Queer Mystery Coming Attractions: February 2025

Jan 18, 2025 | 2025 Articles, Coming Attractions!, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Matt Lubbers-Moore

On behalf of the Facebook LGBTQ+ Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction Group and Kings River Life Magazine, we want to thank Gregory Ashe for giving us a little of his time today, answering questions fans of the genre really want to know.

Ashe: Thank you for having me! This was one of the first Facebook groups I joined when I came back to Facebook (I’d stopped using it for years, and then rejoined as an author).

Q. Where do you live?

Ashe: I live in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Q. Without getting too personal, can you share a little about your home life?

Ashe: Sure! I live with my fiancé, Tom, and our two dogs. Watson is six years old and a Lab mix. Nash is a Bernedoodle.

Q. Writers rarely like to toot their own horns. Seriously! What would you say is your greatest accomplishment?

Ashe: Hmm. Maybe my persistence? There are a lot of ups and downs in the writing life, and I’m proud that I stuck with it during the long years when I was struggling to improve my craft and find a readership—and that I’m still working hard to learn and improve every day!

Q. What inspires and challenges you most in writing? And can you describe your writing
process?

Ashe: Reading great books is still what inspires me the most! There’s nothing like cracking open a new book and experiencing the magic of a great story powerfully told. That’s the same experience I want to create for my readers—and since I’m my own first reader, it’s the guiding light of my process. In terms of challenges, there are always questions of craft where I can improve, but I think the real difficulty lies in not being dragged down by all the different things that can threaten a writing career (distraction, burnout, a book that doesn’t do as well as I had hoped, critical voice, etc.).

My writing process is fairly straightforward. I write every day in the morning before work (I still work full-time). I outline my books before writing, and a lot of my mental energy goes into a few specific elements of the plot and then, even more so, into the characters—their voices, their personalities, the ways they’re going to grow and change. I make daily notes for the scene(s) I’m going to write the next day, and I’m more or less constantly thinking about what’s going to happen next in the story.

Once a book is done, I move on to the next project so that the previous manuscript has time to cool down, so to speak. When it’s time to revise, I do that work in the evenings and on the weekends. Then it goes through all the steps toward publication!

Q. You’ve probably answered this question a hundred times, but please indulge our readers (and fellow writers): Do you fly by the seat of your pants when writing or plot out your storylines?

Ashe: I prefer to outline my books. That being said, I’m a big believer that—like battle plans—no outline survives first contact. (At least, mine don’t.) I want to allow my story to grow and evolve as I write it, and so I try not to be too strict about the outline. More than anything, what I’ve planned in advance is something to guide me until my subconscious comes up with something better.

Q. How do you sustain serialized, continuing characters?

Ashe: I think my default mode seems to be to write about (and continue writing about) characters I care about––and so I have a natural tendency to keep writing about them. I think what makes that possible is doing my best, at the beginning, to make them complicated and well-rounded—as human as possible, I guess. Giving them important people around them—to love, to fight with, and to grow with—definitely makes it easier.

Q. Have you ever had to deal with homophobia when it comes to your books, and if so, what form has it taken?

Ashe: I’m sure there are people who don’t want to read my stories because they’re about gay men, but fortunately, that’s not something I have to deal with regularly. I was raised in a very religious (and conservative) environment, though, and so homophobia played (and continues to play) a large role in my personal life.

Q. What got you into reading and writing gay mysteries?

Ashe: I believe my first gay mystery was actually in the fantasy genre, a book by Lynn Flewelling. Writing gay mysteries came next; writing was a big part of my coming out process. And then, when Pretty Pretty Boys began to acquire a readership, I started exploring the gay mystery genre more consciously, and I stumbled across a treasure trove––which I’ve been reading and enjoying ever since.

Q. Who have your role models as an author been? And what books are currently on your reading list?

Ashe: In the gay mystery genre, two of the authors whose writing has impacted me personally the most are Michael Nava and Marshall Thornton. I also love Josh Lanyon’s and C.S. Poe’s work. More generally, though, I think some of the major influences have been Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Jim Butcher, Lawrence Block, Dennis Lehane, Adrian McKinty—the list goes on and on!

Q. Last two questions: can you share with us a little about your current release, and/or Work In Progress?

Ashe: Yes! My next release is By the Book. This is the seventh volume of The Last Picks, a cozy mystery series set in the small fictional town of Hastings Rock on the Oregon Coast. Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash, please) gets dragged into solving yet another murder—but even worse, his parents (who are mystery writers) happen to be in town!

Q. And where can readers buy your books?

Ashe: My books are available at most major ebook retailers, as well as my own online shop. The best way to find them is through my website: gregoryashe.com.

Upcoming LGBTQ Mysteries

Shoot the Moon by Ava Barry
Out Feb. 4, Pegasus Crime
While in high school, Rainey spent a summer taking advantage of the wildfires near Los Angeles to break into the empty houses of the rich and famous with her best friends, Alice and Spencer, committing small acts of larceny. These acts of rebellion culminated in a big theft from a powerful, well-connected musician with underworld ties. Days later, Alice went missing. Now—nine years later—Rainey is a private detective chasing a missing person case. Chloe, a young vulnerable artist with a history of substance abuse, disappeared from her parents’ house without a trace. As Rainey digs into the case, she not only discovers a string of missing artists, but connections to Alice, whose case had gone cold years ago.

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
Out Feb. 4, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom’s Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too?but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis. In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena––a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany––and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own. In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are in the first weeks of COVID lockdown and hating Zoom school, when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.

The Lamb by Lucy Rose
Out Feb. 4, Harper
Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies. But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her bid for freedom.

Pride and Puncture by Chase Connor
Out Feb. 7
Pride has come to Head Rock Harbor, and along with it, tons of tourists. Under the guidance and leadership of the town’s favorite bookstore owner, Jackson Harper, everyone is getting ready. The first ever Pride weekend will be full of events, food, and, of course, a parade. Right as things are ramping up for Pride, a body is found under an umbrella on the sandbar by The Dock restaurant. Deeply unsettled by the circumstances of the killing and the appearance of the body, Jackson isn’t so sure that going forward with Pride is the best course of action. But the mayor and police chief won’t hear anything about cancelling the event.

By the Book by Gregory Ashe
Out Feb. 10, Hodgkin & Blount
Dashiell Dawson Dane might have a problem. It’s not a huge problem. The teensiest issue is with money—in that, he doesn’t have any. And it turns out Dash isn’t the only one strapped for cash. The Hastings Rock Public Library has recently been defunded by the mayor and the city council, and the town is in an uproar. To keep the library open, Dash hosts a charity auction at Hemlock House. But disaster strikes when an exceptionally valuable book is stolen before the fundraiser can begin. And when Dash finds the mayor dead—and Hastings Rock’s head librarian refuses to provide an alibi—he quickly becomes tangled in yet another murder investigation.

Foul Play by Erin Kaste
Out Feb. 11, Bold Strokes Books
Kirsten Lindquist has enough on her hands juggling the demands of her work as an orchestral music librarian. Substitute horn player Shay Bradley has been hitting on her for years, but Shay is known for being an operator, so Kirsten avoids her advances, until she can’t resist. She is just beginning to get to know the new personnel manager, Stephanie Wellford, when the orchestra is shocked by the sudden deaths of three musicians and a string of suspicious accidents.

Blood of the Innocents by Catherine Maiorisi
Out Feb. 18, Bella Books
When singer Alessandra Moreau is found brutally murdered in New York State Senator Leigh Drayman’s living room, NYPD Detectives Chiara Corelli and P.J. Parker are thrust into another high-stakes investigation. The victim, a rising star, harbored a closely guarded secret shared with only three people. She was transgender—just like the senator.

Big Name Fan by Ruthie Knox
Out Feb.25, Kensington
Bexley Simon and Sam Farmer aren’t detectives, but they play them on TV. Well, played, past tense. The iconic cult hit that was Craven’s Daughter ended five years ago, and their friendship died along with it. Fans were disappointed that the pair’s legendary chemistry went unfulfilled—and crushed that the actual spark between actresses Bex and Sam didn’t pay off, either. The network never intended for two women to get romantic, in life or onscreen, despite the fans. But the bigger tragedy was the loss of their dear friend, makeup artist Jen Arnot, whose accidental death cast a pall over the series’ last episodes. And was Jen’s death an accident, or did someone want her dead?

Buck Baxter and the Mysteries of Love by Robin Knight
Out Feb. 26, Squid INQ Press
No blurb listed yet

Other Releases:
All that Remains by GS Rhodes, out Feb. 3
Walter’s Story by DAE Jackson, out Feb. 9
But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo, out Feb.11
Moon Wish by RL Merrill, out Feb. 13
Ride or Die by TS Ankney, out Feb. 14
Dearly & Lovesick by LA Kaye, out Feb. 14
The Phantoms of Florence by Lauren A. Ta, out Feb. 14
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, out Feb. 18
Psychic Hearts: Emily by Jerry Collins, out Feb. 22

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Click on this link to take you to Mysterious Galaxy’s website where you can purchase many of these books & a portion will go to help support KRL:
mysteriousgalaxylogo

Matt Lubbers-Moore has two graduate degrees in library science and history. He is the co-owner of ReQueered Tales and author of Murder and Mayhem: An Annotated Bibliography of Gay and Queer Males in Mystery; 1909-2018

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

podcast