#while ultimately having the same philosophical underpinnings and thematic shape as Cosies

[loki-zen]

tere are lots of mysteries where the audience knows ewho did it from the beginning. most columbo episodes worjk this way

so i have literally written whole paragraphs at this point about how:

a) discussions of genre will often use words in a very specific way, but not everyone will adhere to this usage.

b) genre itself is a fiddly thing - in my last post or two I've been discussing the formation and formalisation of the Detective Mystery in the 20th century as a format for written fiction.

It shouldn't be surprising if, over 50 years later, modern examples of/homages to the genre are innovating and drawing from other (sub)genres (in this case, imo, Noir).

You would expect that, but it doesn't change that (i) the archetypical Cosy Detective Story is something you can point to, that has a given structure, or that (ii) in discussion of Crime subgenres, 'Mystery' often specifically refers to stories that have a specific structure. I've outlined this usage in detail by now I think. It's a 'Mystery' because you are supposed to be trying to figure out the answer. In this context, it doesn't make sense to say "ah, but Columbo is a Mystery, and it doesn't have that format!" because what you are saying, tautologically, is that (that episode of) Columbo is not a Mystery.

Some people might describe Columbo as a "mystery" because (as I understand it; I don't watch it myself) it shares a lot of thematic ground with Detective Mystery/Murder Mystery/Cosy crime fiction. Sharing a lot of thematic ground with and appealing to fans of Cosy detective stories while not precisely replicating the Detective Mystery format in every single episode is a pretty common way to be for a crime procedural. My understanding via osmosis of Columbo suggests that 'crime procedural' is the correct classification of Columbo.