12 ratings | 5 reviews | avg rating:3.75

more photos (1)

Michael Nava’s Followers (339)

Michael’s Bookshelves

to-read (12)
currently-reading (4)
read (14)

Michael’s Friends (300)

Gabriel Rotello

2 books | 21 friends

Cynthia

602 books | 11 friends

Benito Corral

620 books | 177 friends

TA Inskeep

576 books | 73 friends

LenaRibka

2,774 books | 384 friends

Guillermo

4,547 books | 134 friends

Thomas' Mann

1,327 books | 325 friends

Manuela Raimo

1,962 books | 273 friends

More friends…

Michael Nava

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

September 16, 1954

Website

http://michaelnavawriter.com

Genre

Mystery, Thriller, Gay and Lesbian

Member Since

July 2012

edit data

Michael Nava is the author of a groundbreaking series of crime novels featuring a gay, Latino criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios. Nava is a six-time recipient of the Lambda Literary Award in the mystery category, as well as the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award for gay and lesbian literature.

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Michael Nava questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Michael Nava I am finishing up my podcast, The Henry Rios Mysteries, which adapts the first novel into an 18-episode audio drama. I am in the process of producing …moreI am finishing up my podcast, The Henry Rios Mysteries, which adapts the first novel into an 18-episode audio drama. I am in the process of producing a new Rios novel, Carved in Bone, for publication on October 1, from my own small press, Persigo Press, and I am in the thinking and research stages of a new Rios novel.(less)

flag

14 likes · like
Comment

When you published the Henry Rios series, these books where a beautiful example of what the internal life of a gay man could be like; Henry was my role-model. Last year I fell in love with him all over again when you published 'Lay Your Sleeping Head'. Now I hear you are going to publish a new Rios book. Am looking forward to meeting him again. Any idea when that will be? Jilles from Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Michael Nava Dear Jilles, first I apologize for the delay in responding to your question. Honestly, I set up this account and then it got lost in the press of othe…moreDear Jilles, first I apologize for the delay in responding to your question. Honestly, I set up this account and then it got lost in the press of other social media. I plan to be better about checking this site.

So, thank you for your kind words. I've started my own small press to re-publish slightly revised editions of the existing Rios novels and to publish new books in the series. The first new Rios novel in 20 years, called Carved in Bone, will be released on October 1.

Here's a brief synopsis:
November, 1984. Criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios, fresh out of rehab and picking up the pieces of his life, reluctantly accepts work as an insurance claims investigator and is immediately is assigned to investigate the apparently accidental death of Bill Ryan. Ryan, part of the great gay migration into San Francisco in the 1970s, has died in his flat of carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty gas line, his young lover barely surviving. Rios’s investigation into Ryan’s death – which Rios becomes convinced was no accident – tracks Ryan’s life from his arrival in San Francisco as a terrified 18-year-old to his transformation into a successful businessman. What begins for Rios as the search for the truth about Bill Ryan’s death becomes the search for the meaning of Ryan’s life as the tsunami of AIDS bears down on the gay community. (less)

flag

5 likes · like
1 comment

See all 6 answers from Michael Nava…

Combine Editions
Michael Nava’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 9,442 ratings · 1,356 reviews · 33 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Little Death (Henry Rios Mystery, #1) 3.92 avg rating — 874 ratings — published 1986 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lay Your Sleeping Head (Henry Rios #1) by Michael Nava (Goodreads Author), Michael Hames-García (Foreword) 4.26 avg rating — 793 ratings — published 2016 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Carved in Bone (Henry Rios #2) 4.50 avg rating — 744 ratings — published 2019 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Howtown (Henry Rios Mystery, #3) 4.27 avg rating — 739 ratings — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Death of Friends (Henry Rios Mystery, #5) 4.45 avg rating — 642 ratings — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hidden Law (Henry Rios Mystery, #4) 4.33 avg rating — 626 ratings — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rag and Bone (Henry Rios Mystery, #7) 4.43 avg rating — 610 ratings — published 2001 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Burning Plain (Henry Rios Mystery, #6) 4.29 avg rating — 622 ratings — published 1997 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goldenboy (Henry Rios Mystery, #2) 3.96 avg rating — 588 ratings — published 1988 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lies with Man (Henry Rios, #3) 4.46 avg rating — 332 ratings — published 2021 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Michael Nava…

30 posts
Michael Nava's Blog

Lay Your Sleeping Head Podcast Ep 7

Lay Your Sleeping Head Podcast Episode 7

by Michael Nava

https://michaelnavawriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LYSH-Episode-7.mp3

In the summer of 1982, Henry Rios is a young public defender working in Linden, a small town thirty-miles south of San Francisco. Linden is home to the great university founded by railroad magnate Grover Linden at the end of the ninetee

Series by Michael Nava

Henry Rios (8 books)
by

Michael Nava (Goodreads Author)

4.37 avg rating — 5,107 ratings

The Henry Rios Mysteries (7 books)
by

Michael Nava (Goodreads Author)

4.22 avg rating — 4,700 ratings

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...

Michael is Currently Reading

Michael is currently reading

Wild Animals I Have Known

by Kevin Bentley

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 14, 2019 07:00PM

Michael is currently reading

Contemporary Theology: An Introduction: Classical, Evangelical, Philosophical, and Global Perspectives

by Kirk R. MacGregor

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 14, 2019 06:59PM

Michael is currently reading

Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall

by James Polchin

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 14, 2019 06:53PM

Quotes by Michael Nava (?)

“You know, Henry, we're the only people who get born into the enemy camp. I mean, black babies get born into black families, Jewish babies get born into Jewish families, but gay babies, we get born into straight families. How we survive it all is a miracle.”
― Michael Nava, The Hidden Law

12 likes

“I'm sorry about today."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I was bored and lonely."
"Some would call that the human condition.”
― Michael Nava, The Little Death

8 likes

“Bad feelings have a life of their own.”
― Michael Nava, The Little Death

5 likes

See all Michael Nava's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Backlot Gay B...: Avon Classic Paperback: Tory's	14	25	May 16, 2013 05:16AM
Queereaders: Mystery	38	138	Apr 05, 2014 06:14PM
The Challenge Fac...: May in History	20	62	Jun 02, 2014 12:33PM