Dear Friends,
I’ll confess, I can be a bit of a book snob. I’m not saying that proudly, but I do think some books are just better than others. I read a lot of books, and some of those books stand out. Books that changed the way I think about things. My most commonly recommended book in that category is The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. A work that truly made me understand the world around me in a different light.
And then there are the other books we read.
Beach Reads. Airplane books. Cozy Mysteries. These are all categories of books that offer something different than literature. These books don’t get read in your college lit class. I’m not saying these authors have not worked hard on their books or haven’t tried to perfect their craft. But they aren’t usually offering a new idea that changes my thinking. They are offering me ease. A fun protagonist. Perhaps some light sexual tension. And a slightly complicated murder that is entirely solvable in 300 pages without too much violence. It's the same reason people watch police procedurals. The world in which these mysteries occur is tidy. Lose ends aren’t left hanging. Justice prevails. Good guys succeed.
What is a Cozy Mystery?
Cozy Mysteries are usually described as mysteries where the violence or sex occurs outside of the reader’s view.
Why Are We Reading Cozy Mysteries?
We all know the real world doesn’t work this way. We are all acutely aware of the difficulties that we are facing, and many of us are feeling the weight of it as soon as we lay our eyes on our phones in the morning. So why read a cozy mystery? Ease and a reprieve for our nervous systems. For me, those 300 pages are an easy dive into solvable problems and a break from the much more complicated ones we face in life. Most of the media has transformed into a series of alarms to activate your nervous system. Our daily messages from social media to television are about hurry up and act now. Every email I get lately is telling me to hurry up and act before it's too late, from climate change to buying a sweater. Cozy mysteries bring me none of that intensity despite dropping clues over multiple chapters to solve who dunnit. And that’s why we are reading Cozy mysteries.
Lisa: The Bibliophile Mystery Series by Kate Carlisle
#7 A Cookbook Conspiracy: Brooklyn, a book restoration expert and librarian by trade, seems to have a knack for stumbling upon dead bodies. Specifically murdered ones. Luckily, between her and her handsome ex-MI6 boyfriend, these murders won’t go unsolved. And there will likely be some historical book that needs repair or restoration in the mix.
Anu: Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss
Cheesemonger Willa Bauer discovers that her new home in a small Sonoma Valley town is ripe for murder... something here stinks to high heaven, and Willa knows it's not the cheese.
I’m a sucker for charcuterie so when I learned there was a mystery series involving a cheese shop, I was sold. This mystery series has a lovable earnest protagonist, a classic rag team of crime solvers and takes place in wine country. A great relaxing escape read!
Any favorite mystery recs? Send them our way!
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