Answer: More than you think and increasing all the time.
mysteries (and sub-sub-genres within those).
The Amazon Kindle store, where indie cozy mystery authors
sell the majority of their books, lists three sub-genre categories under their cozy mystery category. They are:
Craft & Hobby Cozies
I believe that two additional sub-genre categories are
long overdue in the Kindle storefront:
Very few cozy mysteries fall into just one of these major
sub-categories. Many cozy mystery novels combine at least two sub-genres: take the
typical paranormal cat cozy set in a bakery and throw in the added complication
of it being 1927, and the sleuth knits, and you’ve managed to shoe-horn all the
major sub-categories into a single series.
I’m not suggesting we should all be aiming for a flapper/baker/cat-lady/witch
who knits as our protagonist, but when planning a new series, it can’t hurt to
have a solid grasp on the popular sub-genres within cozies and
consider incorporating elements to place our stories in at least two widely-read
sub-categories.
So let’s dive into the major sub-categories one by one.
Note: To view the books featured in this post, click on the cover images.
Animal Cozies
The most popular animal cozies, without a doubt, feature
cats and dogs. At least half of paranormal cozies have a cat as a supporting
character, and cats-who-live-in-bookstores are a close second. There are also
the cats who live in bakeries, cats who live on farms, cats in the library, and
cats who live a perfectly normal life in a domestic environment (if one
discounts that their owner keeps getting caught up in unsolved murder cases).
Animal cozies featuring farm animals (farm cozies being a
sub-sub-genre of their own) are quite popular. Much rarer are cozies featuring
birds/reptiles/amphibians/exotic mammals but written by someone with adequate
knowledge of their animal characters, there is no reason creatures besides cats/dogs/goats/cows
couldn’t make for members of an intriguing supporting cast.
Sometimes, the sleuth is a pet-shop owner or vet, which
means animals are heavily featured but may or may not be included as recurring
characters in their own right.
Incorporating animals as permanent members of the supporting
cast is a topic of its own. Read more here (link coming soon.)
Culinary Cozies
Culinary cozies are nearly always set in a restaurant, food
truck, or bakery, although there’s the occasional diehard amateur baking
enthusiast, food blogger, or restaurant critic.
Frequently, the sleuth in
culinary cozies is the proprietress of a struggling foodservice establishment. Less
often, she’s a culinary student or a restaurant employee.
Quite often, the sleuth in a culinary cozy has an animal sidekick
with a large enough role to qualify the mystery for inclusion in the animal
cozy category. It is not uncommon for paranormal cozies to be set in a bakery
or tearoom.
Early on, in the evolution of the cozy genre, back when most
were traditionally published, culinary cozies always included a recipe (or a
few) that went along with the theme of the mystery. This is no longer an
expectation, but if concocting recipes is your gift, including one or more at
the end of the book is likely to please your readers.
When it comes to featured cuisines, standard American or
English fare predominates (think burgers, cupcakes, scones, etc.), but other
cuisines can be equally successful.
I suspect the lack of diversity amongst culinary cozies has
more to do with the lack of diversity amongst the writers of them than it does
with what culinary cozy readers are interested in reading about.
We write what we know, and food has deep ties to culture.
Writing characters from a culture not one’s own is fraught with potential
problems. Few writers want to get their portrayal of food culture and characters
wrong and end up disrespectfully co-opting someone else’s culture to produce
light entertainment. I suspect that’s part of the reason we’ve ended up with so
many cupcake mysteries (I’m looking at myself here. I wrote some).
So please, if you are a writer who has the culinary knowledge,
the cultural background, and/or the life experience to branch out from burgers,
please do us all a favor and write about one of the many less-represented cuisines.
When considering themes for culinary cozies, don’t forget
beverages: wine, tea, coffee, etc.
Incorporating food into your cozies can be a bitter
business. I did a whole post on it here.
Craft and Hobby Cozies
Amazon has a “Crafts & Hobbies” sub-category within the
cozy mystery section on their Kindle store. Quilting cozies sit cheek-by-jowl
with bookstore cozies. It’s become a catch-all for anything that didn’t quite fit
anywhere else, but there are a few reasonably popular sub-sub genres within it that
are legitimate crafts and hobbies and worth considering if they overlap with
your own interests.
Some of the more popular stand-outs that qualify as crafts/hobbies
are knitting, quilting, sewing, book clubs, and gardening.
This category also often contains travel cozies, camping
cozies, beach/seaside cozies, antique shop cozies, English village cozies, farm
cozies, library/bookstore/book club cozies, regional cozies, etc.
Like all the other sub-sub genres, these cozies often
overlap with culinary cozies, animal cozies, historical cozies, and/or paranormal
cozies.
Historical Cozies
Historical cozies are exactly what they sound like. They are
cozy mysteries set in some previous era. Historical cozies do veer toward the “traditional
mystery” end of the spectrum. They adhere to cozy conventions like bloodless
murders, mild if any sexual content, and no strong language.
Historical cozies are still
light and bright in tone but are not generally as quirky and tongue-in-cheek as
most other cozies. Historical cozies tend to take themselves a bit more
seriously.
For example, it’s uncommon to see a historical cozy with an
outrageously tortured pun in the title. I love an outrageously tortured pun.
Read more about cozy titles here.
A few years back, roaring twenties cozies were all the rage,
and they still have a wide readership, but Regency, Victorian, and 1950s cozies
are making inroads in this sub-sub-category.
More on historical cozies here (link coming soon).
Paranormal Cozies
Although they’ve been around for ages, paranormal cozies have
had a big surge in popularity in the last couple of years. Perhaps, we’ve all
been yearning for a magical fix to our problems.
Paranormal cozies most often feature a sleuth who is a benign
witch (and more often than not has a feline sidekick) but can be centered
around a “normal” in a setting with paranormal activity, a clairvoyant sleuth,
or a fantasy setting filled with otherworldly creatures and a system of magic
that governs the investigation into the crime and the administration of justice.
Paranormal cozies often overlap with animal cozies, culinary
cozies, and library/bookshop cozies.
Paranormal cozies have very specific tropes and reader expectations
attached to them. I’ve compiled a helpful list of resources written by paranormal
cozy authors here.
Other Cozy Sub-Genres
Setting-centric Cozies
In some cozies, the setting plays such a large role in the
story that these books could be considered as having their own sub-genre
category. Examples: farm cozies, southern cozies, antique-store cozies,
campground cozies, bed-and-breakfast cozies, pet store cozies, cruise ship
cozies, English village cozies, travel cozies, beach/seaside cozies…I could go
on.
These setting-centric cozies almost always overlap with at least
one other sub-genre, usually culinary, animal, or historical.
I’ve written a post on cozy settings here.
Humorous Cozies
a sub-genre of their own.
I’ve written a post about writing comic cozies here (link
coming soon).
Holiday Cozies
Most often, these are centered around either Christmas or
Halloween and are usually bonus additions (often novellas or short stories) to
augment an established series.
They needn’t be. Full-length, stand-alone Christmas or
Halloween-themed cozies have the potential to do well. Cozy readers love holiday-themed
books. The problem is, they only love them seasonally. Many established cozy
authors have figured out that it’s a better use of their time to write
evergreen books that are read (and sold) all year long.
New authors have an opportunity to satisfy a hungry
readership by providing them with seasonal stories (and hopefully gain new
readers who will go on to read their other books throughout the rest of the
year).
I’ve written a post about Christmas cozies here (link coming
soon).
Christian Cozies
Many cozy readers are women of faith (although not
necessarily Christian) as the content of cozy mysteries is generally consistent
with the scruples of a devout person, so Christian cozies are a natural sub-genre
to develop within the cozy category. There are not many authors writing these
(Hope Callaghan is by far the most prolific indie author in this sub-genre) but
based on the popularity of the books that are available, this could be a good cozy
sub-genre for new or genre-hopping writers with a Christian background and genuine
respect for that readership to pursue.
I’m going to conclude my list here. I’m sure there’s a
sub-genre I haven’t mentioned. What did I miss? Let me know in the comments.
What sub-genre are you thinking of writing in? Did you discover any new ones
you hadn’t encountered before?
Looking for what makes a cozy mystery? Read The 9 Essential Elements of a Cozy Mystery.
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