Defining a Cozy Mystery

I'm fighting it, but I'm about to give in. The couple of times I've pitched my novel, the agents have said, " Oh, a cozy. Tell me more." My throat constricts and my heads starts to throb. It's not a cozy, I want to yell. It's a blah, blah blah with a hint of romance. I'm not sure what the blah, blah blah is, plain old mystery, maybe. But instead I pitch the novel. And yes, when you boil it down, it is a cozy.

But when I think cozy, I think 90 year old granny with knitting needles living in a cottage in the English countryside. My protagonist might be having hot flashes, but she doesn't knit, she isn't a granny (yet) and she lives in a mansion--okay a really big house. The more I fight it, the more I know in my heart that it's a cozy. She is an amateur, she lives in a smallish town and she solves a crime. But hey, she doesn't own a cat. And today I stumbled onto a site with the definition of a cozy. Uncle (said with my arm twisted bethind my back.) I give in.

The Cozy Mystery List site is awesome. I hope, someday, my cozy series is proudly displayed on this site. But I love the fact that this site shows all my favorite cozy authors and the order in which their books were published. Plus, I found a whole lot more to choose from.

Check it out.