If you have read the page on the Cozy Mystery Site where I have posted my definition of a Cozy Mystery, then you may be wondering why I have the village/small town as an important factor in a cozy mystery series. Most of the new series don’t take place in a village or small town environment. I received an email asking me about just this thing… and I responded in this manner:
It seems like we have had to substitute the traditional village/small town with people who have a common interest. Let’s face it, even our small towns are now overpopulated… to a degree which the town’s founding fathers didn’t expect. No longer is there just one “Main Street” with all of the local shops and businesses… Our Ben Franklin’s Five and Dimes have been pushed out>>> first by the Ace department stores, who in turn were pushed out by Lowe’s and Home Depot. Mildred’s Gift Shop has been pummeled into the ground in order to put up a Wal-Mart… which has also put an end to June’s Flower Shop (which doubled as a Greyhound Bus Line stop) and Albert’s Barber/Beauty Shop.
So, now we have book shops (of the small size variety), libraries, needlepoint and craft shops, cafés, housecleaning services (with a small group of employees… not something à la Molly Maids!), veterinarians’ offices, all sorts of places which enable the author to have the same characters working and playing together… from one book to the next.
I am fondly remembering back to the times when I would board the Greyhound bus in Ames, Iowa and travel up to my grandmother’s small town. I can actually envision a cozy mystery series that could easily have taken place there… amongst the church pot-luck dinners, the P. E. O. and D. A. R. meetings, the local diner, the pool, and the gazebo at the park. I can actually imagine my grandmother and her friends as feisty sleuths who could (and would!) solve crimes when they had time between their clubs and events… relying on the assistance and discretion of the other women in the sleuthing group.
I’m not so sure that the town I saw when I drove through a few years ago (with its townhouses and twirly pool water-work slides at the community pool) would still be considered a good setting for a cozy mystery series. However, I can imagine a cozy mystery series that could take place in the local newspaper’s office or the new physical fitness gym… with the employees solving crimes while putting out the news or training for their marathons. I guess that’s progress! (Or Not!)
Vickie says
I have always wondered about the small town settings for the cozy mysteries. Only so much murder can occur, or should occur, before the natives would get nervous and leave town. = )
I do like the small town atmosphere since I grew up mainly in small towns or on Air Force bases which are just like small towns. That might be why I enjoy the cozy genre so much.
Sara says
What an interesting observation about the move from small towns to communities (i.e. newspaper office, hair salons). Vickie, I can well imagine a cozy with a setting on an Air Force or Military base…sort of Jessica Fletcher meets NCIS. Wouldn’t that be fun!
Sharon says
I, too, live in a small town and have most of my life. We used to know everyone. We even had a blacksmith shop. Now we know hardly anyone. The old families have died off and are replaced by people wanting out of the cities. I think the village/small town feeling can be a state of mind. Cleo Coyle has made her coffeehouse mysteries seem “small town” just by having a good group of regulars. A lot of our small towns are now suburbs of big cities which should broaden the “field for murders” in our mysteries.
J.R. says
Excellent point. And, this is, after all, fiction we’re discussing, so why not the fictionalized small town.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Sharon,
What a shame about the small towns becoming suburbs. But, it is nice that the our mysteries can continue to have the same small town feelings to them…
Jackie says
What on earth is “the P. E. O. and D. A. R. meetings”? Sorry. but not all your readers are familiar with such abbreviations.
There is at least one reader who is not from North America, or even an English speaking country. 🙂 I am from Denmark.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Jackie,
When I was young, P. E. O. was a secret society for women. It has now gone public, and stands for Philanthropic Educational Organization.
As for D. A. R.>>> Daughters of the American Revolution.
I’m glad you asked, there are a lot of people in the USA who don’t know!
Nel says
Hi,
I believe that is why I love the cozy mysteries also. I grew up in a small town, and it was really great, better than the big city, (LA)….I’m reading one of Joanne Fluke’s books and really injoying it…
We can’t get Jessica any more on TV, so my kids bought me the whole series on DVD. I didn’t like it much when she moved to the city…too bad…
Take care……Nel
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Nel,
I LOVE those old Jessica shows… and much prefer the Cabot Cove seasons over the big city seasons, also! Of course, at the rate that the Cabot Cove people were being killed off, the Chamber of Commerce probably took up a collection to send Jessica away!!!
Moonlight says
One of my favorite scenes in a Murder She Wrote episode occurred during one of the shows filmed in England. One of Jessica’s friends is standing trial for murder. Jessica is there to testify as a character witness, I believe. The defense attempts to make an argument that Jessica must be the murderer given that everywhere she goes, a body turns up. I chuckle just thinking about it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Moonlight, my husband and I loved that episode. My husband thinks that is “the absolute best episode ever.” They were able to make fun of themselves in a way that fits perfectly within the episode. I am smiling just thinking about it, also. It was definitely in the British court system, perhaps England or, he thinks in Montreal.
Brenda says
I live in a small town! Everyone has known everyone from the moment of conception. There are some of us “late arrivals,” who love it here and don’t try to change it. My cozy will be set in a fictionalized version of my dear town. Before moving here I lived in two major cities. The anonymity there seems more fitting for thrillers and police procedurals. It was a big change when I arrived here where people knew my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Brenda,
Good luck on your Cozy! I’ve always preferred the idea of living in a small town. When I visited my grandmother in Northwood (Iowa) I always felt like I was home…
Ginger Blymyer says
Okay about abbreviations. I hate them. Even when they are explained at first, I forget what they mean. And never take it for granted that anyone remembers all the military terms and all that. Make the reading easy. Please.
Ricky says
I reiterate that Ann Waldron’s 5 “Princeton” featured books perfectly fit many catagories of cozy mysteries…such a shame there were so few.
Are there many collegiate theme series?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ricky, you might want to take a look at this Teachers as the Main Sleuths theme…
Madolyn says
I like the cozy mystery. I live in a small town and they still do exist! We still sit on the front porches, have cook outs and know most everyone. However, the big city does creep into the towns with shootings, robberies, etc. They come from the city and sometimes create havoc for the citizens. So, it’s possible that murder can occur throughout the valley of small towns.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Madolyn, I would love to live in a small town… and remember my grandmother’s fondly. Even though I would just visit, I knew a lot of the town’s people. My sister, mother, niece, and I drove through the town about ten years ago, and we were surprised at how much it had grown. There were actually townhouses, a new water park at the pool, and even a gym!
Mel Odom says
Thanks for this! My wife and I share a lot of cozy series, but they can be hard to track down. Now we have a list!
Mel
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Welcome to the site, Mel!
Mary B. says
Hi, everyone. I’m new to this site and write cozy mysteries. Came to a small southern town from Detroit and Cleveland. What a cultural difference! But I’ve tried to include this small-town atmosphere in my books and feel it adds to the “cozy” factor.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mary B, the small town atmosphere certainly has my vote!
Liesa says
Like a lot of people who take time out to read, I love the idea of a small town. As a writer, though, I want to create a story where most readers are instantly familiar with the world I put before them. That’s why I chose to set my mysteries in a suburb of a “tier two” big city. Plus, with a name like “Littleton” what could be cozier? From a big picture perspective, I think we all create small communities wherever we live. The cozy mystery writer has an obligation to put the reader directly into that cozy atmosphere quickly, so the easiest thing to use is a small town environment that fills us with nostalgia for a place we may never have been before.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Liesa, you are so right about people creating their own small communities, even though they live in a large city. Your mystery, Faith on the Rocks, sounds interesting. (I’m certainly glad you posted this comment.)
Liesa says
Thanks Danna! I have dipped into your site from time to time for the past few years and would love to get to know you. I admire your writing and appreciate knowing what’s going on in the cozy mystery world. Best wishes to you now and always.
Sherrill says
I live in a small town in Iowa and have lived in small towns most of my life. In Colorado and Missouri as well. There is nothing better than small town living. I love Cozy Mysteries they are my favorite books to read. Of course most of books are on my kindle now. This way I have most of my books with me when I leave home. I never leave home without a book.
I just joined this group this morning.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sherrill, welcome to the Cozy Mystery site! I love small town living. The times I spent at my grandmother’s house in Northwood, Iowa were some of my happiest childhood times.
These Kindles are fantastic, aren’t they. They’re sort of like Have Library, Will Travel.
Plum says
I so liked finding this post about small towns. They actually do still exist! I live in one in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which does still have one main street where all the businesses are, one stoplight (which is just a flasher), and a post office where everyone picks up their mail and the lobby there is never locked. And this is not unusual up here; there are way smaller towns and villages. As a matter of fact our BIGGEST city has only twenty thousand people, and that’s when the university is in session! I find small towns and small cities so much more calming and conducive to ideas for cozy mystery stories. Good luck to all of us who write them!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Plum, that certainly sounds like a very different way of life than here in San Antonio >>> and much more like the Cozy atmosphere! It does sound nice >>> though I suspect that actual cold in the winters might be a big difference too!
Plum says
You’re right there! But then the heat during our summers is also very different! 😉
Karen Emanuelson says
I grew up outside a small town in Wisconsin–Montello–nothing but woods & farms. I miss it so much! Had to leave when I joined the Army. Been stuck in a city, Colorado Springs, for the past 30 years, but am in the process of buying a ranch in Peyton–a nice ranching community.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Karen, there’s definitely something to be said for small town living. I haven’t lived in a small town in many years either, and have thought about going back some time. It seems unlikely, though, as I do want to stay close to one of my children, who are definitely “city mice”!
Christopher Wills says
Lots of idyllic cozy villages left in England. But if they are within commuting distance of a city local councils sell off land for more housing, and commuters flock to the villages, destroying the reason they want to live in them.
But they are great place to set cozy mysteries because there is the juxtaposition of the old world with the new and therefore lots of conflict.
Just starting my cozy career with three books this year hopefully.