by Matt Lubbers-Moore
I am a middle-aged book collector. For a long time, I was the young guy on the gay mystery collector scene. As we get older, the friends I’ve made are starting to unload their books as they downsize their collections and possessions. The wonderful thing about that is I am the first person they contact about selling their books to, but the bad part of my friends downsizing is I am the first person they reach out to.
I am currently making my way through an Excel sheet of thousands of books from one friend, debating about which ones I need to add and the ones I want to add. Determining which books to replace my ragged copies.
But as I scour his list, I keep seeing names of beloved authors like Joseph Hansen, author of the Dave Brandstetter series, and Victor Banis, author of the Man from CAMP series and other queer detective series. Michael Craft, Jack Dickson, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Mark Gatiss, Russ Gregory, Dorien Grey, Richard Hall, Gregory Harris, Greg Herren, Fred Hunter, Robert Innes, Dean James, Steve Neil Johnson, William Maltese, David Lennon, Stan Leventhal, Christopher Lord, Elliott Mackle, Robin Maugham, Mark McNease, Grant Michaels, Michael Nava, Meg Perry, Neil Plakcy, John Preston, Lou Rand, Lev Raphael, Christopher Rice, Hugh Ross Williamson, Richard Stevenson, David Stukas, Marshall Thornton, John Morgan Wilson, RD Zimmerman, and Mark Zubro. So many of these I can remember where and when I first read them. RD Zimmerman I read between customers while working at a convenience store, David Stukas pulled me in with his colorful cartoonish covers, while Mark Zubro pulled me in with his sexy covers. Many of these authors passed on before I got to know them, some have become friends, and some are on a pedestal for what gay mysteries should be.
Of course, my wants list is much longer than my needs list, and both are longer than the “what I can afford” list, but I’ll continue to dream.
The Fall and Rise of Henry Milch is the third book in the Wyandot County Mysteries by three-time winner, nine-time finalist of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Mystery, Marshall Thornton. Thornton’s characters follow him around; Nick Nowak in Chicago, Noah Valentine in Los Angeles, and now Henry Milch in northern Michigan. Milch is a difficult character to like but one you can’t help but root for. He’s an opioid addict having been sent to live with his grandmother in northern Michigan after overdosing, and all he wants to do is go back to LA to his friends and clubbing. However, he keeps tripping over dead bodies. The Fall and Rise of Henry Milch is no different. This time he trips and falls on the dead body of his doctor which means he needs to clear his name before he can even think of moving back to Los Angeles!
Dead Ringer by Robyn Nyx
Out Feb. 1, 2024, Butterworth Books
FBI agent Dak Farrell’s wedding plans to celebrity mortician Callie “CJ” Johnson are interrupted by a series of seemingly unrelated murders. Dak’s instincts scream that there’s a deadly pattern, but the chilling connection eludes her as the body count continues to rise. As Dak grapples with the unsettling realization that she’s dealing with a killer who’s playing by a mysterious rulebook, her commitment to CJ is stretched to its limits. This is the second book in the Dak Farrell series.
The Evening Wolves by Gregory Ashe
Out Feb. 5, 2024, Hodgkin & Blount
First Gregory Ashe wrote a series about Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset, then he brought them back in the Union of Swords series, followed by the Arrows in the Hand series and now Ashe has brought them back to investigate in the fourth book in the Iron on Iron series. The Cottonmouth Club is operating a criminal organization but Hazard and Somerset can’t find any proof. When Somerset is arrested for a crime he did not commit, they use the fresh evidence used to fraudulently accuse Somerset to link the crimes to the Cottonmouth Club. But they’re not alone to face the Cottonmouth Club. North and Shaw from the Borealis series are back to help take down the Cottonmouth Club!
Guardian Angel by Cara Malone
Out Feb. 9, 2024, Lisbon Press
A woman is brutally slain and discarded in a secure construction site. She’s discovered wrapped in a silk sheet, wearing nothing but expensive diamond earrings. No one knows how she got there. When Detective Lena Wolf gets the call to investigate, her department is already stretched thin canvassing a multi-body dump site in the forest at the edge of Fox County. That means she’s going solo to catch the killer. The very first clue? An ominous call to the Medical Examiner’s Office from a man claiming to know Jane Doe. Receptionist Reese Mitchell uses gossip and pranks to keep the morbid aspects of her job at bay, but when the calls keep coming and the killer setting his sights on her, she can’t keep up that flippant facade. Terrified and helpless, she puts her safety in Lena’s hands. This is the eighth book in the Fox County series.
Ghost Town by R. E. Ward
Out Feb. 13, 2024, Bold Strokes Books
Paranormal investigator Blair Wyndon is hell-bent on proving that ghosts are real. She posts the evidence she collects on the website, SpiritScientific, a well-known haven for like-minded paranormal believers. Well, like-minded except for Leif Henderson.
Leif is a ghost hunter, not some stuffy paranormal investigator. She makes the kind of videos that thrill her audience, not bore them nearly to death. It’s all about clicks, views, and keeping the public watching to grow her fan base. She’s going to prove that ghosts exist with a dash of flair. Not like Blair. When they each receive an exclusive invitation to investigate the famed ghost town of Masonville, they jump at the chance. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity neither is willing to give up, even if it turns out that they must share the glory. But they aren’t the only ones who have been invited, and soon the mystery turns deadly. Someone or something else is in Masonville, and if Blair and Leif don’t find a way to escape, they might never leave.
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
Out Feb. 13, 2024, Tordotcom
Mossa has returned to Valdegeld on a missing person’s case, for which she’ll once again need Pleiti’s insight. Seventeen students and staff members have disappeared from Valdegeld University—yet no one has noticed. The answers to this case may lie on the moon of Io—Mossa’s home—and the history of Jupiter’s original settlements during humanity’s exodus from Earth. But Pleiti’s faith in her life’s work as a scholar of the past has grown precarious, and this new case threatens to further destabilize her dreams for humanity’s future, as well as her own. This is book two in the Mossa and Pleiti series.
An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson
Out Feb. 13, 2024, Redhook
Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold. On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla. But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.
Tile M for Murder by Felicia Carparelli
Out Feb. 20, 2024, Bella Books
M-U-R-D-E-R. Nine points in Scrabble. Nine iron—great for short golf shots. But can a golf pro and an English teacher work together to discover who killed a friend during a Scrabble game? Newly retired Jayne Marple and Arnolda “Arnie” Palmer met playing Scrabble and it was love at first tile. While this is their second chance at love, they’re also working together to make the Elsinore Detective Agency a success. But will the Scrabble-game murderer allow them to enjoy their newfound happiness? Or will D-E-A-T-H cut their love affair short?
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