Have you ever wondered why so many Christian women and men enjoy muder mystery stories? It sounds weird, doesn’t it? After all, as Christians we are to hate sin the way God does. And when it comes to sin, murder is kind of a biggie.

So why is it that my beloved wife asked to have a murder mystery birthday party where it is front and center? Wouldn’t that be like having a get-together to appreciate arson, or slander, or embezzlement? “Come to my larceny birthday party!” “Let’s celebrate my son’s graduation with some good old fashioned tax evasion!” We would be quite the den of thieves if that was our aim!

No, we did not gather together to celebrate murder. We weren’t appreciating murder the way you appreciate a fine painting or a cup of tea: “Oh yes, what an fabulous murder that was. Simply splendid.” No, this get-together was all about celebrating the cozy murder mystery story, that peculiar art form in books and film that have captivated our attention and interest for decades.

But why are cozy murder mysteries so engaging, and how do they relate to a Christian worldview? I’m glad you asked.

Firstly, cozy murder mysteries acknowledge that the world is messed up. They’re honest about the state the world is in. Because of the effects of sin, this world is not as it should be. This should be a place of happiness and blessedness and security and joy. Instead, the world is full of darkness and depravity and danger and death. And cozy murder mysteries testify to that fact. They feel validating to read or watch. It feels good to watch a murderer kill his girlfriend off screen and then say, “Wow, that is so messed up. That guy is evil.” Because it is! It is messed up. He is evil for killing his girlfriend off screen. Acknowledging the state that the world is in makes us feel less crazy. And that is a good feeling.

But cozy murder mysteries also feel good because they don’t glory in the gory details. They reckon with and expose the vulgarities of the human heart without being vulgar themselves. Horror movies will put all that stuff on screen and linger on it, because that kind of vulgarity is the point. But in a cozy murder mystery, we don’t need any of that stuff. We just see the guy pull the rope out of his bag, take few steps forward, cue the music swell, and… scene. That’s all we need. We know the murder happened. We don’t need to see the worst of the worst, especially since…

Cozy murder mysteries are all about REVEALING the truth. I would HATE it if I watched a show or read a book where the mystery of whodunnit never got solved. Can you imagine spending all those hours to be rewarded with nothing? No, in cozy murder mysteries somebody always finds out because there is catharsis in KNOWING something that was previously puzzling. It’s that “aha!” moment that we find so satisfying. And this is because we are made in God’s image. We want to know things. We don’t like not knowing. And just as the Bible reveals them to us—the book of Revelation is all about revealing future truths—it can be a lot of fun to be presented with a cozy murder mystery that gives you just enough clues to put it all together.

And someone always does! It’s not a cozy murder mystery unless the murderer is found out in the end. Justice must prevail. Why? Because in real life, we don’t always get to see justice done. We often see quite the opposite—evil men and women flourishing, and good men and women disadvantaged and taken advantage of. But in our heart of hearts we know that God’s justice is perfect. No evil person ever truly gets away with anything. Justice will be served in the end. And in a cozy murder mystery, we get to see a snippet of that. And it feels SO GOOD! It makes us feel less crazy when we remind ourselves that evil will not always triumph, that the hero or the detective or SOMEBODY will discover the truth in the end. It reminds us that the ultimate eternal state of the universe will be perfect justice.

Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. -Luke 12:3

So enjoy your cosy murder mysteries, everybody! Have fun catching the bad buy, figuring out the puzzles, and solving the crime. May God help us all not only to figure out whodunnit, but to be reminded that when it comes to redemption and salvation and restoration and the renewal of our broken world that Hedunnit! Amen! Come soon, Lord Jesus!