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A Mystery Expert Recommends Queer Crime Series
Kellye Garrett is the acclaimed author of Like a Sister, in which no one bats an eye when a disgraced reality-TV star is found dead in the Bronx—except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on an increasingly dangerous search for the truth.
Garrett is also the author of the Detective by Day mysteries, about a semi-famous, mega-broke Black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: private detective. The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel and was named one of BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Garrett serves on the board of directors for Sisters in Crime and is a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color.
For Mystery & Thriller Week, Garrett is sharing her recommendations for excellent queer crime series, plus she's divided her list into professional crime solvers and amateur sleuths!
Garrett is also the author of the Detective by Day mysteries, about a semi-famous, mega-broke Black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: private detective. The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel and was named one of BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Garrett serves on the board of directors for Sisters in Crime and is a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color.
For Mystery & Thriller Week, Garrett is sharing her recommendations for excellent queer crime series, plus she's divided her list into professional crime solvers and amateur sleuths!
Happy Mystery and Thriller Week! It’s no secret that I think it’s a great time to be a crime fiction lover. There’s an amazing and long overdue diversity of stories in our genre like we’ve never seen. And what makes it even cooler is that it extends to all of our subgenres. Stories by and about marginalized people are being told in cozies, PI novels, domestic suspense, legal crime fiction, and much, much more.
Luckily, these larger imprints seem to be finally embracing crime fiction stories with LGBTQ+ protagonists. Authors including PJ Vernon, Kelly J. Ford, John Copenhaver, Marco Carocari, Lev AC Rosen, Wendy Heard, Anne Laughlin, and, of course, Val McDermid are putting out amazing works that give us both a diverse and nuanced look at the queer experience and a really good crime fiction novel.
For this roundup, I knew I wanted to focus on series—and then realized I’d need to narrow it down even more to focus on professionals. You’ll also find a quick list of amateur detectives below. Since it’s always more fun to start at the beginning, you’ll see the first books introducing the characters listed.
Though it was published in 2016, the Charlie Mack series takes place in the mid-aughts. Charlie is a bisexual Black woman who co-owns a PI agency in Detroit. Unlike other PI books, this isn’t a story of a lone wolf. The agency truly works as a team on a case that takes them from their hometown of Detroit to Birmingham, Alabama, on what should have been a routine missing person’s case. You get a great sense of the characters—who are diverse—and place. (Six books in the series.)
Like so many iconic main characters in crime fiction, Kelleher’s Jinx Ballou is a former Phoenix cop. However, she decides to go the bounty hunter route instead of being a PI. If Stephanie Plum ever got her stuff together, she’d be Jinx. She also has an equally hot boyfriend and a fun group of friends. The story mixes fun action scenes with an unwavering look at the unique struggles that come with being transgender. In the first book, Jinx has to deal with a journalist outing her as trans, causing her to lose her biggest client. You can’t help but root for Jinx both professionally and personally. (Four books in the series plus a novella.)
Redmann is right up there with Val McDermid when it comes to paving the way for lesbian crime fiction. She was first published in 1990 and has consistently churned out amazing books in the Micky Knight series ever since. The story and voice is right up there with your fave noir novels. The first book has a classic setup. Attractive blonde visits the hardened PI with what seems like an open-and-shut case: Find her fiancé, who disappeared three days before the wedding, leaving nothing but a mysterious note. But since this is a noir, you know that it’s never that easy. (Ten books in the series.)
Along with Nikki Baker’s Virginia Kelly series (mentioned below), Penny Mickelbury broke ground in the early ’90s by covering the intersectionality that many people don’t think about but are a reality for Black queer people. Mickelbury’s series is grittier than Baker’s. It focuses on the white chief of a brand-new Hate Crime Division in Washington, D.C., and her Black newspaper reporter girlfriend. The couple meet in Keeping Secrets while trying to uncover why a serial killer is brutally murdering closeted gay people. (Four books in the series.)
The first book in the Chanse MacLeod series introducing the New Orleans cop turned PI was originally published in 2002 before Bold Stroke Books reissued it. Chanse meets a new client at the gym who’s being blackmailed with pictures of him and his closeted married mystery man he’s been seeing. But before Chanse can look into it, he finds his client dead in what looks like a hate crime. Herren lives in New Orleans, and you can sense his intimate knowledge and love of the city—which he describes as “just a small town”—in his writing. (Seven books in the series.)
Lepionka’s Roxane Weary may be the most recent addition to the list, but she’s just as an iconic main character as the others. Roxane is a second-generation investigator—her dad is a recently deceased cop. And in true PI noir fashion, she gets a visit from a client with a case that becomes much more than it initially seems. We’re weeks before a Black man is scheduled to be executed for the murder of a white teenage girl, and his sister wants Roxane to look into the closed case. The story feels ripped from the headlines. (Four books in the series.)
Nava originally published the first book in his Henry Rios series in 1986 under the original title, The Little Death. It was rereleased 30 years later. When we first meet 33-year-old Henry Rios, the San Jose public defender has been out since college but has never had a boyfriend. Then he encounters a client who makes him question his choice to avoid true intimacy. A client who later ends up dead. The book’s been accurately described as both a noir and an indictment of the legal system. (Eight books in the series.)
Once you make your way through those books, be sure to check out the below series featuring non-professionals:
Cantor Gold novels by Ann Aptaker: Also a darker series, this one is historical, about Cantor Gold, a woman art smuggler in 1949 New York. (Five books in the series.)
Hayden & Friends series by Rob Osler: A brand-new “quozy” (queer cozy) series about a Seattle teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall.
Hollywood Treasures Mysteries by Zac Bissonnette: Another new cozy about two formerly married soap opera actors whose careers are ruined when they come out as gay. Years later and still best friends, they open a collectibles shop in Palm Springs. (Out in August.)
Jane Lawless series by Ellen Hart: Hart is another legend. Her long-running Minnesota-based series features restaurateur-turned-sleuth Jane Lawless and her over-the-top friend Cordelia. (Twenty-seven books in the series.)
Pies Before Guys Mysteries by Misha Popp: An upcoming debut about a mobile baker owner with the unique ability to make pies that avenge women done wrong by men. (Out in May.)
Shay O’Hanlon Capers by Jessie Chandler: A lighter series about a white Minneapolis coffee shop owner with a cop girlfriend. (Five books in the series.)
The Harlem Renaissance Mysteries by Nekesa Afia: A historical about Louise Lloyd, a Black café worker in 1920s Harlem with a tragic past. (Two books in the series.)
Virginia Kelly Mysteries by Nikki Baker: A groundbreaking early 1990s series about an affluent 20-something Black banker in Chicago. (Four books in the series.)
Don’t forget to add these mysteries to your Want to Read shelf, and tell us which of these books you’re most excited about in the comments below.
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Apr 04, 2022 04:04AM
This is such a good list! I've added so many books to my shopping list!!
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What an interesting list, really appreciate the depth and inclusion of older series. Thank you for putting this together!
the Dave Brandstetter Mystery series is my favorite. wonder why it doesn't make this list.
Perhaps if Goodreads is going to publish an article featuring queer crime series, they may want to have a queer-identifying individual author said article.
The Stoner McTavish series starting with Stoner McTavish by Sarah Dreher is definitely missing on this list. This was the first book I read featuring a queer detective and at that time (in the 80s) this was really exceptional.
Cynnamon wrote: "The Stoner McTavish series starting with Stoner McTavish by Sarah Dreher is definitely missing on this list. This was the first book I read featuring a queer detective and at that tim..."Sadly, the author is a woman. So hard to find books about men written BY men.
Would also recommend the Snow & Winter series by CS Poe. The first book is The Mystery of Nevermore and follows an amateur sleuth as he solves history-related mysteries and murders.Josh Lanyon also writes a ton of mysteries and crime fiction. I'm not the biggest fan, but their work is kind of classic so it's hard not to include it.
Would also recommend Pressure Head by JL Merrow, for some cozy English crime, and Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case for a bit of comedy :)
An answer to queer prayer...THANK YOU! They are all in my Want to Read list.
Can't believe you left out Joseph Hansen's Brandstetter series, starting with Fadeout. It was one of the first, if not the first, to feature a gay lead in detective fiction.Leonard Pine in Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series is not only gay, but also black and a Vietnam vet. In Texas. EAST Texas. That's called b-r-a-v-e. I should know. I grew up there.
I don't see the Lindsey Gordon series by Val McDermid, either.
And of course there's Tom Ripley, in Patricia Highsmith's acclaimed books about his assorted misadventures.
Honestly, get out more.
I agree on the Brandstetter Series: excellent!!
I would like to see a list of books about or by deaf or hard of hearing authors or characters. They are severely underrepresented in literature.
Paul wrote: "Cynnamon wrote: "The Stoner McTavish series starting with Stoner McTavish by Sarah Dreher is definitely missing on this list. This was the first book I read featuring a queer detective and at that tim..."Sadly, the author is a woman. So hard to find books about men written BY men."
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
There are a lot of books to be found:
On the Other Hand, Death - Richard Stevenson
Night Drop - Marshall Thornton
Deadly Nightshade - Victor J. Banis
Relative Justice - Gregory Ashe
The Mystery of Love: Part One - Gary Alan Hidalgo
Mahu - Neil S. Plakcy
Murder at Pride Lodge - Mark McNease
Amuse Bouche -Anthony Bidulka
Simple Justice - John Morgan Wilson
Mardi Gras Mambo - Greg Herren
Brenda wrote: "Perhaps if Goodreads is going to publish an article featuring queer crime series, they may want to have a queer-identifying individual author said article."Nah, let's stop with that. We've seen #ownvoices used to hurt marginalized people enough. Queer people shouldn't be required to out themselves to write a blog article. Kellye Garrett knows her genre and has promoted queer writers before. As far as I know she's never said she's not queer.
This is a great list. Partly inspired by this, I made some shelves/lists with LGBTQ mysteries here. There's one for private eyes, one for thrillers and police procedurals, one for amateur sleuths and one for cozies and humorous mysteries. Of course, those lists are just selections. And BTW Stoner McTavish is a lesbian woman, not a man, despite her first name.
Peter wrote: "This is a great list. Partly inspired by this, I made some shelves/lists with LGBTQ mysteries here. There's one for private eyes, one for thrillers and police procedurals, one for amateur sleuths a..."Cool.
Natalie wrote: "I would like to see a list of books about or by deaf or hard of hearing authors or characters. They are severely underrepresented in literature."Have you seen Emma Viskic’s series? Terrific, IMO.
Resurrection Bay
Paul wrote: "Cynnamon wrote: "The Stoner McTavish series starting with Stoner McTavish by Sarah Dreher is definitely missing on this list. This was the first book I read featuring a queer detectiv..."I haven’t really seen that. There’s also Michael Nava, Martin Holmen, Nathan Aldyne…
My favorites are Mark Zubro, who has some great characters, and Richard Stevenson, with his gay detective (some movies made of this), also should mention Josh Lanyon and Anthony Bidulka. I read everything they write.
I really enjoyed reading this list! Despite a childhood love of mystery books, I haven't read many mysteries as an adult. I must found at least 10 books listed here that are going to my ever-expanding TBR shelf. And thank you so much for listing the first book of a series so I won't have to play the guessing game later on when I want to read it.For those of you grumbling about how such and such was left of the list - chill out. Nowhere does this page state that is meant to be a comprehensive list of queer crime fiction or the most popular queer crime fiction books of all time. It's just a list of recommendations. You can talk about other stories you love without sniping at the post authors.
