Crime fiction has long been a beloved genre, but a particular strand known as "cosy crime" is enjoying a remarkable resurgence. A century ago, in 1923, authors such as Agatha Christie with "Murder on the Links" and Dorothy L Sayers with "Whose Body?" were shaping what became known as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Today, that era's style is finding new life in the work of British writers like Richard Osman, Reverend Richard Coles, Janice Hallett, Ian Moore and JM Hall.
Osman, the creator of the Thursday Murder Club series, has become the poster boy for this revival. His latest novel, "The Last Devil to Die", released on Tuesday, has already become the fastest-selling hardback novel by a British author in UK sales history. The book has also made an impact across the Atlantic, appearing on The New York Times bestseller list, with Osman currently on a promotional tour in the United States.
So what defines a "cosy" murder mystery? Unlike gritty police procedurals or psychological thrillers, cosy crime tends to avoid lingering on the violence or the victim. Instead, the focus is on the investigation, typically carried out by amateur sleuths amidst a bucolic English setting. The police are often baffled, suspects abound, and the resolution reassures readers that justice ultimately prevails.
Osman's own path into this genre was somewhat accidental. Before becoming a novelist, he was well known in the UK as a television presenter, fronting quiz shows such as Pointless and Richard Osman's House of Games. In 2019, he secured a seven-figure publishing deal for the Thursday Murder Club series. He tells BBC Culture that he had never heard the term "cosy crime" when he began writing. "I just wanted to write an Agatha Christie-style thriller but with some humour and with a modern twist. A book I'd love to read, but couldn't find." He also disputes the label, saying, "Lots of fabulously bad things happen under the cosy exterior."
This week also sees the release of "Murder in the Blitz", a World War Two-set cosy mystery by Flic Everett, writing as FL Everett. Everett offers a nuanced view of the genre, suggesting that "cosy" is often misunderstood. "By 'cosy', we often mean 'not gritty' – ie no forensic poking about, no dwelling on corpses, no sexual assault or child murders," she says. But she notes that the term is increasingly used pejoratively, conjuring up "sunlit Cotswold villages and bumbling policemen, stock characters and easy solutions".
