by Matt Lubbers-Moore
I live in Michigan which just announced that along with the CDC’s mask recommendation that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks indoors. However, the state is less than 50% fully vaccinated, and I worry about a new spike due to non-vaccinated people parading around as if they are vaccinated. This gets me back to pride. In 2020 Pride events were cancelled or moved to virtual spaces. I feel that in the last couple of years pride in being queer has skyrocketed and with people able to congregate in larger numbers for the first time in a long time, that we are going to see huge pride events countrywide. This is great and worrisome. ReQueered Tales, which was started in 2019, has never done in-person shows yet, and we have started to plan on attending pride events this year. I hope to enjoy the space with my queer family but please stay safe and diligent.
On with the books!!
Club Olympus by James Morley
Out June 1, 2021
The year is 1929. The gilded age still rages, and the era of prohibition has created speakeasies filled with excess and hedonism. In Manhattan, Zeus and his fellow Olympians are running the biggest game in town, with clubs, brothels, and protection rackets under their control. Life has never been so fun. However, the good times cannot last forever, and a new, dangerous enemy begins chipping away at their empire. This mysterious figure brings the crime family to its breaking point, sending New York into a gang war that claims lives and brings back spectres from the Olympian’s long and sordid past.
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Out June 1, 2021
When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. However, shortly after the announcement is made, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures. As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?
Tracker Hacker by Jeff Adams
First book in the Codename Winger series
Out June 1, 2021
At sixteen, Theo Reese is the youngest agent for Tactical Operational Support. His way with computers makes him invaluable. He designs new gadgets, helps agents (including his parents) in the field, and works to keep the TOS network safe. But when a hacker breaches the system TOS uses to track agents, Theo is put to the test like never before.
Note: Jeff Adams is co-host of the Big Gay Fiction Podcast with his husband Will Knauss and worth a listen!!
Death in the Closet by Peter Boon
Third book in the Edward Crispin mysteries
Out April 12, 2021
Kieron Juniper is one of the most promising young footballers in England. Quickly leading his football club, Beachy Head United, to incredible Premiership success, he has become a local and national hero. But he has a secret. One that will make history. He is about to come out and become the first openly gay Premier League footballer. Until he is murdered by someone who doesn’t want that to happen. Murder mystery enthusiast, Edward Crisp, and his loveable teenage sidekick, Noah, face their toughest case yet. Can they navigate a world of WAGs, drag queens, and misbehaving millionaires?
Random Target by ML Davila
Second book in the Targeted series
Out June 9, 2021
Sydney Russo and her love Elise are looking forward to a reunion and well needed vacation with their new friends Mandy and Jodee. They’ve bled together, and now it’s time to have some fun in the nation’s capital. A night out on the town and some raucous fun at a Drag King show is exactly what the ladies need. Unfortunately, their fun is is cut short when someone starts targeting Drag Kings. The last victim survived and is still a target. What’s a cop to do? Go undercover, of course. They soon learn that, while the attacks may initially have been random, they are all now in the killer’s sights.
Himbos, Homicide and Heels by Shane Morton
Book 3 in the Drag Queen Detective Series
Out June 14, 2021
Victor, Harper, and Cory find themselves snowed in at a mountain cabin during a party. Is there a killer trapped there with them? The dead body seems to think so.
Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon
Out June 15, 2021
Oliver Park, a recovering addict from Indiana, finally has everything he ever wanted: sobriety and a loving, wealthy partner in Nathan, a prominent DC trauma surgeon. Despite their difference in age and disparate backgrounds, they’ve made a perfect life together. With everything to lose, Oliver shouldn’t be visiting Haus, a gay bathhouse. But through the entrance he goes, and it’s a line crossed. Inside, he follows a man into a private room, and it’s the final line. Whatever happens next, Nathan can never know. But then, everything goes wrong, terribly wrong, and Oliver barely escapes with his life. He races home in full-blown terror as the hand-shaped bruise grows dark on his neck.
Redirection by Gregory Ashe
Book 3 in the Borealis: Without a Compass series
Out June 29, 2021
The Borealis boys are settling into their new normal, or at least into their new digs. But when North’s soon-to-be (please-let-it-be-soon) ex-husband, Tucker, is arrested and charged with murder, everything goes sideways. The cast of alternate suspects presents its own challenges: an estranged son, a betrayed wife, and North and Shaw’s close-knit circle of friends from college—men who had their own connections to the victim, and who had their own reasons for wanting him dead.
Also check out!
A Body on the Hill by Brad Shreve
Audiobook of book 2 in Mitch O’Reilly PI novel
Narrated by Theo Sinclair.
Mitch O’Reilly, has been hired by big time Hollywood director T.J. Mooney to follow his son Austin, who is starting an acting career without riding the coattails of his powerful father. T.J. isn’t happy his beloved son has changed his last name and chooses to live in a sketchy apartment and not the family mansion in Bel Air. To Mitch, it’s another routine stakeout until Austin’s body is found on the hill below the Hollywood sign. Was the body left there to send a message? If so, deciphering that message could lead Mitch to solving the crime.
Note: Brad Shreve is the host of the Queer Writers of Crime Podcast and also worth a listen!!
Learn more on the Queer Writers of Crime podcast website.
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 goes up next week.
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:
0 Comments