Why You Should Read Cozy Mysteries: Part 1
What are cozy mysteries?
When I tell people I write cozy mystery novels, the first question most people ask is, “What are cozy mysteries?” And honestly, there’s not an easy answer other than, “They’re kind of like a Hallmark mystery.”
However, that seems like a cop-out answer to me because cozy mysteries have a lot of characteristics that make them unique. And the things that make cozy mystery books unique are the exact same reasons you should read them!
Let’s dive into the reasons you should read cozy mysteries.
1. Cozy mysteries are fast-paced.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy books I have to slog through because the action moves too slowly. In cozy mystery novels, the murder or other major crime typically takes place within the first chapter or two. After that, the characters get down to the business of solving the mystery. Every scene moves them toward finding the right suspect and putting them behind bars.
2. Cozy mysteries are short.
Sometimes you just want a book that doesn’t take forever to read. If you’re a fast reader, you can get through a cozy in a day or two.
I know you’re wanting a page count here, but that’s not a great qualifier for how long a book actually is, because it all depends on the size of your page, margins, font, and line spacing. Word count is the name of the game for authors and publishers, so let’s look at average word count for different genres.
Fantasy: 109,000
Historical fiction: 102,000
Science fiction: 98,000
General mystery: 91,000
Romance: 91,000
However, the sweet spot for cozy mysteries is 50,000–60,000 words. Even if you’re not a math whiz, you can see that’s a lot shorter than other genres!
3. Cozy mysteries won’t scare the living daylights out of you.
The “cozy” is in the genre name for a reason. You’re not going to be scared while reading a cozy mystery or after finishing it. If you want to go to bed terrified that someone’s going to sneak in and murder you in your sleep, cozy mystery novels aren’t going to provide that for you.
Even though there’s typically a murder in a cozy mystery, it almost always happens “off screen,” meaning it’s not described as it happens. Usually somebody stumbles upon a body, and the crime scene is not described in detail.
As for suspense, that typically only comes along when the sleuth confronts a suspect. Your heart might race a tiny bit in the moment, but it won’t last, because you know the sleuth won’t get killed. Cozies don’t kill off beloved characters!
4. Cozy mysteries are an escape.
Again, this is where the “cozy” comes in. You can easily curl up in your cozy reading nook and escape into a fictional cozy mystery world that’ll put a smile on your face without you even realizing it. You’ll imagine yourself as one of the quirky characters in the fictional town and daydream about living in it, even though there’s somehow an unusual amount of murders happening there.
