An Introduction to Cozy Mysteries

I didn’t realize I was reading an early cozy mystery when I first picked up a Diane Mott Davidson novel in 1990, but it was a pleasure to read about a crime that didn’t involve hardboiled grit, disgusting descriptions of blood and guts, and moments of spine-chilling fear. Instead, it centered on a divorced caterer worrying about the flakiness of her pie crust as she solved a tricky murder in a small, fictional mountain town in Colorado.

What are Cozy Mysteries?

Cozy mysteries are a sub-genre of mysteries that focus on the relationships and daily activities of the characters, a crime whose darker elements occur offstage, and a protagonist, usually not a law enforcement professional, who will be essential to figuring out the puzzle of who did it. The core premise is that a crime will be solved without the reader getting hurt.

Of course, there might be sex or violence in a cozy mystery, but it’s alluded to in general terms and takes place off the page. When speaking on the subject, I like to introduce my favorite kind of cozy sex scene: “After serving a lovely, homemade dinner, he insists on cleaning up and urges her to enjoy a few episodes of a baking show she loves. The show ends, he wraps her in his strong arms, takes her hand, leads her into the bedroom, and closes the door. End scene.”

Cozy mysteries offer an escape from the realities of drug addiction, mental illness, evildoers, and everything else that is grim and horrible about modern society. These charming stories offer comfort, and that’s the world I wanted to create.

The Whipped & Sipped Culinary Cozy Mysteries set in Chicago

The Whipped & Sipped Mysteries are set in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago and feature a single mother grappling with life’s challenges; her father, who is plagued by an autoimmune disease; her boyfriend, a Chicago homicide detective; her three children, and a cast of employees, neighbors, and friends.

My protagonist, Alene Baron, lives in a high-rise like mine, with neighbors who look out for each other. There are dinner groups, book clubs, and holiday celebrations. Most cozy mysteries take place in small towns that aren’t generally known for being crime-ridden, but Alene’s building is like a small, vertical community in what can be a rough city.

In the last year, I watched a body being dredged out of the lake, I heard random shots fired in the neighborhood, and several people were forced to empty their accounts at gunpoint (I couldn’t sleep for days). It’s not a stretch of the imagination to read about crime in Chicago, but you will know that because I write cozy mysteries, Alene will figure out that crime, the villain will be apprehended, and you won’t have to read about a beloved character getting badly hurt.

Also, aside from the victims, everyone else enjoys scrumptious vegan pastries and drinks delicious coffee at the Whipped & Sipped Café. Stop by anytime!

P.S. What are your favorite cozy mysteries? I'm always looking for a new series -

G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Charred: A Whipped & Sipped Mystery (Anamcara Press, 2026), the third in her culinary cozy mystery series set in Chicago, following Battered, #1 and Smothered, #2. Pounded, Book #4 in the series, will launch later in 2026. Gottlieb is on the board of Sisters in Crime Chicagoland and a member of SinC Colorado, MWA, and Blackbird Writers. As host for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network, she has interviewed nearly 280 authors. If you enjoy cozy, culinary mysteries set in Chicago, the Whipped & Sipped Mysteries invite you into a world of friendship, coffee, pastries, and crime-solving without nightmares.