In books, the word “cozy” has traditionally described mysteries and even romances that have no swearing, no overt violence nor sexual content. They’re often character-driven, with quaint or idyllic settings and lower stakes.
If you’ve been to a bookstore this fall or winter, you might have noticed a table featuring cozy books like Joss Richard’s It’s Different This Time or The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
These “cozy” stories are marketed as ideal for the fall and winter months — and they’ve become increasingly popular in recent years.
While cozy mysteries and cozy romances are not new, “cozy” has been popping up as a descriptor for a whole wealth of other genres, from cozy fantasy, like BookTok phenom Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes, and an even more counterintuitive pairing, cozy horror, like Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Bewitching.
In Legends and Lattes, a humanoid monster called an orc steps away from battle and opens the town’s first coffee shop.
In The Bewitching, three generations of women contend with terrifying and deadly witchcraft, but in the picturesque settings of a New England college town and the Mexican countryside.
CBC Books producer Lucy Mann said that she loves the fact that “cozy” is hitting different genres. A cozy book lover herself, Mann says their appeal is around escapism and comfort.
“I read books for a lot of different reasons — to learn, to escape, to be transported into other worlds,” she said.
“There is nothing better than being able to read a book that feels like a warm hug.”
But how can a book about a murder, for example, be comforting? For some, it’s the atmosphere, tone and setting of the book — and for others, it’s where you read it.
“I think anything is cozy if you’re not the one being murdered,” joked Vancouver author Iona Whishaw in an interview with CBC Books.
The cozy books continuum
Known for her bestselling Lane Winslow Mystery series, Whishaw says she sees cozy books as existing on a continuum where readers can enjoy a good mystery story without the more disturbing elements of crime fiction.
On one end, there are books that are very light, extremely character-driven, taking place in fictional towns and including recipes at the end, and on the other, there are very literary, true crime novels with an atmospheric setting, she says.
Her novels fall somewhere in the middle. While they don’t have sex or graphic violence directly on the page, they still deal with crime and difficult subjects, but with a compassionate framework.
The books have a strong sense of place, endearing characters and a lighter tone, with moments of humour sprinkled throughout.
Whishaw says she doesn’t set out to write cozies; it’s more that the stories she wishes to write take her in that direction.
In fact, a cozy reading group who invited her to talk about her first novel once told her that her books aren’t cozy enough.
“They wanted something further down the other end where things were really sweet and there were recipes,” said Whishaw.
That’s why she stresses the wide range of cozy books.
“I don’t resist the cozy label for my book, but I resist the idea that cozies are all the same and can be plunked into one basket.”
A rising trend
Indigo’s Rachel Law, who — among other things — helps curate how books are categorized and shared in stores and online, said that while cozy books have always been around, it’s definitely become a trend in recent years.
“It became big enough for us to start merchandising in spring 2024,” said Law.
This iteration of the cozy books trend started with Japanese and Korean cozy fiction, and then it moved more broadly to the mystery, romance and fantasy genres, she said.
In stores, she said there’s been a 110 per cent increase in sales of cozy books, with romance and cozy colouring books being the top subgenres.
Online search terms including the word “cozy” on Indigo’s website are also up 128 per cent year over year, she said.
But, like Whishaw explained, categorizing “cozy” is not an exact science.
Some books that make cozy lists or tables are moving away from the traditional understanding of the genre. For example, Laurie Gilmore’s Pumpkin Spice Café, brings the character-driven, small-town romance but doesn’t shy away from sex scenes.
For Law and her team, deciding what books are cozy inspires a lot of debate.
“We often have conversations that are like, ‘Is this book too dark to be cozy? Discuss,’” she said.
The Next Chapter with Antonio Michael Downing13:19The appeal of cozy books
The appeal of cozy books
Ultimately, Law says that cozy books distract from the “fatiguing” news cycle and remind us of the positive things happening in the world. She theorizes that that’s why people like them so much.
“Reading cozies helps us remember that also, lots of great things are going on. There’s so much good stuff that people are doing, but it’s quiet and individual and maybe we don’t notice it as much,” said Law.
“Immersing yourself in the cozy allows you to reconnect with the idea … [that] everybody out there is just trying to do their best and trying to do good in their own worlds with the people around them, whenever they can.”
Mann has a similar take, and notes that their popularity in this current moment is likely not a coincidence.
“Cozy books have always had a seat at the table, even before they became a sub-genre in the publishing landscape,” she said. “I definitely appreciate them now more than ever when our world outside of books feels especially chaotic and unsettling.”
