Little Old Lady Investigates: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Policemen asking questions are being policemen, but little old ladies asking questions are just being [[Obfuscating Stupidity|little old ladies]]."''|'''Miss Marple''', ''[[Miss Marple]]''}}

There's a subgenre of [[~~File talk:~~Mystery Fiction]] called "Cozy Mysteries", a prevalent trope of which is the little old lady investigator. She is an older lady, usually retired, usually a [[Cool Old Lady]], who has a knack for solving mysteries and who is [[Always Murder|always solving murders]] [[Busman's Holiday|wherever she goes.]] She's usually an [[Amateur Sleuth]], but occasionally she works for an agency or is a registered [[Private Detective|PI]]. The fact that people seem to keep dropping dead around her often makes her a [[Mystery Magnet]]. This sub-genre is also known as the "tea cozy mystery".

There's a subgenre of [[Mystery Fiction]] called "Cozy Mysteries", a prevalent trope of which is the little old lady investigator. She is an older lady, usually retired, usually a [[Cool Old Lady]], who has a knack for solving mysteries and who is [[Always Murder|always solving murders]] [[Busman's Holiday|wherever she goes.]] She's usually an [[Amateur Sleuth]], but occasionally she works for an agency or is a registered [[Private Detective|PI]]. The fact that people seem to keep dropping dead around her often makes her a [[Mystery Magnet]]. This sub-genre is also known as the "tea cozy mystery".

This trope makes a perverse sort of sense. Old women are '''supposed''' to be nosy, and attract little attention when they are. A grandmotherly type may be a lot better at prying relevant but embarrassing details from suspects than the gruff policeman. Finally, she is frequently protected by [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: who would dare to off the nice old lady?