Cozies, capers, and other criminal endeavors: Utilizing taxonomies of mystery fiction to improve genre access

Abstract

Mystery fiction has long been a genre popular with the reading public, and the development of the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT) offers new opportunities for catalogers to provide access to this genre. But how does one determine which subgenre terms to use? This paper postulates that by consulting typologies of the mystery constructed by scholars and aficionados of the genre, it is possible to get a sense of how readers imagine the various types of the mystery and what subgenre terms might be useful in helping them find the type of book they desire. A common thread in the typologies considered by the author is the omission and minimizing of subgenres traditionally considered feminine, such as the cozy and the romantic suspense novel. This paper outlines some of the common criticisms and urges taxonomists not to overlook these subgenres.