Murder, but gentler: 'Cozy' mysteries a pandemic-era balm

The Cozy genre’s parameters are few: no swearing, no sex, and little to no gore. Just what the pandemic-era doctor ordered. Photo: AFP

"A book, ” author Neil Gaiman may or may not have said,"is a dream you hold in your hand.” And right now, in an era of pandemic and polarisation, Americans have - and need - a lot of dreams.

We dream of unfettered travel, of a world free of face masks and hand sanitiser, of days that are exciting and new and not the grinding tedium of spending hour after hour staring, horrified, at the TV news. We dream of going back to school. Of eating a meal with family. Of hugs.