Why On Earth Do You Read (or Write) Cozy Mysteries?

So many books from which to choose. The world is awash with books, rooms overflow with them, including mine. So, with all the fiction and non-fiction at your fingertips, why do you choose to read cozy mysteries? Is it the appeal of the name, sort of contradictory. How can a mystery be cozy? Or is it because you are a pro at reading them and know what lies between those enticing covers?

I like a good mystery as long as it 1. isn’t overly-descriptive of violence or 2. graphically racy and 3. is a story that is well told. I want to be able to see through the eyes of the protagonist, feel what she feels, and get to know and like her. If the heroine of a story isn’t likable, count me out. And, I do want a satisfactory conclusion that leaves me wanting to read the next book.

All those are reasons to read cozies. But, why write them? I don’t know about you, but sometimes the real world gets a bit overwhelming. Things happen over which I have no control. I worry. I fret. I wonder what I can do to change things? Well, if I were the emperor…and I pick up my pencil, figuratively speaking. Actually, I sit down at my computer and think, “What if?”

Photo by Missy Day Albrecht

What if I were an investigative reporter for a top newspaper who loved my job but I loved my husband more? What if he died and my world shattered into pieces? Where would I go? What if I had a widowed mother who still lived in my home town of Levi, Oklahoma, in the two-storied farmhouse I’d grown up in. What if Mom wanted me to come home and sort of pull myself together? Sure, I’d go. But, what if, after I got there, weird and unexplainable things started happening and it soon became clear that one or more evil people were on the loose searching for a fabled hidden treasure and I happened to be right in their path? What then?

Or, what if I were a middle aged woman living in Atlanta with no living relatives except one, back home in Ednalee, Oklahoma? My Uncle Javin needed me. He sounded desperate and asked me to come. What if I quit my job, loaded my car and hurried back to Oklahoma? But, what if, after I got there, I found my poor uncle had been shot and his last words were to find something and he mentioned “Rose.” What if I, as that middle aged woman, became the target of the same deranged mind that had snuffed out the life of my uncle?

Well, what if I, a retired kindergarten teacher and silver-haired grandmother, put pen to paper and wrote those mysteries? I might not be able to control a lot of things, but you can bet I’d control those mysteries and the characters within. But, what if the characters had minds of their own and took off in directions that led them into all sorts of situations? 

This “what if” business can lead one on some merry chases. But, the chases and mysteries are fun! (See all those cozy mysteries by Blanche Day Manos.) The bad guys always get caught, unlike real life, where that doesn’t always happen. The endings are always satisfying, and in between, it’s fun to match wits with the protagonists and see if you can solve the mystery before she does.

Oh, and did I mention that cozies are best enjoyed with a cup of steaming coffee or hot tea or a tall glass of iced Lipton’s? But, that’s just part of the fun. These are a few of the reasons I read and write those intriguing cozy mysteries.

Photo by Missy Day Albrecht