The Female Sleuths in the Cozy Mystery World

Women as the sleuths in mystery novels have been popular almost as long as mystery novels have been written. The queen of the cozy mystery, Agatha Christie, even had her charming Miss Marple as an amateur sleuth.

Like Miss Marple, we enjoy reading the mystery, but also enjoy the way our female sleuths will outwit the professionals. Romance is not required to make these novels worth our read, but some romance is bound to be fun. Especially when that romance starts revolving around the professional.

Female sleuth cozy mysteries are light reads, but not light on plot and character. What makes a cozy mystery cozy is the setting and suspects. The setting is ususally a single location, in other words, we are not traveling around the country. And the suspects are usually less than a dozen and often known to each other. Twists and turns in the plot, along with little sub-plots, are fun to read, but not required.

A bit of wit, charm and humor make the amateur female sleuth mysteries fun to read. We like to smile, chuckle, even laugh at the antics that go on. Whether it's an historical mystery set in a time gone-by or a more modern female sleuth mystery, we can enjoy them curled up in our favorite armchair and get lost in a world of whodunit.

Why Amateur Sleuths Are So Popular in Books

We all love to read those mystery books where it's an amateur sleuth who solves the crime. But, why is that such a popular sub-genre of mysteries? What is it that makes them so fascinating for us to read?

Amateur sleuths have many values to offer us as readers of mystery books. Whether they are bumbling characters who seem to stumble their way through to the solution or they are talented, smart and charming investigators, we still love them. For some, it's the process of outwitting the police. That can be fun when we see the talent of our amateur sleuth going way beyond what the police can do. Agatha Christie's Hecule Poirot is probably the most famous at outwitting the police.

For some of us, it's the idea that even an untrained, ordinary person can be smart enough to solve the murder and discover whodunit. It's as though even someone just like us can be a successful sleuth. After all, wouldn't we love to be in their shoes and figure out the clues? There is something intriguing in that idea.

Many times, it is simply the way the amateur sleuths must poke their nose into the crime and what is going on. They often get admonished by the police detective investigating it. There is humor in that. Our amateur sleuth stepping on the toes of the police and we know they are going to be found out and get in trouble. It's like waiting for that second shoe to drop. That makes them fun to read.

Of course, interwoven through our amateur sleuth story is a good mystery. And reading a good mystery is what it's all about.