Did Agatha Christie Write “Cozy Mysteries?”

I recently heard a podcaster plant Agatha Christie firmly in the “cozy mystery” genre and I took immediate offense. I thought to myself, “There is no way this person is a true fan! Who would reduce the ‘ Queen of Crime’ to a such a simplistic genre?!”

It turns out, the podcaster was indeed not a true fan and admitted to not having read much in the whodunnit genre in general, so I forgave her and moved on … well, almost. The fact that I’m writing an article arguing why she was wrong implies that I have not actually moved on and that I feel I must defend Agatha Christie’s novels as anything but “cozy”.