Cozy mysteries are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is usually an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thus stand in contrast to hardboiled fiction, in which more violence and explicit sexuality are central to the plot.
The term 'cozy' was first coined in the late 20th century when various writers produced work in an attempt to re-create the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
A well-known author of cozy crime fiction is Nancy Atherton. Her amateur sleuth, Aunt Dimity, and the American Lori Sheppard, who settled in an English village thanks to an inheritance from Aunt Dimity, solve mysteries involving Lori and her neighbors. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character appeared in twelve of her world-famous cozy crime novels. Joanne Fluke's novels about Hannah Swensen, a young baker and amateur sleuth living in the fictional town of Lake Eden, include recipes for baking.
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