Happy National Cozy Mystery Day!

If you are curious as to why September 15 was chosen as National Cozy Mystery Day, the answer is quite simple. It happens to be the birthday of the lady many consider the mother of the cozy mystery—Agatha Christie. If you are a cozy mystery fan and have never read any of Christie’s books, today would be an apt day to do so. She has several series with memorable protagonists—the veritable Mrs. Marple, the inscrutable Hercule Poirot, and numerous other lesser known sleuths such as Tommy and Tuppence. All of Christie’s books deliver on the basics of a cozy: They invariably take place in a small community—-in Christie’s case, an English village. The main character is an amateur sleuth (although I guess Poirot isn’t really an amateur) who uses their brains and innate powers of observation and deduction to determine the name of the murderer. The crime is usually a murder, often committed early in the book with little or no bloodshed (or at least little or no bloodshed described). The clues are presented to the reader throughout along with a variety of “red herrings" to throw off the casual reader with the goal being to discover the name of the killer before it is revealed by the main character (usually before the police do).

Pretty much every other “cozy” mystery hero or heroine owes their existence to Agatha Christie. Without her, detective fiction would be just that—-detectives. Crimes would be solved by governmental agents who are paid to do so. Amateur sleuths would not have an opportunity. So, on this day, let us toast Agatha Christie! Without her, all of us amateur sleuths and the amateur sleuths we love, would have no occupation!

Have you read any of Agatha Christie’s mysteries? Which is your favorite? Who is your favorite of her sleuths?