Hijinks and Hot Flashes: Perimenopausal Women in Paranormal Cozy Crime

Young, Jennifer ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4128-2097 (2023) Hijinks and Hot Flashes: Perimenopausal Women in Paranormal Cozy Crime. In: Captivating Criminality Conference, 31 August-2 September 2023, Bath, UK.

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Abstract / Summary

Cozy crime has long been a haven for female characters. Some paranormal cozy crime authors have taken this one step further by creating protagonists who gain magical powers along with hot flashes, night sweats and mood changes. Amy Boyles, Annabel Chase and Keira Blackwood put these women front and centre, creating characters who have to deal with radical body changes, an onslaught of magical powers – and tripping over dead bodies. While many narratives put perimenopausal women into a reduced capacity, paranormal cozy crime enhances their abilities – with Keira Blackwood creating a character who literally lights on fire in a hot flash, Amy Boyles giving a woman the ability to see ghosts, and Annabel Chase creating a character who becomes psychic. The physicality of their perimenopausal bodies cannot be dismissed when it acts as the triggering incident for their powers and introduction into a new world. These books serve as a visceral way for perimenopausal women to be seen in fiction, in a way that many readers have not felt seen since reading young adult fiction as young adults. This paper will explore the role of perimenopause as a driver of these series, the depiction of perimenopausal bodies and the celebration of life changes through the Midlife Magic in Marshmallow series (Blackwood), The Accidental Medium series (Boyles) and the Bloomin’ Psychic series (Chase).

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords: menopause; cozy crime; crime; gender
Subjects: Literature
Department: School of Communication
Depositing User: Jennifer Young
Date Deposited: 17 Oct 2025 15:19
Last Modified: 17 Oct 2025 15:19
URI: https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6196
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