Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

When people think of cozy mysteries, they often think of lighter books, fun characters, and an opportunity to escape from the real world. Cozies can be all of those things, but that doesn’t mean they’re all ‘froth,’ with no deeper undertones. Like other crime novels, cozies sometimes deal with difficult issues, societal ills, and dysfunction. They may address those issues in a different way, but look beneath the surface of a cozy, and you can often find real-life issues being explored.

For instance, J. Ivanel Johnson’s Just a Stale Mate is, at first glance, the story of amateur sleuth Polly Jane (P.J.) Whistler visiting a friend, Hillary Steele, and also visiting her godson, Inspector Philip Steele. During the visit, the son of a good family friend dies from what seems like suicide. It’s not, though, and before long, both Inspector Steele and his godmother are involved in the investigation. Along with other things, this book addresses the issue of drug addiction and treatment, attitudes towards those who are addicted, and other, deeper issues.

Joy Ann Ribar’s Shake-speared in the Park features Bay Browning, an English Literature professor who’s working on a school production of Shakespeare’s Couch, a takeoff on Shakespeare’s work. When one of the cast members dies, the police begin an investigation. Other things begin to happen, though, that make it clear that someone is trying to sabotage the production. The novel has the features people generally associate with a cozy: amateur sleuthing, focus on characters, a bit of romance, and so on. But at the same time, it addresses serious issues like illicit drug sales on campus and bullying.

In Kelly Young’s Travel Writer series, we meet Casey Robertson, a photographer who does a series of travel articles on different towns in Ontario. She, her husband, Jim, and their friends get to see some beautiful places, eat delicious food, and take part in some fascinating and fun shopping, cultural events, and more. But Casey is no stranger to trouble. In each novel in the series, there’s a crime, often murder, and Casey gets drawn in. These are cozy mysteries, but that doesn’t mean they’re unrealistically light. In them, Young addresses topics like domestic abuse, drug use, and the not-always-positive impact of social media challenges. The novels do have wit in them, but underneath, we see the impact of some of the social issues addressed in them.

The same might be said of Carolyn Wilkins’ Bertie Bigelow novels. Bertie is a widowed college choir director based in Chicago. She’s passionate about music, but in Melody For Murder, she gets drawn into a murder case when one of her students is suspected of killing Judge Theophilous Green. Along with the actual murder case, there are some larger issues raised. Wilkins also addresses political corruption, organized crime, and the challenges faced in an urban environment. Murder at the Wham Bam Club, which is coming out in July, takes place during the 1920s, and features Black characters. So the racial issues of the day are woven into that story.

Harini Nagendra’s Bangalore Detectives Club novels are set in 1920’s Bangalore, and feature Kaveri Murtha and her husband, Ramu. In them, Kaveri gets drawn into murder, intrigue, and mystery. And those mysteries are central to the books. But at the same time, Nagendra explores larger social issues. For instance, there’s the role of women, and what is expected of them. There’s also the issue of colonialism and prejudice. Poverty, too, is explored. The fact that these larger questions are addressed doesn’t mean the novels are gritty or overly grim. But they do explore important, real-life social issues.

So do Jinny Alexander’s Jess O’Malley novels. Jess lives in the small Irish town of Ballyfortnum, where she works at the local garden store. Like other cozy mystery sleuths, Jess gets drawn into murder cases when she and people she knows are mixed up in them. The novels are low in violence and grit, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t explore some of the difficult social issues we face in real life. For instance, A Diet of Death takes up the topic of diet fads and body image, as well as the actual murder mystery. And A Wake of Buzzards brings up important land use, land conservation, and economics issues. Other topics come up, too.

They do in Erik D’Souza’s Suzanne Rickson novels, too. Suzanne lives with her husband Charles in Secret Cove, a retirement townhouse complex. In Death in Halfmoon Bay, she becomes the prime suspect when another resident dies of poisoning. In Death on the Rocks, she starts asking questions when the director of her theatre troupe falls from rocks into the Salish Sea. The books are light, but that doesn’t mean they’re insubstantial. D’Souza brings up some social issues such as ageism and politics.

Gail Langer Karwoski’s Watercolor mysteries feature Jane Roland and her painting group. In both A Brush With Murder and Skeleton in the Art Closet, the group gets mixed up in murder when the members discover a body (in A Brush With Murder) and a skeleton (in Skeleton in the Art Closet). In both novels, the theme is painting, so there’s information about watercolor painting. The characters in the group are also very important, as are their relationships with each other. But Karkowski also addresses other issues (such as the ethics of horse racing and illegal drugs used in the racing world). These are cozy mysteries, but they also address some thornier issues.

You wouldn’t necessarily think of Tom Mead’s work as ‘cozy;’ most people think of it as Golden-Age style writing, where the focus is on the puzzle. But that doesn’t mean Mead ignores the social issues of the time (1930s) when his books are set. For instance, in The Murder Wheel, Carla Dean is accused of killing her husband while they were riding on a Ferris wheel. On the surface, it doesn’t seem that anyone but Carla could be the murderer, but she claims she’s innocent. One of the issues here is the attitudes of the time towards women, and how that can lead to a miscarriage of justice. It’s an interesting way to weave social issues into a novel that is very focused on plot.

Social justice and other social issues are challenges we all face. They can be complex and difficult, and not always what you think of when you think of cozy/traditional mysteries. And yet, they’re there.

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a song by Dan Fogelberg.