Mystery

Parallel Lies by Stella Duffy

‘Wealth, celebrity, sexuality and a tangled web of secrets. . . . Oh boy, what a mix. And it works. . . . It was my first introduction to this writer and I’ll be coming back for more.’–Irish Examiner’A fine piece of writing . . . a powerful talent . . . a tough, poignant book.’–Guardian (UK)’Highly entertaining . . . offers a salutary corrective to the airbrushed picture presented by the Hollywood publicity machine.’–Daily MailThey say the truth matters. Not in Hollywood, it doesn’t. In Hollywood you need to lie because Hollywood doesn’t need lesbians. That’s the deal, and Yana Ivanova is Hollywood’s biggest star. So Yana Ivanova has a boyfriend called Jimmy. And a personal assistant called Penny. But hey, they live in a very glamorous closet.But then letters start to arrive. From a writer who knows the truth. Yana fears blackmail, but she is terrified of bad publicity. And she clearly has a lot to lose.And soon there’s an accident–or maybe it’s murder. Not that it matters–this is Hollywood. And more than anything else, the show must go on. All anyone expects–from other people, and even from themselves–is what Hollywood needs: Parallel Lies.Stella Duffy is an acclaimed writer of both crime fiction and literary fiction. She has won the Short Story Dagger Award, and she was named Stonewall Writer of the Year in 2008.

In The Game by Nikki Baker

Nikki Baker s In the Game (1991) is a historic milestone in queer literature. Originally published by the iconic Naiad Press, it is recognized as the very first mystery novel to feature a Black lesbian protagonist and detective. It was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery and remains a foundational text in the history of intersectional queer fiction.

A groundbreaking text in queer noir, Nikki Baker’s In the Game introduces Virginia ‘Ginny’ Kelly, a sharp, cynical Black lesbian navigating the corporate, predominantly white world of high finance in Chicago. When Ginny meets her old college friend Bev Johnson for late-night drinks, Bev reveals that her partner is stepping out on her. The next morning, the woman is found murdered right outside the bar where they met. Terrified that her friend will be framed for the crime, Ginny launches her own amateur investigation into the victim’s messy life and alleged embezzlement schemes. Along the way, her efforts are complicated by intense workplace microaggressions, a primary relationship under strain, and an immediate, magnetic attraction to a beautiful lawyer named Susan Coogan. The novel stands as an essential exploration of the intersections of race, gender, and sapphic identity within the framework of twentieth-century detective fiction.

Star Struck by V.L. McDermid

Manchester private eye Kate Brannigan is short on cash, forcing her to swallow her pride and take the only job available: playing bodyguard to Gloria Kendal, a paranoid, high-maintenance television soap star facing escalating death threats. Kate plunges into the glitzy, cutthroat world of entertainment, only for the backstage drama to turn deadly when a self-styled ‘Seer to the Stars’ is brutally murdered. Juggling the frantic demands of showbiz rivalries, a script-leaking saboteur, and a personal crisis when her reliable friend Dennis is framed for a separate homicide, Kate must navigate a web of greed and media obsession to catch a ruthless killer before the final curtain falls.

The Purveyor by Karelia Stetz-Waters

Moving away from traditional romance structures into the realm of gritty avant-garde crime writing, Karelia Stetz-Waters The Purveyor follows Adair Wilson, a theater professor who inadvertently becomes entangled in a high-stakes nightmare when two of her students are abducted. When both her wealthy family and the victims’ relatives refuse to intervene, Adair takes matters into her own hands to dismantle an underground human trafficking operation protected by corrupt law enforcement. Aided only by her lover, Helen Ivers, Adair is plunged into a dangerous, dark criminal underworld spanning from suburban Boston to the legal brothels of Nevada. The narrative seamlessly interweaves intense suspense and high-stakes action with a deeply committed, self-sacrificing sapphic romance.

The Couple At Number 9 by Claire Douglas

‘Tense, twisty, fraught with emotion and packed with secrets, The Couple at Number 9 is Claire’s best thriller yet.’–Gilly MacMillan, bestselling author of What She Knew The internationally bestselling author of Do Not Disturb and Just Like the Other Girls delivers a heart-pounding psychological thriller about a couple who inherit what seems to be their dream home, until they make a horrifying discovery–and the danger begins. The Victims . . . When pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations, the last thing she expects is builders uncovering human remains. The remains of two bodies, in fact. The Investigation . . . Forensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least thirty years. Saffy has nothing to worry about–until the police launch a murder inquiry and ask to speak to the cottage’s former owner. Her grandmother, Rose. The Witness . . . Rose is in a nursing home and Alzheimer’s means her memory is increasingly confused. She can’t help the police, but its’ clear she remembers something. The Killer . . . As Rose’s fragmented memories resurface, and the police dig ever deeper, Saffy fears she and the cottage are being watched. The Truth . . . What happened thirty years ago? Why did no one miss the victims? What part did her grandmother play? And is Saffy now in danger?

Blue Genes by Val McDermid

Manchester private eye Kate Brannigan is dealing with the worst week of her life, juggling a compromised fraud sting, a sabotaged neo-punk band, and the sudden shock of her boyfriend s erroneous death notice in the newspaper. But her personal problems are sidelined when her best friend Alexis reveals a massive secret: her lesbian partner, Chris, is pregnant via a highly illegal, pioneering fertility treatment. When the rogue gynecologist behind the procedure is found murdered, Alexis and Chris find themselves in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer and an intense police investigation. To protect her friends’ safety and their unborn child, Kate must untangle a dark web of medical malpractice, corporate greed, and cold-blooded blackmail.

Murder at the Nightwood Bar by Katherine V. Forrest

Dory Quillin, nineteen-years old, her white-blonde hair ruffled by the gentle breezes of a June evening, lies dead in the parking lot of a lesbian bar. Her bewildered silver-blue eyes stare beseechingly into the mind and soul of the woman who kneels beside her: LAPD homicide detective Kate Delafield. The investigation is far from a simple matter. Kate uncovers shocking facts about the brief life of the murdered young lesbian. She finds her road to the killer obstructed by Dory’s uncooperative, judgmental parents, the waning interest of her own partner, and most frustrating of all, the open hostility of women who should be her allies–the lesbians who frequent the Nightwood Bar. Kate’s emotional equilibrium is further disturbed by her powerful attraction to one of those women, the enigmatic Andrea Ross. Who killed Dory Quillin? And why? Accompany Kate Delafield on her electrifying, emotional journey to the answer, an answer you will never forget. A Kate Delafield Mystery Series Book 2.

Crack Down by Val McDermid

‘Plot, characterization, pace are all first-rate, and the bouncy Brannigan is one of the most likeable of all today’s PIs.’–The Sunday Telegraph (London) Kate Brannigan finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, and violent gangland enforcers, bringing her face to face with death in the most terrifying investigation of her career.

Clean Break by Val McDermid

Manchester private eye Kate Brannigan is furious when professional art thieves steal a priceless Monet painting from a stately home right under the nose of her newly designed security system. Bound by contract to recover the masterpiece, Kate embark on a high-stakes, globe-trotting pursuit across Europe that pits her directly against international organized crime. Back home, things are equally chaotic as a separate case of industrial sabotage leaves a bloody trail of bodies across the English Northwest. Juggling two deadly investigations, Kate relies on her sharp wit and her tight-knit circle of local friends including her close allies Alexis and Chris, who are navigating the high anxieties of a stressful fertility treatment to solve the case before her own life unravels.

To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey

To Love and Be Wise (1950) was written by Elizabeth MacKintosh under her famous pen name, Josephine Tey (the ‘Tae’ in your query likely stems from a phonetic spelling or a scanner typo).

While it is structured as a classic Golden Age British detective mystery featuring Inspector Alan Grant, the entire plot hinges directly on trans-masculine presentation, female gender fluidness, and sapphic attraction. The mystery revolves around a dashing, beautiful young American male photographer named Leslie Searle who arrives in an English artistic colony, charms everyone, and then vanishes. It is ultimately revealed that Leslie Searle is actually a woman presenting seamlessly as a young man. The book heavily explores the homoerotic tension and intense infatuations that both men and women in the village develop toward Leslie before her true sex is revealed.

A seminal text in the history of queer detective fiction, Josephine Tey s 1950 mystery subverts Golden Age tropes by centering its narrative on gender transgression and same-sex attraction. When the devastatingly handsome young American photographer Leslie Searle vanishes from a tight-knit English arts colony, Inspector Alan Grant is called in to investigate a suspected murder. The investigation uncovers a web of intense romantic fixation, revealing that Leslie had systematically charmed and manipulated the colony’s residents disrupting both heterosexual engagements and sparking latent homoerotic desires. The novel s eventual resolution hinges on a radical mid-century depiction of female masculinity, cross-dressing, and gender performance, making it a crucial historical piece for studying sapphic subtext and gender fluidity in classic crime fiction.