Supernatural Cosy Mysteries

I have liked cosy mysteries for a long time already, yet there is one big problem with them: keeping it believable that a regular person would get drawn into several murder investigations. In more recent years, I’ve found myself drawn more towards supernatural cosy mysteries and those where the profession of the main character makes it easier to explain them being drawn into murder investigations. Quite often, those overlap in my book collection. Why the draw to the supernatural, though?

Suspension of disbelief is probably one of the main reasons. With a supernatural story, I am already doing more suspension of disbelief while I’m reading it — I have to believe in witches, demons, or other supernatural beings. It’s easier to move on from that to the idea that a regular person (well, a regular supernatural being) could be drawn into several criminal investigations.
I am already stepping away from ‘real’ life when I’m opening a book where the main character is a witch or a fury or can speak to ghosts. From there, the idea that they are also stumbling over dead bodies and get drawn into solving the mystery of the dead isn’t that far-fetched. Especially someone who speaks to ghosts would be a draw for every ghost who needs a wrong righted — and what bigger wrong is there than being murdered?
Things also might work differently among supernatural beings. Perhaps they don’t have the same government structure. Perhaps they are much more tight-knit and need to keep the whole case from regular law enforcement. There are options and with that, it is easier to keep believing for longer.

In addition, of course, quite some of my favourite supernatural cosy sleuths, such as Eden Fury, are already working within the legal system or are at least researchers by profession and character.
Of course it is only natural for a law-enforcement agent to investigate a murder in their town. It’s their job when all is said and done. Of course a reporter and editor will not allow themselves to be send away from the scoop that will make people buy the next edition of the local newspaper. Of course the defence lawyer of the town will look into a crime their client is accused of.
This works without the supernatural element, too, of course. Yet, it helps explaining why someone is stumbling over corpses and needs to figure out how the murder happened and who did it for what reason.

It’s not that I need for magic to be present in every moment of the story or only want to have supernatural beings all around. Most of the stories I’ve read have supernatural people mingle discreetly with normal people, so there’s also humans who are completely unaware that there is something like magic or vampires or whatever. Yet, supernatural elements play their part and usually play it well.
With Eden Fury from the Federal Bureau of Magic, it’s often less about the case as a such (although the case will be solved by the end of the book) and more about the shenanigans which happen with her family made up of witches, demons, vampires, angel-hybrids, and other supernaturals. With Jayne Frost, it’s about the daughter of the ruler of the North Pole stumbling over cases while she’s just trying to manage a toy shop and decide which one of the two possible lovers she should choose (she chooses a third one in the end, by the way).
Human life and supernatural elements mingle in those stories and I love that very much, because being a witch or a vampire or a fury or Jack Frost’s daughter doesn’t mean you’re not also, deep down, a human being with a love live and your own wants, needs, and fears.

World-building is another aspect for me. Every book has to build a bit of the world, has to give the reader a framework of how things are, of what to expect. There is a world someone lives in — a town or village in most cosy mysteries —, which needs to take on shape so the audience knows where the characters are going, who is living and working where, and how they are connected. It’s about the streets and landmarks as much as about the families and friends.
One big world-building problem with all cosy mysteries is that cosy mysteries are usually set in a small town or a village (US authors seem to favour the town whereas UK authors seem to favour the village) where not that many murders should be happening. That takes some serious suspension of disbelief of its own — which I also find easier to do when supernaturals are involved. It seems to me that in a village or town filled with supernatural beings, there is a higher chance that things might heat up and end in a murder or other serious crime. A fight between two regular men in a bar will most likely lead to a few black eyes and other bruises. A fight between a vampire and a werewolf, on the other hand, could very well leave one of them dead as they’re much stronger and have predatory instincts.
A book with supernatural content has more world-building to do to integrate the parts which are not ‘real’ with the parts which are. Often, it is much more detailed for this reason and gives me a better feeling for the town it’s all set in. It’s a town with werewolves and vampires in it, so there are going to be things which are different and things which are as you’d expect them to be. It’s fun to find out more about that as I dive into the stories.

Cosy mysteries will always have problems when they reach a certain number of stories. In the end, it might be easier to believe that someone has just stumbled over their tenth (or seven-hundredth — looking at you, “Murder, She Wrote”) body if they also have witchcraft at their disposal or live in a town full of supernatural creatures. If they’re in a profession where contact with crimes is a thing, it’s even more believable for them to stumble over several murders over time. I love cosy mysteries in general and find I can follow series with supernatural aspects for longer without getting all ‘she’s found another body again?’ about it.