In this genre of crime fiction the story is usually located in a small (fictional) village or rural town. Typically, these village crime novels contain no profanity, explicit sex or violence. The victims are usually already dead - killed by poison or in a fight. But there may be also (unpremeditated) crimes of passion.
Usually, the main focus of village crime fiction is the social and psychological fabric in a close community. Authors focus on the personalities and backgrounds of their characters. While these are usually kinder and gentler alternatives to modern, action- and brutallity-filled crime thrillers, they are by no means less fascinating. The best village crime novels are masterpieces of psychological puzzles within puzzles.
One notable example of village crime literature is the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, written by Louise Penny. It usually take place in the village of "Three Pines" - set in the Canadian province of Quebec. Another famous series of village crime novels are Agatha Cristie's Miss Marple books - located in the fictional sleepy village of St. Mary Mead. There Ms. Marple acts as a friedly, but rather persistant amateur detective.
More on Wikipedia
