Between Pure Entertainment and Informative Guidance: The Heterotopia of Rehab Institutions in Elizabeth Zelvin’s Cozy Mystery Death Will Get You Sober

Аннотация

The aim of this paper is to discuss the generic direction into which the cozy mystery has been developing. Professionals and amateurs of different domains have started to adopt the medium of the traditional detective novel to propagate their expertise. Consequently, in addition to the criminal clue puzzle these ‘hybrid’ crime novels provide useful knowledge or even guidance.

Psychotherapists and psychiatrists are among people professionally involved in the wide spectrum of problems haunting addicts and their codependent families. Although there are more and more self-help books on various addictions available on the market, their readership is limited to the unlucky ones who, in one way or another, have been drawn into the “Maelstrom”of alcoholism. Very few non-addicts can comprehend the closed world of alcoholics with all its peculiarities and irregularities. Elizabeth Zelvin, an experienced counsellor, has managed to present the heterotopia of alcoholics to a wider audience. Her cozy mystery Death Will Get You Sober intertwines the criminal investigation with the mundane lives of alcoholics struggling to adjust to the rules and regulations enforced in the detox institutions.