By Marcy Blesy
Hello! I’m the author of the Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series and the Monthly Murder Movie Club Cozy Mystery Series. I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season so far. I’m writing this blog post during the fall in Michigan, and our first snow is forecasted for this weekend. Please picture my frowny face right now. At least the comfort of fuzzy blankets and kitty lap snuggles should help. Ha!
Since I include many senior characters in my books, I thought I’d talk about the representation of seniors in cozy mysteries and why I think it is important. First, full disclosure: I’m 53. To my kids, I might qualify as a senior (LOL), but technically I’m not quite there yet.
When I was born, I had two sets of grandparents and two sets of great-grandparents. My great-grandparents were married for seventy-two years and lived to be ninety-four and one hundred three, respectively. In college, I belonged to an organization that “adopted” grandparents at a local nursing home. I’ve always loved talking to people older than me and wish I’d had more time with my own grandparents to ask them all the things you don’t think of until you’ve hit milestones in your own life. I hope I honor the respect I have for seniors in this post.
Seniors have lived life—I mean really lived life. They’ve experienced heartache, love, triumph, and failure. They have stories to tell for days. And with experience comes wisdom. Some characters, like Rosi’s mom in the Tucson Valley Series, feel they should always share their opinions, even when not asked, because they truly believe their experiences have enlightened them in ways that may “help” others. That makes for a fun dynamic in a cozy mystery when Rosi, at forty, has to deal with her mother’s constant advice.
In Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice by Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera disrupts a murder investigation because she thinks she can do it better. She unabashedly takes control because, in her mind, she’s right. And why shouldn’t she be? She’s lived more life than the police involved in the investigation—and the murder took place in her shop! Cue the humor again! Like Rosi’s mom, Vera has nothing but good intentions.
Because of their many lived experiences, some seniors (and who can blame them?) are stereotypically described as sourpusses—people who have worn life’s scars and have no desire to therapize themselves into a happier, more content place. In cozy mysteries, these characters make for great humor. Readers often root for them to find joy despite their cantankerous personalities.
In the Monthly Murder Movie Club Series, this character is Roberta, a seventy-five-year-old veteran who has had to prove herself in a “man’s world” and is just plain tired of caring what anyone else thinks. Kind of freeing, right? Her interactions with others are so much fun to write, and I think readers can giggle while still understanding Roberta’s personality.
As I grow older, I’m finding the person I see in the mirror looks less and less like the woman I remember from my twenties and thirties. Senior portrayals in cozies often include characters who struggle with accepting physical changes—whether in health or appearance. In the Tucson Valley Series, Brenda is the grouchy character obsessed with her looks when, really, all she wants is to reclaim her youth. When that fails, she snaps at those around her, though what she’s truly struggling with is the aging process and the loss of her daughter years earlier. I like to think that, in addition to finding her comical, readers also feel empathy for “difficult” characters like Brenda.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the grandparent-type seniors who want to shepherd the younger generations toward good decisions and happiness. Rishard, Yoly, Vicki, and Roberta (in their 50s-70s) in the Monthly Murder Movie Club Series unofficially adopt baby Giana, the daughter of April, a club member and single mother. With her own mother a dud, April’s found family in the club becomes her stability. Vera adopts this same role with one of the characters’ children in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice. Cozy mysteries are full of heart, and senior “grandparenty” characters fit that beautifully.
But what about the murders? Ah, yes. Cozy mysteries usually center on a murder or some other crime. And who better to solve a mystery—or at least offer an opinion—than characters who have accumulated decades of life experience? Seniors don’t care as much about what others think. They can feign disinterest because they’re sometimes unfairly dismissed as “just Grandma,” when in reality, they’re the smartest people in the room.
Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club books feature four incredibly strong, smart seniors—Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim. Each brings a past rich with lived experience, and they can fly under the radar precisely because of their ages. They’re discounted unfairly… until they’re not. These people are smart! And readers love rooting for them.
Finally, I really wanted to depict the vitality of the seniors in my books. I have several elderly aunts and uncles who are living life to the fullest—trying new things, imparting wisdom, and enjoying every moment. I hope to be like them. My Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series was inspired by a visit to see family in Green Valley, Arizona, at their retirement community. What fun I had—and what fun I wasn’t expecting to have!
The characters in that series range from eccentrically silly to gossipy, annoying, persnickety, and deeply empathetic. They’ve formed a community—a community of seniors supporting each other in living their best lives. Whether tugging at your heart or making you laugh, their shenanigans are something I aspire to in a few years.
Senior characters are such fun to create. They can play so many roles in a cozy mystery, whether being the sleuths themselves or providing support to the amateur sleuth.
The senior members of my family—and the senior characters in my books—have taught me not to fear aging but to embrace it. There is so much life yet to live.
ABOUT MARCY BLESY
Marcy Blesy is the author of over thirty books across genres, best known for her Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series and the Monthly Murder Movie Club Cozy Mystery Series —humorous, heartwarming whodunits filled with senior sleuths, quirky characters, and animal sidekicks. Her cozy mysteries spotlight midlife reinvention, found family, and laugh-out-loud amateur sleuthing, perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Finlay Donovan, and The Golden Girls.
Marcy also writes the Ghost Texter Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series, starring a kindergarten teacher-turned-reluctant sleuth, and the Secrets romantic mystery duo (The Secret of Blue Lake and The Secret of Silver Beach), transporting readers to the scenic and suspenseful shores of Michigan.
For younger readers, Marcy’s best-selling Be the Vet series offers interactive veterinary mysteries for kids ages 9–13. Her early chapter book series—Evie and the Volunteers, Niles and Bradford, Third Grade Outsider, and Hazel, the Clinic Cat—delight animal lovers and growing readers alike.
When she’s not writing, you’ll find Marcy treasure-hunting along Lake Michigan in search of rare red beach glass. She believes every story should offer heart, humor, and a hint of hope—whether it’s solving a mystery or chasing a dream.
