Kent crime author Vicky Newham shares her thoughts on why the ‘cozy crime’ genre has become so popular and how she has adapted it for her new book series, Wootton Windmill Mysteries, written under the pseudonym Izzie Harper.

The first book in the series, Murder at the Christmas Carols, set in a fictional village near Walmer and Deal, is available to purchase here.

Words by Vicky Newham

There’s nothing new about cozy mysteries (spelled the US way with a ‘z’). Think Miss Marple, Agatha Raisin and Murder She Wrote.

It’s fair to say, though, that the genre is experiencing a wonderful revival.

A ‘cozy’ is a mystery which includes gentle humour and a light-hearted tone. The setting is usually a small town or village, and is the sort of place where readers might want to live or holiday. The community is usually small. This means that everyone knows everyone, and secrets and gossip abound.

In cozies, swearing, sex, and on-the-page violence are not allowed. In addition, the investigator is an amateur sleuth rather than a police detective. The main thing is they must include a jolly good puzzle, warmth and humour.

I first became familiar with this sort of story when I was growing up. I used to love reading Enid Blyton and wanted to climb through the pages and be part of the adventures. I quickly moved onto Agatha Christie, and my lifelong love affair began with mysteries and cozy crime. So, why is the genre having a resurgence and why does it appeal to readers so much?

One reason may be because times are tough and no-one knows how long this will go on for.

Post-COVID, the world feels complicated and the news is often depressing. With high living costs, many of us are working multiple jobs and caring for family members. Others have lost employment or are unable to work. As a result, many people feel nostalgic for simpler, gentler times.

The ‘cozy’ village setting therefore appeals to readers. We can escape for a few hours and be part of the village. We can spend time with characters who are entertaining and fun, and immerse ourselves in a compelling mystery.

This was very much why I started writing Murder at the Christmas Carols.

I’d moved to Walmer in the autumn lockdown of 2020. With all the deaths that occurred in the pandemic, I couldn’t face writing more urban police procedurals. I didn’t want to write about post-mortems, dead bodies, murder methods, and forensics. I wanted to write about a community of people who care about each other.

I decided not to base the story on a real village because I’ve used real locations in novels before and got emails telling me that roundabouts and views weren’t where I’d described! In addition, I wanted to move the landscape and landmarks around.

You will recognise many parts of Walmer, Deal, Ripple and Kingsdown. I’ve simply put them all in my fictional village of Lower Wootton. For example, my main characters live in a converted windmill, inspired by my regular dog walks past Ripple Windmill. Similarly, a key scene takes place in the moat of a local castle, much like the one at Deal Castle.

Another reason why cozies appeal to readers is that one of their ‘rules’ is that justice must be delivered at the end of the story. The perpetrator is caught and the community is returned to safety – until the next murder, that is.

Unlike in real life, the reader has the satisfaction of knowing that good will prevail. The protagonist solves the puzzle and their own character journey progresses.

In Murder at the Christmas Carols the main character, Ellie Blix, starts the story simply wanting to get through the festive season without any more disasters. Many of us can relate to this, whether it’s Christmas or something else. It’s emotionally rewarding to invest in her story, to sympathise with her lows and to take joy in her triumphs.

Cozies also offer readers the chance to get involved with the investigation. It’s satisfying to follow the clues and solve the crimes. The sleuthing is low-tech and doesn’t revolve around post-mortems, forensics and crime scene analysis. My characters discuss suspects and clues while they sip hot chocolate, munch on homemade flapjack and watch the local children skate on the frozen pond.

Another reason for the appeal of cozies may be that, with cases like Sarah Everard’s, public mistrust of the police has increased.

Amateur sleuths have none of this institutional baggage. They are almost always ordinary people like you and me. The only difference is that they have a particular skill which makes them good at solving puzzles.

Something happens in the story which means they feel compelled to try and they believe they can succeed. This can often be inspiring.

In Murder at the Christmas Carols, Ellie Blix has lived in Lower Wootton all her life and is a key figure in the village. She does a lot for others and they in turn have helped her through a difficult year.

She’s a busy mum who runs a cleaning business, which means that she literally has the keys to the village. She’s in and out of everyone’s houses and she sees and hears all their secrets. Her superpower is that everyone trusts her, and this means they confide in her.

In the story, Andrea, Ellie's estranged schoolfriend, collapses at the village carols, and it quickly becomes clear she’s been murdered. Ellie feels guilty about the recent row she and Andrea had, and is under suspicion herself. She teams up with her daughter and mother-in-law to follow the clues and solve the mystery – much to the annoyance of Ellie's detective inspector ex-husband.

If you would like to escape to Lower Wootton, Murder at the Christmas Carols is shooting up the fiction charts and can be bought in ebook or paperback here.

I have written the first book in the Wootton Windmill Mysteries series under the pen name Izzie Harper, so be sure to keep an eye out for that name, as well as my own, for future books in the series.