Do You Insist on Genre Formula?

Please take a look at the labels in the image below.





















Okay. You buy a book billed as a mystery and it turns out to have paranormal or fantasy themes so entwined with the mystery that you find it difficult to suspend disbelief and enjoy the read. We've all been there in a sense. Maybe the cover illustration was so striking that it tempted you to buy a book that just wasn't your cup of tea or what an excellent illustrator led you to believe it would be.


As an author, I feel it my responsibility to accurately label my stories. That, however, is not always as easy as one might think. Publishing on Amazon provides only a set number of genre labels. For example I can't label a book as a combination of crime, mystery, police procedural (or amateur sleuth), family saga, and suspense. I write a series, and several of those labels apply to each story. I try to give enough information in the "Product Description" to satisfy potential readers' curiosity because I would rather lose a potential reader than irritate him.

Back to the original question: do you as a reader want a detailed and accurate genre label?

I ask because, for me at least, a story goes where it will. Let's say that you are a cozy mystery fan. Do you feel misled if a cozy mystery features a character or two whose traits drift too close to what you might expect in a hard-boiled mystery?

My stories feature a small-town cop and his family, including his daughter who ages at about a year per novel. Many of the elements of cozy are present, but there is occasional intense (though not graphic) violence. Likewise, there is mild profanity at times. Sex scenes are absent, but the violence and profanity (thought slight) keep me from calling my stories cozies. Likewise, the absence of graphic content keep me from labeling them hard-boiled.

So am I doing enough when I insert the information in the product definition? What do you want from the author when it comes to genre description?