. And it included anything not gritty. There is a generation gap now surrounding the Cozy -- those who started in on cozy books from before the mystery publishing crash of the 1990s, and those who started reading them after. It's very upsetting for those of use who love old cozies -- and yes, they are cozy, and clean and comfortable books, about murder -- for the category to narrow so much it excludes every single one of the top writers in our field.
> 
> But you are right that what is being published today -- and the audience that looks for those books -- is much narrower and more strict, and I think that any writer who wants to write a cozy should be aware of that. If your book is exactly like the previous generation's cozy mysteries, then it probably should be called "traditional" even though it is actually cozy in tone and subject matter.


Once again the Kboards answers my question before I even post it! You guys rock.

I was worried that my cozy series wasn't cozy. I checked the category on Amazon and they all had kittens or cupcakes and cartooned covers - which is all well and good - but apples and oranges here. I guess I am "traditional" because my books are g-rated, murder happens off-stage, solved by an amateur, but I don't think they're fluffy enough for the new definition. Could be why they are my worst selling books. Time to re-categorize.

So a question for the old-school cozy readers - do you search for "traditional" as a keyword?


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## MattGodbey (Jul 8, 2016)

AliceS said:


> Once again the Kboards answers my question before I even post it! You guys rock.
> 
> I was worried that my cozy series wasn't cozy. I checked the category on Amazon and they all had kittens or cupcakes and cartooned covers - which is all well and good - but apples and oranges here. I guess I am "traditional" because my books are g-rated, murder happens off-stage, solved by an amateur, but I don't think they're fluffy enough for the new definition. Could be why they are my worst selling books. Time to re-categorize.
> 
> So a question for the old-school cozy readers - do you search for "traditional" as a keyword?


I don't search for traditional, but maybe I should as I am loathe of the cozy moniker.


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