by Matt Lubbers-Moore
Every month, I look forward to sitting down, figuratively, with a queer mystery writer to talk shop—craft, crime, and character. These interviews have become a space for authors to reflect, readers to connect, and for us to showcase the talent shaping this thrilling, ever-evolving genre.
But this month there’s no featured author interview, and no, it’s not because someone cancelled last minute or because I spent too much time digging through piles of books at used bookstores (though that did happen). The truth is simpler: August 2025 is overflowing with so many exciting, ambitious, and groundbreaking LGBTQ+ mysteries that we wanted to make space to celebrate all of them.
Instead of spotlighting just one author, we’re turning the lights on the whole stage.
This August, publishers large and small are bringing an astonishing variety of queer mysteries to shelves. We’ve got locked-room puzzles, cozy whodunits, noir thrillers, paranormal procedurals, and character-driven suspense all with LGBTQ+ protagonists at the helm. There are first-time authors breaking onto the scene with bold voices, and beloved veterans who continue to redefine the genre with every release.
The diversity of stories and storytellers is extraordinary. And it deserves to be seen not in a single Q&A, but across a whole issue, a whole conversation, a whole community.
So while there’s no interview this month, don’t think for a second that we’re short on stories. On the contrary: August is a celebration. A reminder that queer lives, and queer deaths, in fiction at least, are rich with narrative power.
Next month, we’ll be back in conversation with a writer whose voice we can’t wait for you to hear. But for now, we invite you to dive into this month’s new releases, add to your TBR pile, and discover a new favorite.
Mystery never sleeps. And thankfully, neither do queer storytellers.
Upcoming Queer Mysteries for August 2025!!
Muffin to Die For by Fallon Brown
Out August 1, 2025
Avery Young loves to bake and wishes ze could just be left alone to do only that, unfortunately running a successful bakery takes more than just delicious treats. Thankfully, zer best friend, Jude Peña, takes on the bulk of that, leaving Avery to what ze does best. Until Avery stumbles over the body of one of the bakery’s best customers. What could Jake Diaz have ever done to make someone want to kill him? Jude Peña doesn’t have a clue. Jake always seemed to be a decent person, a good dad, a loyal customer. They’d be willing to leave the investigation up to their stepbrother, Alex, and the rest of the Salisdale Police Department. If only Avery didn’t seem to be their prime suspect.
Murder on the Dance Floor by S. L. Tempest
Out August 1, 2025, FlamingoWings Publishing
Roxy Steele and Eden Chase are the best (and only) private detectives operating out of The Hindquarters—a crime-solving headquarters shaped like a giant, glittering pair of disco balls. Their cases? Wild. Their methods? Questionable. Their chemistry? Absolutely catastrophic. When beloved celebrity DJ Juno Lark is found dead under mysterious (and very sparkly) circumstances, Roxy and Eden are thrust into a high-stakes case that will take them from neon-drenched space casinos to the glitter-infused underbelly of galactic crime. The deeper they dig, the weirder it gets: a rogue broadcaster with a brainwashing scheme, a space yacht full of criminals, and a murder trail that leads straight to Las Vega Planet, where every bad decision is legally binding—including impromptu weddings.
The Burnt by Peter E. Fenton
Out August 5, 2025, Entwined Publishing
Finding work-life balance isn’t always easy when you’re sleeping with the boss. Charlie Watts is feeling stressed as he studies for his private investigator’s license, starts taking on his own cases, and tries to navigate his relationship with Declan Hunt. He thinks he can handle it, but every time their relationship is going well, work always seems to get in the way. While Charlie investigates a threatening note that appears to be from a boy who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, Declan tries to find the meaning behind the final words of a man who was brutally murdered.
Last Summer by LO Gold
Out August 8, 2025
Some secrets are better left buried… When a group of six strangers are invited into the woods for a content-creator retreat where they’re guaranteed to make money, it seems like a perfect escape. However, as accidents turn into incidents and blood begins to spill, they start to suspect they were lured into the wilderness for a reason. Is someone messing with them? Is someone watching them? Who will survive? Are you ready to play?
Jane & Kennedy Daniels Mysteries vol 2 by Daisy Landish
Out August 9, 2025, Beaches and Trails Publishing
Step into the world of Jane and Kennedy Daniels, private investigators with a knack for solving the most puzzling crimes in London. In this second thrilling volume, the Daniels face a series of festive mysteries, each more daring and delightful than the last: “Baked for Christmas”: A baker’s mysterious death uncovers secrets as rich as her shortbread. “Kidnapped on Guy Fawkes’”: A missing historian leads to fireworks of a different kind. “Robbed on Twelfth Night”: A high-tech jewel thief targets family—and Jane and Kennedy must outwit the mastermind. “Murdered at the May Day Ball”: A glittering event turns deadly when an artist’s secrets are revealed. “Swiped on the Bank Holiday”: A priceless tea set goes missing, and Jane and Kennedy discover a criminal mastermind closer to home than they imagined.
Wham Line by Gregory Ashe
Out August 11, 2025, Hodgkin & Blount
When an upscale restaurant opens in Hastings Rock, Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash) and his friends are excited to get reservations for the soft open. After all, winter on the Oregon Coast is the quiet season, and Dash is looking forward to a little excitement. (And, of course, dessert.) Instead, their arrival at the restaurant brings them face to face with Indira’s ex-husband, Mal. And when Mal ends up dead, Indira is the chief suspect.
Medusa of the Roses by Navid Sinaki
Out August 13, 2025, Grove Press
Anjir and Zal are childhood best friends turned adults in love. The only problem is they live in Iran, where being openly gay is criminalized, and the government’s apparent acceptance of trans people requires them to surgically transition and pass as cis straight people. When Zal is brutally attacked after being seen with another man in public, despite the betrayal, Anjir becomes even more determined to carry out their longstanding plan for the future: Anjir, who’s always identified with the mythical gender-changing Tiresias, will become a woman, and they’ll move to a new town for a fresh start as husband and wife. Then Zal vanishes, leaving a cryptic note behind that sets Anjir on a quest to find the other man, hoping he will lead to Zal. Stalking and stealing his way through the streets, clubs, library stacks, hotel rooms, and museum halls of Tehran—where he encounters his troubled mother, addict brother, and the dynamic Leyli, a new friend who is undergoing a transition of her own—Anjir soon realizes that someone is tailing him, too. It quickly becomes clear that more violence may be the fastest route to freedom, as Anjir’s morals and gender identity are pushed to new places in the pursuit of love, peace, and self-determination.
Aquinnah by Matteo Casali
Out August 12, 2025, Dark Horse Books
Amber has carried the question of her past for years. With no memory of her childhood haunted by chronic pain, she assumes it’s amnesia—until a strange man claiming to have answers appears. And a story much darker, stranger, and more otherworldly begins to take shape. Amber and her girlfriend are caught up in a net of occult secrets and ancient monsters connected to the seaside town of Aquinnah, and as the town’s dark history is uncovered, Amber must decide if she will be the town’s salvation … or its doom.
The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran
Out August 12, 2025, Bloomsbury Publishing
When four isolated elderly people die back-to-back at the same hospital by jumping out of the sixth-floor window, Su-Yeon doesn’t understand why she’s the only one at her precinct that seems to care. But her colleagues at the police force dismiss the case as a series of unfortunate suicides due to the patients’ loneliness. But Su-Yeon doesn’t have the privilege of looking away: her dearest friend, Grandma Eun-Shim, lives on the sixth floor, and Su-Yeon is terrified that something will happen to her next. As Su-Yeon begins her investigation alone, she runs into a mysterious woman named Violette at the crime scene. Violette claims to be a vampire hunter, searching for her ex-lover, Lily, and is insistent that a vampire is behind the mysterious deaths. Su-Yeon is skeptical at first, but when a fifth victim jumps from the window, her investigation reveals the body was completely drained of blood. Desperate to discover the cause of the deaths, Su-Yeon considers Violette’s explanation––that something supernatural is involved.
Fanboys, Foul Play, and Fashion by Shane K. Morton
Out August 15, 2025
Cory has written a play version of Vicki’s novel, Murder in the Front Row, and has talked Vicki into starring in it for the new community theatre in town. Everyone is excited to see her stage debut, but before the curtain rises, it’s clear that the show is cursed. Ripped from the pages of her novel, things begin to happen that follow the plot of her very scary book. Can Vicki, Cory, Jensen, and Sheriff Hottie solve the mystery before the final act? Or has the culprit finally outwitted them with a new plot of their own?
Dr. Bactrian and the Cursed Collar by Francine DeCarey
Out August 17, 2025, Transcendent Fiction Publishing
Bodies in the city were messy. Bodies in the desert were rarely found. With an untested secretary and a dubious clue, Dr. Bactrian sets off to find the tomb of ancient queen Amatu and her notorious cursed collar. Each step comes with a new betrayal. Is it sabotage? Rival treasure-hunters? Her evil ex stalking her for one last, deadly encounter? Finding lost relics is Jules’ specialty. Finding them first is slightly more difficult. And surviving ancient curses? That’s going to cost extra. Jules Bactrian, gemologist, historian, treasure hunter, lesbian, camel, at your service.
Five Stars for Foul Play by Elle Kleos
Out August 19, 2025
Nonbinary Detective Sam is living the dream. A new home with their amazing partner, loyal friends they can count on, and a true crime podcaster intent on dredging up the past. OK, maybe that last part’s not so ideal . . . Kaitlin Riley was a major voice in the true crime podcasting scene until her sudden disappearance. After a storm washes her body ashore alongside some unnerving clues about what she was working on, our favorite detective is called in to untangle the truth. Only, that’s easier said than done when Sam is being torn between what they want for their future and all the baggage of their complicated past.
The Girl Without a Voice by Sandra J. Paul
Out August 19, 2025, Datura Books
Born mute, twenty-two year-old Alice has never known a normal life. Kept from the outside world by her cruel mother and overbearing father, her only friend is her neighbor Hailey with whom she communicates through sign language. When Alice’s father is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Alice must attend and care for him, all the while listening to his feverish drug-induced ramblings. That is until, in his final days, he reveals something Alice never expected. He confesses to murdering several women. Shocked and disbelieving, Alice confides in Hailey. Together, they vow to find the truth and decide to journey her father’s old routes as a travelling salesman. A pattern begins to emerge, connecting him to various missing women, before the pair discovers the real reason why Alice lost her ability to speak. And how she is at the center of her father’s crimes…
Roon and Raud and the Case of the Missing Ex-Husband by Nora Bellamy
Out August 26, 2025, Northshore Firelight
Marie “Roon” Kenne and Maude “Raud” Hayes have spent 45 years mastering domestic bliss—Roon keeps Raud from going out without underwear, and Raud brews coffee strong enough to wake the dead. Life’s biggest drama is usually their opinionated betta fish, Erline—until Roon’s ex-husband Hank leaves a chilling voicemail: “I don’t know where I am. It’s smelly and dark. Please come get me.” Hank, suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, hasn’t been Roon’s concern since their short-lived marriage in 1970, but she can’t ignore a cry for help. What begins as a welfare check spirals into a deeper mystery involving greedy relatives, shady baristas, and dangerous secrets. Joined by Tristan, a transgender teen with troubles of his own, Roon and Raud prove that the strongest families—and best detectives—are the ones you choose.
Other Releases:
A Life Imagined by Sydney Rutherford out August 1, 2025
Devour Me in Dreams by Khaleesi Moor out August 1, 2025
Cult! by Thomas Burns out August 4, 2025
Brody by Evie Riley out August 5, 2025
Accept Me by Eden West out August 5, 2025
The Whisper Man by Rosantha Tindall out August 5, 2025
The Abyss by Asher D. Payne out August 5, 2025
These Hallowed Bones by L. Evaland out August 8, 2025
Until They Burn by Jade Eby out August 12, 2025
Arsonist’s Match by Edale Lane out August 12, 2025
Tides of Change by Lisa Linden out August 12, 2025
Drowning in Broad Daylight by Montana Carr out August 13, 2025
A Night in the Desert by Avril Grady out August 13, 2025
Light in the Shadows by TJ Coulter out August 14, 2025
The Orchid Club by Zorya Vychodna out August 15, 2025
Teresa Garcia by Douglas Roff out August 15, 2025
Steams and Screams by A. N. Payton out August 19, 2025
This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki out August 19, 2025
Missing Pieces by Nicole Edwards out August 19, 2025
Last One Standing by Davidson King out August 20, 2025
The Alpha Flame: Discovery by Catherine Lynwood out August 21, 2025
Where the Sky Fell Quiet by Danny Greene out August 22, 2025
Shadowman by Nyla K out August 22, 2025
The Cult of Sisters by Samara Evans out August 24, 2025
Body Language by A. K. Turner out August 26, 2025
The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends by Jamie D’Amato out August 26, 2025
Player Elimination by Shelly Jones out August 27, 2025
The Convergence by Terry Kitto out August 28, 2025
The Bentley Orphans by Ash Bronte Roy out August 28, 2025
For My Next Trick by Jake Grenier out August 28, 2025
Calming a Gorgon by Shelby Rhodes out August 31, 2025
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:
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