Slang dictionary
cozy mystery
听摆 koh-zee mis-tuh-谤别别听]
黑料网 does cozy mystery mean?聽
In the world of books, cozy doesn’t just mean “soft socks and tea” 鈥� though those are optional and appropriate accessories for enjoying a good read. A cozy mystery, sometimes called cozy crime or even just cozy as a genre label, refers to a subcategory of mystery or crime fiction that includes murder…but in a gentler, less bloody, and more emotionally buffered way.
Think of a cozy mystery as what happens when homicide goes to brunch. There’s no graphic violence or disturbing autopsies, and these books have less harrowing representations of illicit activity. Instead, this genre features quirky towns, amateur sleuths, clever red herrings, humorous quips, emotional intelligence, and often an abundance of baked goods.
A cozy keeps the same elements as the mystery genre, known for its hard-boiled plots, but it softens the danger, conflict, intensity, and villains. If the vibes are comforting, the protagonist has healthy relationships, and everyone talks through their trauma in a therapist-approved way, you might just be reading a cozy.
Where does cozy mystery come from?
The word cozy comes from Scottish dialect and is potentially related to or derived from Scandinavian words such as the Norwegian koselig, a feeling of warmth, comfort, and contentment. It entered English in the 1700s, first referring to physical warmth (like a cozy blanket), and eventually became a metaphor for emotional and aesthetic comfort.
The use of cozy to describe fiction dates back to at least the 1980s, though the roots of the genre are older. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple is widely regarded as a proto-cozy heroine: an elderly spinster who solves murders in a quaint English village, with nary a trauma subplot in sight. (Academics sometimes call this the “Golden Age” influence.)
Publishing trade groups like the Mystery Writers of America and crime fiction scholars such as Kathleen Gregory Klein and Carolyn Hart have helped codify the genre’s tropes in the 20th century. The genre label cozy is most commonly applied to cozy mystery and cozy crime, but the concept has since expanded to other types of books. You might find cozy fantasy, cozy horror, culinary cozy, historical cozy, and even witchy cozy paranormal cat mysteries (yes, that’s real, and yes, there are dozens). There are even spozy novels across genres, or “spicy cozies,” that incorporate (consensual and nonthreatening) descriptions of sex and/or physical intimacy.聽
Examples of cozy mystery
Who uses cozy mystery?
The term is used by publishers, reviewers, readers, and writers to signal what isn’t in the book as much as what is. Cozy fans tend to be voracious readers who want intrigue without dread. You’ll find them on Goodreads, in genre-specific Facebook groups and whispering fiercely accurate character timelines in the cozy mystery subreddit. It’s particularly popular among women readers and writers, and many cozies explicitly center female protagonists, community, and care work.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of cozy mystery like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of cozy mystery that will help our users expand their word mastery.