by Matt Lubbers-Moore
Last night I was invited to a wedding open house/reception for friends of mine. It was a wonderful time. Many members of the West Michigan Gay Men’s Chorus, which my husband sings with, were in attendance, and we had a great time chatting and wishing the happy couple well.
Sitting there, drinking a glass of wine, enjoying a piece of cake, it made me realize that we really have come a long way. In my senior year of high school in 2000-2001, I wrote a research paper about the legalization of same-sex marriage. When my now husband and I got together in 2010, it wasn’t even a thought that it would be possible that we could legally marry someday.
Yet, here we sat, a married couple surrounded by straight couples, gay couples, relationships of all kinds, and single people celebrating the wedding of two gay men. It was beautiful and moving.
But it can be all taken away. With a stroke of a Supreme Court decision, we could lose it all. Our rights are only guaranteed when we continue to fight for them.
Now on to some upcoming queer mysteries!!
The Link by Robin Maugham
Out June 7, 2022, Valancourt Books
Twelve years ago, young James Steede set off to sea in search of adventure. When his ship was reported wrecked, James was presumed dead and the vast family fortune passed to his younger brother. But now, more than a decade later, a man shows up claiming to be the long-missing James. The resemblance is uncanny and the man knows things that only James could know, yet not everyone is convinced. Is he really the long-lost heir or an artful impostor? The suspense builds as the mystery unfolds, leading up to a sensational courtroom trial and the revelation of the startling truth. Republished by Valancourt Press, Maugham (1916-1981), one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed English writers of his time, was also one of the first mainstream writers to make a career of writing openly gay-themed books. In The Link: A Victorian Mystery (1969), Maugham draws upon the real-life Tichborne Case, which gripped Victorian England in the 1860s and ’70s, to create a mystery so engrossing that it is almost impossible to put down.
Endless Sky by Christopher Renna; Young Adult
Out June 7, 2022
Josh Cooper is the only openly gay kid at school. In Boondock, Indiana, he lives under the radar, not drawing attention to himself or causing problems. But life takes an unexpected turn when the star wrestler, Matt Bentley, quietly asks him out. Navigating his first relationship means the comfort of his self-isolation will come to an end. Although falling in love with his closeted boyfriend is scary and exciting, life is still pretty routine. That is, until people claim to see strange lights in the sky. When Josh joins his friends to investigate, he observes a clash of personalities rather than any extraterrestrial revelations. The night also paves the way for Eric, a fellow classmate, to escalate his bullying of Josh. To avoid outing Matt, Josh endures the abuse. But it abruptly ends when Eric’s lifeless body is discovered. When no one is charged with murder, Josh sets out to learn who killed Eric and why. As secrets are exposed, Josh must finally confront a secret of his own so he can live his happily ever after.
Valiant Ladies by Melissa Gray; Young Adult Historical Fiction
Out June 14, 2022, Feiwel & Friends
By day Eustaquia “Kiki” de Sonza and Ana Lezama de Urinza are proper young seventeenth century ladies. But when night falls, they trade in their silks and lace for swords and muskets, venturing out into the vibrant, bustling, crime-ridden streets of Potosí in the Spanish Empire’s Viceroyalty of Peru. They pass their time fighting, gambling, and falling desperately in love with one another. Then, on the night Kiki’s engagement to the Viceroy’s son is announced, her older brother, heir to her family’s fortune, is murdered. The girls immediately embark on a whirlwind investigation that takes them from the lowliest brothels of Potosí to the highest echelons of the Spanish aristocracy.
The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out by Gayleen Froese
Out June 14, 2022, DSP Publications LLC; New edition,New
Can a disillusioned former cop track down a missing girl before it’s too late? Seven years ago, criminologist Ben Ames thought he’d change a big city police force from the inside. He failed. Now he’s a private detective trailing insurance frauds and cheating spouses through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Like police work, the job would be easier if he didn’t have a conscience. When university student Kimberly Moy goes missing, her sister begs Ben to take the case. But before Ben can follow up on any leads—What does the Fibonacci series have to do with Kim’s disappearance? What do her disaffected friends know? And where is her car?—chance and bad timing drop his unexpected ex, Jesse, into the mix. Ben doesn’t have time to train Jesse into the junior PI he seems determined to become. Amateur sleuths are always trouble. Unfortunately, this is turning out to be the kind of case that requires backup, and his intuition is telling him Kim’s story may not have a happy ending.
The Little Dog Laughed by Joseph Hansen (no cover image)
Out June 14, 2022, Soho Syndicate
Adam Streeter has covered international crises from Siberia to Cambodia. When disaster strikes, he grabs his battered typewriter and hops on a plane, hurling himself into danger wherever the story demands. He is brave, talented, and internationally renowned, so why would he turn a pistol on himself? Insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter has seen enough suicides to know that a journalist this successful would never take his own life. Suspecting treachery, he digs into Adam’s last story – an unpublished investigation into the whereabouts of a vanished South American strongman, called El Carnicero, the Butcher – and Adam’s death shows every hallmark of his bloody style. To finish Adam’s investigation, Dave will have to make like a war correspondent and leap into the line of fire.
The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach; Science Fiction/Fantasy
Out June 14, 2022, Gallery/Saga Press
The port city of Hainak is alive: its buildings, its fashion, even its weapons. But, after a devastating war and a sweeping biotech revolution, all its inhabitants want is peace, no one more so than Yat Jyn-Hok a reformed-thief-turned-cop who patrols the streets at night. Yat has recently been demoted on the force due to “lifestyle choices” after being caught at a gay club. She’s barely holding it together, haunted by memories of a lover who vanished, and voices that float in and out of her head like radio signals. When she stumbles across a dead body on her patrol, two fellow officers gruesomely murder her and dump her into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she wakes up.
And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling
Out June 14, 2022, Poisoned Pen Press
When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he’s been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he’ll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector. Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.
Requiem by B. J. Taylor
Out June 21, 2022
U.S. Federal Marshal Gabriella Zamora, and her team, brought shocking revelations to the surface when they solved the case of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent murdered on a remote highway in Texas. Coming face-to-face with those who wished to destroy them should have earned Gabe and her special ops team a brief rest. Instead, within hours of their success, an even more terrifying challenge is assigned…a mission to stop a serial killer whose brutal attacks on women working in Mexico warehouses are escalating with each new victim.
Can I Trust Her by Frances Luca; Young Adult
Out June 21, 2022, Bella Books
When North Anchorage High School student and rising star is found dead at the bottom of the film club staircase, everyone assumes it was an accident. After all, the stairs are poorly lit, and a person in a hurry could easily miss a step and take a tumble. Besides, who would want to kill someone so universally loved? Except, it turns out, the dead girl wasn’t loved at all. Virginia and Katie, amateur sleuths and former eighth grade sweethearts, are determined to find out what really happened to their classmate, a girl keeping some very dangerous secrets. But first they must work through their own issues, like why did Katie and her parents suddenly leave Alaska, and why does she want nothing to do with Virginia now—three years later?
Notable Mentions:
Intrigue in Paradise by S. F. Riley; Out June 1, 2022 MMF Suspense
Pomeranian Puzzle: A Small Town Cozy by Molly Maple; Out June 2, 2022
Inclusive Cozy:
Dead Draw by Layla Reyne; Out June 7, 2022 MM Suspense
By the Book by G. B. Gordon; Out June 14, 2022 MM Suspense
Lament at Loon Landing by Josh Lanyon; Out June 15, 2022 MM Cozy
Witchin Moonbeam by Charity Parkerson; Out June 20, 2022 Fantasy
Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow; Out June 28, 2022 Young Adult
X by Davey Davis; Out June 28, 2022 Dystopian
Canis, Dear Hatter by ZAKK; Out June 28, 2022 YAOI
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. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters read by local actors. A new episode went up this week.
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