Cozy

Cozy

   Think Agatha Christie. Think cats. Think culinary. The cozy is a mystery in which a murder, perhaps violent, is committed without bringing significant unpleasantness to the reader, or to the other characters in the story. In her entertaining 1977 book, Murder Ink, Dilys Winn described the cozy as "a small village setting, a hero[ine] with faintly aristocratic family connections, a plethora of red herrings, and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay."  

 The Agatha Award nominees and winners are either cozies or on the cozier side.

 Here are some examples: