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Queer Crime Writers Presents: LGBTQIA+ Crime Fiction To Check Out This Summer
Alright, here’s the quick rundown of what’s hitting the shelves this summer for anyone who loves a good mystery with queer characters at the center. The lineup is a mash‑up of everything from small‑town sleuths to secret‑society spies, and each book leans into the kind of crime storytelling that feels both fresh and familiar.
First up, Joshua Moehling’s *Beneath a Broken Sky* drops you into a tornado‑ravaged town where Detective Ben Packard has to untangle a web of motives that stretches back to his own past. It’s the fourth in his series, so the stakes are high and the secrets are buried deep under the storm debris. Then there’s Paul Rudnick’s *The Tuxedo Society*, a witty spy thriller that trades Bond’s swagger for a gay secret agency inside the U.S. government. Candle‑shop clerk Andrew Birnbaum gets pulled into a globe‑spanning hunt for an ancient artifact, hopping from the White House to the Vatican and even the Summer Olympics, all while using flower arranging as his covert tool.
If you prefer amateur detectives, Lev AC Rosen’s *The Disaster Gay Detective Agency* follows Brandon, who stumbles into a murder case after spotting a killing and chasing a mysterious Jon. The mystery tightens as the clues get stranger and the danger grows. Meanwhile, Robert Holtom’s *A Morbid Passion* whisks you back to 1930s London, where a Servants’ Ball turns deadly and queer sleuths Selby and Theodora navigate the city’s underground while dodging police who just want to lock Selby up for who he is.
The rest of the list keeps the variety rolling. *The House Guest* by Jennifer Pashley puts a broke cook in a Cape Cod novelist’s house where romance, manipulation, and a sudden death collide. *Half Double Murder* from Marshall Thornton has a fiber‑arts group turning detectives after their director is accused of killing a neighboring salon owner. *The Bayou Keeps the Bones* follows trucker Cass Blaney as she ferries a woman fleeing an abusive husband across the South, only to find love and danger tangled together. There’s also a crossover caper, *A Streetcar Named Shenanigans*, where a private eye teams up with charming thieves to steal gold from anti‑LGBTQ conspirators.
Rounding out the summer slate are a few more standout titles: trans detective Lauren Kelly’s *All We Hide* reopens a decade‑old murder that spirals into a county‑wide conspiracy; Mo Ellery’s *Don’t Cross Mo Ellery* blends humor and bisexual awakening as a crossing guard investigates a bizarre death; and *Lost in Sound* by Clifford Mae Henderson gathers an eclectic crew to clear a neurodivergent pirate accused of murder in a California coastal town. All of these books show how queer crime fiction is expanding its reach—perfect for a beach read or a poolside escape, with enough intrigue to keep the hours humming
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Looking to Get Into Golden Age mysteries?
If you’re itching for a Golden Age whodunit, the good news is that the genre is enjoying a fresh wave of enthusiasm, so you’ve got plenty of options to dive in. The simplest route is to swing by your neighborhood bookseller—most will have a mystery section and can point you toward the classics. If you don’t have a dedicated mystery shop nearby, there are a handful of specialty stores that cater specifically to fans: The Mysterious Bookshop in New York, The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Murder by the Book in Houston, and the Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kansas, just to name a few. Give them a call or check their websites; they’ll often have curated lists and can ship titles straight to you.
For a more structured start, check out the starter pack compiled by New York Times Book Review editor Sadie Stein. It breaks down entry‑level titles by sub‑genre, making it easy to pick a story that matches your taste—whether you prefer the locked‑room puzzle, the country‑house intrigue, or a hard‑boiled detective vibe. This guide is a solid foundation for anyone new to the era and works as a quick reference when you’re browsing shelves or online catalogs.
If you’ve already devoured the basics and want to push deeper, the American Mystery Classics canon is the next frontier. It’s a growing collection that pulls together both well‑known and obscure American authors from the period, offering a richer sense of the genre’s evolution. Working through that list will introduce you to hidden gems you probably haven’t encountered yet.
And for the truly adventurous—those who love a bit of literary archaeology—the British Library Crime Classics series is a treasure trove. It reprints dozens of forgotten British mysteries, many of which were long out of print. Even seasoned fans discover new authors and storylines here, making it perfect for the “psychos” who crave something beyond the usual suspects. Whether you start with Stein’s starter pack or jump straight into the British reprints, you’ve got a clear roadmap to a weekend (or a whole summer) of classic sleuthing. Enjoy the hunt!
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Christopher Golden’s Secrets to Creating Dread and Writing Great Horror Thrillers
So, when it comes to writing horror thrillers, Christopher Golden says it all comes down to two key elements: dread and momentum. He's a bit of a process-averse guy, but he's boiled down his advice to these two words.
To create dread, you need to set the mood early on in your story, even if it means flashing back or forward to let the reader know there's something to fear. This can be done through a judicious selection of details, and it's not just about scaring the reader, but also about creating an atmosphere of malicious evil. Golden likes to use supernatural horror, but the key is to make the reader anxious about what's to come.
Now, when it comes to momentum, it's all about keeping the story hurtling forward. This can be done through word choice, paragraph length, and spreading character examination across the breadth of the story. Golden likes to use a ticking clock to create a sense of urgency, and scenes and chapters can be pared back to avoid creating a drag on momentum. He even feels a bit breathless himself when he's writing scenes that work.
The key is to make the story feel out of control, while remaining in complete control. Golden imagines it's a bit like dancing – if you feel like taking a bow at the end, you've probably done something right. He uses a combination of dread and momentum to create a sense of tension and suspense, and it's this balance that makes his horror thrillers so effective.
Golden also talks about the importance of layering different levels of dread into the story. This can be done by revealing things that the character doesn't know, but the reader does, or by keeping things hidden from both the reader and the character. The goal is to create a sense of uncertainty and unease, and to keep the reader guessing until the very end.
In his new novel, Carry Me to My Grave, Golden uses a combination of these techniques to create a sense of dread and momentum. The story follows a man who's transporting his mother's body from Indiana to Maine, and things start to go horribly wrong as they travel. Golden uses a range of techniques to create a sense of tension and suspense, from the soft piano notes coming from inside the crate to hold his mother's remains, to the sense of urgency created by the ticking clock.
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Fashion Cues and Clues: MJ Soni on Why Clothing Matters in Mysteries
Clothing can evoke strong emotions and memories in both real life and fiction, particularly in mysteries where it serves multiple purposes. Alfred Hitchcock was known for his attention to detail when it came to dressing his actors, using clothing to express their psychology and characters. In novels, clothing descriptions should have a purpose and be critical to the story, not just filler.
Clothing can show character details such as religious leanings, sense of humor, or political opinions. For example, a hijab or a T-shirt with a slogan can convey a character's personality. Agatha Christie was a genius at describing character through clothing, using a single sentence to convey a character's status, style, and intentions.
Clothing can also be used as clues in mysteries, especially fibers from clothing left at a crime scene or on a victim's body. In fiction, clothing can be used to misdirect or create suspense, as seen in Hitchcock's films. In my own mystery novel, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, clothing is used to show character and background, with my protagonist Neeti Shah wearing sarees that reflect her cultural heritage and traditions.
In the real world, clothing can be used in forensics to identify victims or suspects, and in witness descriptions to create misleading information. Ultimately, clothing can be a powerful tool in mysteries, revealing character, intentions, and even clues to the reader.
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Rowan Beaird on the Enduring Allure of Cults in Times of Uncertainty
Author Rowan Beaird noticed a surge of interest in cults during her research on a book about the subject. She realized that people's fascination with cults is not unique to her, and she wanted to understand why. Beaird's novel, Tenderness, is set in the 1970s, a time of great social and economic upheaval in the US. The idealism of the 1960s was fading, and the world was feeling increasingly unstable due to factors like the Vietnam War, Watergate, and environmental concerns.
The 1970s saw a rise in cult activity, with groups like the Manson Family, Children of God, and Scientology gaining popularity. Beaird suggests that people are drawn to cults when they've experienced loss or instability in their lives, and are looking for a sense of community and shelter. She notes that cult members are often ordinary people who have been preyed upon in a moment of vulnerability.
Beaird believes that our current moment is similar to the 1970s, with a sense of uncertainty and fear driving people to seek out alternative communities and ideologies. She argues that our obsession with cults is a reflection of our own vulnerability to them, and that we're drawn to the idea of finding a sense of connection and community in a chaotic world.
In writing Tenderness, Beaird explored the reasons why people join and leave cults. She suggests that the desire for connection and community is a key factor in both joining and leaving a cult, and that being our most tender selves is the key to finding our place in the world and creating positive change.
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5 Mysteries Set at Literary Events, Conferences, and Retreats
Imagine a book fair or a writers’ retreat turning into a murder scene, and you’ve got a whole shelf of novels that make that fantasy come true. First up is Anthony Horowitz’s *A Line to Kill*, where a fictional version of Horowitz teams up with the sharp‑tongued detective Daniel Hawthorne at a literary conference on a remote island. The whole thing feels like a love‑letter to the genre, with Hawthorne slicing through the pretensions of the writer crowd as if he were a copyeditor on a deadline.
Then there’s Benjamin Stevenson’s *Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect*. He takes the meta‑game up a notch, sending his protagonist Ernest Cunningham to a crime‑writing conference aboard The Ghan, that legendary train winding through the Australian outback. The train becomes a locked‑room puzzle, and Stevenson even slips in a handy cheat sheet on mystery word counts, so you can see the mechanics behind the mayhem.
If you prefer a more intimate, almost gothic vibe, Julia Bartz offers *The Writing Retreat*. A promising writer named Alex gets an invitation to a secluded estate run by the celebrated Roza Vallo, only to find her rival Wren there as well. The retreat turns into a cut‑throat contest to finish a manuscript in record time, with the usual haunted‑mansion atmosphere adding a deliciously spooky layer.
Laura Zigman’s *The Author Weekend* and Evelyn Clarke’s *The Ending Writes Itself* round out the list. Zigman’s novel pits bestseller Faye Wader against her nemesis Abby Schuss during a weekend showdown, exposing the envy that fuels many writer friendships. Clarke’s collaborative pseudonym brings together seven struggling authors on a reclusive author’s island, each battling to complete an unfinished manuscript while the island itself feels like a character that might just write its own ending. All five books blend the cut‑throat world of publishing with classic whodunit thrills, giving readers both a peek behind the literary curtain and a masterclass in mystery plotting.