This month’s international titles are sultry, atmospheric, and thrilling. From sex workers in Brazil, to language students in Beijing, from the working class districts of Casablanca to the vineyards of South Africa, let May’s best international crime novels show you a different version of the world than the ones in travel brochures.
Camila Sosa Villada, Bad Girls
Translated by Kit Maude
(Other Press)
Like Fiona Mosley’s Hot Stew, Bad Girls is more of a book about found family and societal othering than a book about sex workers (because sex workers are people and have all the complexities of ordinary lives, ok). Camila Sosa Villada has written a beautiful, queer, magical tale of trans sex workers who find a baby and decide to raise the child together under the advice of their nearly 200-year-old leader. Perfect for those who enjoy dark fantasy, queer fiction, and communal living.
Massoud Hayoun, Building 46
(Darf)
Okay, so, this book was written in English, but technically it still belongs on here as a modern classic of travel writing wrapped in what one reviewer calls a “social-realist ghost story.” Building 46 follows a gay Jewish Arab from LA who moves to Beijing to find himself and explore the language. In the process, he becomes involved in a bizarre murder mystery in a haunted residential building, and spends lots of time thinking about the meaning of language and desire. A heady, atmospheric, dizzying novel perfect for fans of all building-centric fiction.
In Koli Jean Bofane, Casablanca Story
Translated by Bill Johnston
(Indiana University Press)
The best noir fiction can be a means to capture the complexities and inequalities of an entire city, a lens for social critique, and still a damn good mystery. In Koli Jean Bofane’s Casablanca Story is all three—and a prescient warning about climate change, as the hot desert winds buffet the working-class neighborhoods of Casablanca that make up the book’s setting.
Gustaf Skordeman, Geiger
Translated by Ian Giles
(Grand Central)
A woman picks up the phone. A voice on the other end says “geiger.” She hangs up the phone, shoots her husband, and takes off into the ether, leaving behind the clues to solve a most puzzling case. Enjoy this nailbiter of a thriller, but perhaps not too late at night.
Deon Meyer, The Dark Flood
Translated by K.L. Seegers
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido return, not unscathed from their tussle with corrupt authorities in Meyer’s South African setting, but ready to fight against misuse of power once again. This time, the murder of a young programmer and student leads the two detectives to some missing weapons from the police armory and a real estate plot that goes all the way to the top.
