Cozy

Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.  Wikipedia.

Who knew?  Not me - until a few days ago when the Trish dropped the term on me.  Turns out (chagrin) I'm currently reading one.  Even worse, I have to confess I've read several!  Do real men read cozies?  Damn straight!  They eat quiche, too, contrary to Steve Martin's pronouncement.  Go suck an egg, Steve.  Anyway, there you have it: I'm out of the cozy closet.

Cozy examples you may have heard of include the Murder She Wrote series and Miss Marple mysteries.  To my knowledge, the only cozies in my checkered past are the M C Beaton series, main character Hamish Macbeth, set in Scotland.  Beaton's stories are an exception to the genre in that Macbeth is a policeman of the male persuasion.  The main characters in virtually all other cozies are females with regular jobs who do their sleuthing on the side.      

My current read was recommended by a college friend who was raised in a small Minnesota town near my own small MN town because the stories are based in yet another small MN town.  Battle Lake is the scene of the crimes.  It's about 15 miles southeast of Perham, my home town.  The author is a woman (as are most coziests), Jess Lourey, full time teacher, part time author.

Not to worry: my future reads will remain the edgier, beefier fare I've always enjoyed.  I've not really gone over to the dark side, don't have a full-on case of cozy-itis.