![]() ![]() ![]() “While the amateur detective has certainly stood the test of time, today’s amateur sleuth may be a doctor or lawyer or farmer,” says Wendy Tyson, author of both the Greenhouse Mysteries and Allison Campbell series. Indeed, of greater importance than the murder itself is the occupation or hobby of the amateur sleuth when not solving puzzles. These stories often take place in quaint villages, beach towns, or small B&Bs, and the protagonist is more of a knitter than an international woman of mystery. Cozies, on the other hand, strive to deliver a mystery within a world that is safe and relatable-but is then upended with a sprinkle of mayhem. Novels with romantic subplots but no sex on the page, and notoriously absent of gore-a chance to enjoy the company of old friends, perhaps, with a little murder on the side.īy definition, the cozy mystery stands in sharp contrast to more male-oriented popular fiction, the hard-boiled thrillers unabashedly keen to transport readers on adventures filled with assassins, political intrigue, sex, and gratuitous violence. More than 100 years after the publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles-her first novel of “quiet domestic interest”-readers continue to crave the classic whodunit, a story with a puzzle that they can solve alongside the protagonist. “I specialize,” Agatha Christie once said, “in murders of quiet domestic interest.” ![]() Agatha Christie is considered the grand dame of the Cozy Mystery, and Miss Marple the perfect protagonist. ![]()
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