Summer is usually cast as the time for beach reading, those lighter and breezier books that suit a more active time of the year. This summer’s selection of queer crime fiction has plenty of that, plus the darker tones one associates with a good crime novel. Amateur sleuths abound—a long-haul truck driver, a group of fiber artists, a school crossing guard, a community worker, and a personal chef—each finding themselves in the middle of murder investigations. The pros are here, too—police detectives, queer spies recruited by the government, a queer private eye firm. A historical novel examines fraud in the world of the Brontë sisters. The wide range of this season’s books demonstrates the ever-broadening world of queer crime fiction. Whether lying on the beach or by the pool, there’s something here to make those hours sing.
Presented by Queer Crime Writers, an organization advocating for LGBTQIA+ authors.
Joshua Moehling, Beneath a Broken Sky
(Poisoned Pen Press, May 26)
After a devastating tornado tears through Sandy Lake, Detective Ben Packard investigates the murder of a mother known for fiercely defending her bullied son. With nearly the entire town harboring a motive, every clue uncovers new secrets hidden beneath the storm’s destruction. As old ghosts from Ben’s past resurface, he must untangle a web of lies before the killer strikes again. In this gripping fourth installment, the greatest danger may be the truth everyone in Sandy Lake is determined to keep buried.
Paul Rudnick, The Tuxedo Society
(Atria, May 26)
A dinner invitation turns into a job offer: join the Tuxedo Society, a gay secret society working inside the U.S. government. Andrew Birnbaum, a candle shop clerk with acting dreams, is recruited by Navy SEAL Reggie O’Malley and handed gadgets built for a spy who knows his way around black tie. The mission sends him after an ancient artifact tied to a powerful smuggling ring, with stops at the White House, the Vatican, and the Summer Olympics. Oligarchs, crooked senators, and a televangelist with plans far beyond his pulpit all stand in the way. A spy thriller that trades Bond’s swagger for wit, queer ingenuity, and flower arranging as tradecraft.
Lev AC Rosen, The Disaster Gay Detective Agency
(Poisoned Pen Press, June 2)
Brandon thinks he’s searching for Jon, the man who ghosted him after one unforgettable night. Instead, he finds himself at the center of a murder investigation when he witnesses a killing and sees Jon fleeing the scene. Was Jon the killer, a witness, or another victim? With only a forgotten phone and a trail of puzzling clues, Brandon and his friends race to uncover Jon’s true identity. But the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous the mystery becomes and someone wants to make sure they stop asking questions.
Robert Holtom, A Morbid Passion
( Titan, June 9)
London, 1930. A dinner invitation at the Fortescue estate leads amateur sleuths Selby Bigge and Theodora Smythe into a deadly mystery in this second book in the Selby Bigge mystery series, where a glamorous Servants’ Ball ends in murder. As they investigate, secrets hidden above and below stairs transform every member of the household into a suspect. With the help of the dazzling Lady Splendid, Selby follows a trail of deception through London’s queer underground, while evading police eager to arrest him simply for who he is. To catch the killer, Selby must risk everything.
Jennifer Pashley, The House Guest
(Little, Brown, July 7)
Brett Novak, broke and heartbroken, takes a two-week live-in gig cooking for reclusive bestselling novelist Carson Smart at his secluded Cape Cod beachfront home. Charming Carson quickly seduces her, but when his wife, Vera, returns from Brazil, the couple’s love/hate dynamic turns Brett’s dream job into something far more dangerous. Both spouses seem to want something from her, and Brett finds herself pulled toward each in turn, unsure which desire is real and which is a weapon aimed at the other. An unexpected death raises the stakes, and secrets about all three begin to surface. Psychological suspense that tightens with every reveal.
Marshall Thornton, Half Double Murder
(Kenmore Books, July 28)
A murder shatters the quiet routine of an LGBTQ fiber arts group when the director of The Center is accused of killing the owner of a neighboring hair salon. Convinced their friend has been wrongly accused, teenager Brown, senior citizen Chester, and their fellow crafters begin investigating the crime themselves. As they unravel motives, hidden grudges, and unexpected suspects, one question becomes impossible to ignore: are they trying to prove an innocent man’s innocence or protecting a murderer?
Bailey Bridgewater, The Bayou Keeps the Bones
(Bold Strokes Books, August 1)
When a distraught woman bursts into a Louisiana diner, truck driver Cass Blaney doesn’t think twice about offering her a ride out of town. Florence is running from an abusive husband, and Cass is compelled to help. But is Florence really who she claims to be? As Cass brings Florence along on long hauls across the sweltering South, robberies and bodies seem to be pursuing them. Drawn in by her growing love for Florence, Cass crosses line after line to protect her. In Bridgewater’s third crime thriller, trust turns to obsession and love becomes a weapon.
JM Redmann and Rob Byrnes, A Streetcar Named Shenanigans
(Bold Strokes Books, August 1)
A cross-over book from two award-winning authors. Redmann’s Mickey Knight, a mostly law-abiding private investigator, runs into Byrne’s Grant and Chase, two charming thieves who know an opportunity when they see one. While drinking in a French Quarter bar, they overhear two anti-LGBTQ men mapping out a campaign against queers and revealing that they are carrying gold. Mickey reluctantly goes along with a plan to relieve them of their riches. What could go wrong?
Robyn Gigl, All We Hide
(Soho Crime, August 4)
Lauren Kelly, a trans detective with the District Attorney’s Office, gets handed the file nobody wanted: the decade-old, unsolved murder of a trans woman in her small town. Reopening the case should be routine. Instead, it pulls at threads far bigger than one victim, a conspiracy running the length of the county, and a secret from Kelly’s own past she thought she’d buried for good. This small-town mystery marks the first entry in a new series from Gigl, who wrote the four-book Erin McCabe legal thriller series.
Birdie Horne, Don’t Cross Mo Ellery
(William Morrow, Aug. 11)
On her 29th birthday, Mo Ellery’s new job as a school crossing guard pulls her into an unhinged murder investigation. In this laugh-out-loud mystery, Mo moves to a neighborhood full of interesting characters while she navigates a bisexual reawakening. Mo’s greatest nemesis is Poodle Dude, a guy who speeds to his death in a sinkhole. Mo accidentally becomes the guardian to his three poodles, but some neighbors believe Poodle Dude was murdered. Reluctantly, Mo agrees to help find the true cause of Poodle Dude’s death. When a second local dies under mysterious circumstances, it’s going to take all of Mo’s broadly applicable and transferable skills to find the killer.
Clifford Mae Henderson, Lost in Sound
(Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company, August 11)
An unlikely posse comes together to help Captain Eddie, a neurodivergent, landlocked pirate, who’s been accused of murdering another transient. They are led by Ash, a fed-up middle-aged lesbian, who spearheads an investigation with her unlikely crew of eccentrics. Their California coastal town has a large population of the unhoused, people who are passed every day by the tech millionaires taking over the place. When the murdered transient turns out to be the estranged sister of country and western legend, Wanda Wiles, the story gains notoriety, and the complications grow. Can Ash best the powers that be and find the real murderer?
Catherine Friend, The Lost Bronte
(Bywater Books, August 18)
In this Gothic-inspired novel about love and forgery in Brontë country, young Lilianne Loxley finds herself in service at the large country estate of Lord Bexton. She is devoted to the works of the Brontë sisters and is soon drawn into a conspiracy to write a ‘lost’ novel by Emily Brontë for Lord Bexton, a plot that can make or destroy fortunes. The house is haunted by lemon-scented ghosts and a portrait on the wall has eyes on her. Only the love of a housemaid named Wren disturbs her in a pleasant way. When Lily discovers a surprising connection between the Brontë family and Lord Bexton, she is forced to make dangerous decisions. You don’t have to be a Brontë fan to be drawn into the atmospheric story.
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