One of the characteristics of a cozy mystery is the ordinary occupation of the protagonist. The occupation has to be one that allows the heroine the flexibility to solve crimes yet still do a plausible job of making a living. Cozy readers are, if nothing else, a practical sort of person.
What are some of those jobs held by cozy mystery protagonists? Well, let’s take a quick survey.
Number One: Bakers, cooks, chefs…you’d think they’d be too busy cooking to chase down suspects in a mystery. But trust me, one of the key courses in the Culinary Institute of America;s curriculum most be serving miscreants on a platter. One of the better-known cozy mystery baker heroines is Hannah Swensen, the owner of The Cookie Jar in Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mystery series. Meet her in Joanne Fluke’s first book, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (2000)
Number Two: Never underestimate a librarian! They always know more than you’d suspect. One of my favorite heroines is Aurora “Roe” Teagarden, the librarian turned amateur sleuth in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. These mysteries are popular on the Hallmark Mystery Channel, or you can get Charlaine Harris first book Real Murders (1990)
Number Three: It’s not surprising that authors would want to place their heroines in bookstores. Alice Kimberly (Cleo Coyle) gives us Penelope Thortnon-McClure, a bookshop owner who solves crimes with the ghost of a private investigator. This book has so many elements that I relish in a good mystery. Check out Alice Kimberly’s first book, The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (2004)
Number Four: Catering, of course! What other occupation could possibly get a nosy woman inside of the homes of the rich, famous, and ruthless? Diane Mott Davidson introduces us to Goldy Bear Schulz (what a perfect name!) who is a caterer in Colorado. (Trust me, we have a lot of bad characters in Colorado. After all, how else would you describe someone who cuts you off as you’re racing down Rasputin’s Revenge! Such perfidy!) You can check out the catering business in Davidson’s first book in the Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery series, Catering to Nobody (1990).
Number Five: Who would have thought that an antique store owner or dealer would make a great cozy protagonist? Actually, I should have thought that. My grandfather was an antique collector, restorer, and seller, and I learned at a very young age that when a dealer buys someone’s estate, they often buy a plethora of family secrets. Josie Prescott, heroine of the Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries, by Jane K. Cleland is a good example of someone in this line of work. I highly recommend her first book, Consigned to Death (2006).
Number Six: The sixth occupation on my list is craft store owner, in this case a quilter. Sofie Ryan’s protagoinist, Sarah Grayson is a craft store owner who finds herself doing a lot of sleuthing. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it’s because when you’re participating in a quilting party, you always need some juicy gossip to share. What’s better gossip that the crimes of our neighbors? Get the first book of the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series, The Whole Cat and Caboodle (2014) by Sofie Ryan and discover the joys of second-hand merchandise.
Number Seven: Having spent a good deal of my working life living out of hotels, I have a natural distrust of anyone who works in a hotel. After all, you only invite your closest friends into your bedroom, right? But when you stay in a hotel, it’s par for the course for everyone to traipse through your bedchamber. And where would this be most evident? Yep, in a bed and breakfast lodging. So I approach Mary Daheim’s Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries, featuring Judith McMonigle with some trepidation. You can do the same by reading her first book, Just Desserts (1991).
Number Eight: Florist. I never realized how brutal the floral business could be until I encountered Kate Collins’ delightful series of Flower Shop Mysteries. Her protagonist, Abby Knight, is a wonderful individual who has a nose for trouble. Check out Kate’s first book, Mum’s the Word (2004) and you will be hooked.
Number Nine: I’m not surprise that professors and teachers made the list. Most of the teachers I’ve ever had struck me as the kind of individual who could solve any crime…or commit murder. (After all, with a student like me in their class, who could blame them?) Charlie Harris is a retired English professor and part-time librarians (actually, most cozy authors would be guilty of being part-time librarians, I suspect). The Cat in the Stacks Mystery series by Miranda James is a delightful series featuring Harris and his cat Diesel, as they solve murders in a small Mississippi town. Get immersed in this series by checking out Murder Past Due (2010).
Number Ten: At one point in my life, my mother (bless her heart!) decided she wanted to breed chihuahuas. We bought a wonderful dog named Carmen, a daughter of a pedigreed champion, and began to raise chihuahuas. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds, particularly when the mother cannot produce milk to feed her five babies. So it’s not surprising that I found Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis Mystery series to be a poignant reminder of my youth, and delightful in its own murderous way. Follow the antics of Melanie Travis as she delves into the dog-eat-dog world of Connecticut dog shows in A Pedigree to Die For (1995).
To summarize what I’ve learned: A cozy sleuth needs a job that allows the individual to come into contact with a large number of people—victims, murderers, and suspects; a job that allows the informal detective to “take time off” from the job to pursue his/her investigation; and a job that might catch the fancy of the reader/viewer.