by Matt Lubbers-Moore
Being a library director in charge of purchasing books for the library in a very conservative small town, I have to be careful not to upset the right but also make sure that I have books in the library for those who are unable to get the books themselves.
There is a title on this list that is not a typical murder mystery thriller type. In fact, there’s no murder at all. That’s because The Case of the Greensboro Gremlins is written for middle schoolers. When I first started writing this article queer characters were just starting to appear in mystery novels as the main characters. Now thanks to authors like Caleb Roehring, Adam Sass, Derek Milman, Shaun David Hutchinson, Faridah Abike-Iyimide, Steven Salvatore, James Brandon, and more, queer characters are in YA mystery novels.
Now it seems that queer characters are taking root in middle grade mystery novels too! Just a kinder, gentler mystery in the same vein as Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or the Boxcar Children.
I had a conservative member of my community talk to me about queer characters in books meant for young people. She stated that she wants to live in a world that accepts LGBTQ+ people and she knows that in order to get there, LGBTQ+ characters must appear in literature meant for young people so they can see that it is a part of everyday life, yet, she does not want young people to be reading about LGBTQ+ people when they’re young. She knows she has cognitive dissonance but I feel it’s a starting spot for us to have that ongoing conversation.
Upcoming Queer Mysteries for October 2024!!
Haunting Melody by Chloe Spencer
Out Oct. 1, 2024, Tiny Ghost Press
The only child of an acclaimed ghost hunter couple, Melody’s First Sacred Hunt should have been a walk in the park. All she needed to do was catch a ghost, like she’s done all her life. But when an unexpected wraith showed up causing havoc, Melody was left scarred and embarrassed. Suffering from depression and PTSD post-hunt, Melody relocates to the sleepy island town of Murkmore, where her parents have been tasked with capturing the ghost responsible for a series of grisly deaths. Determined to prove herself, and despite her parents’ protests, Melody sets out to capture the specter on her own. When a haunting song lures Melody to an abandoned theater, she encounters a recently deceased musical prodigy by the name of Cyrus. All signs point to Cyrus being the killer, but Melody isn’t so sure, suspecting something more discordant is afoot.
The Undead Complex by Courtney Smyth
Out Oct. 1, 2024, Titan Books
Five months after they stopped The Whistler, business is booming for the Undetectables. Just not work that requires magical forensic investigators. So when Diana’s ex asks them to solve a murder – her own – Diana, Mallory and Cornelia can’t say no. Going undercover to investigate the set of the TV show, Undead Complex, Diana returns to her life as a propmaker. But even the appearance of a genuine-article Francine Leon dollhouse leaves her feeling pulled down a path of crime-solving she doesn’t want to walk forever. Meanwhile, Theodore’s coming apart at the seams – literally – and Mallory is running out of ways to help him. Especially as he seems to be keeping secrets from her.
As the clues – and the bodies – keep piling up, each one making less and less sense, the Undetectables find themselves in a race against time to find out what, exactly, the killer is up to – before the final cut.
The Hidden by Kiersten Modglin
Out Oct. 1, 2024
When Sophie Thatcher wakes up in a room she doesn’t recognize after a night she can’t remember, she assumes she had too much to drink and went home with a date. Except…the date is nowhere to be found. No one is. The space she finds herself in is completely nondescript—the walls bare, fridge empty. And just when she thought things couldn’t get bleaker or more confusing, she realizes the doors are locked from the outside. Trapped inside an unfamiliar place and faced with a clock counting down to a mysterious deadline, Sophie tries desperately to recall the hours missing from her memory and formulate a plan to escape, but each attempt proves more futile than the last.
Hidden away from the world and unable to contact the people who would care that she’s missing, Sophie has two questions ringing in her mind: Who would bring her to this place? And why? When she’s joined in her personal prison by someone she never thought she’d see again, everything changes and the idea of her being a random target instantly vanishes.
Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen
Out Oct. 1, 2024, Forge Books
This is the third book in the Evander Mills historical fiction series. Private Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has been drawn back to the Lavender House estate for a missing person case. Pat, the family butler, has been volunteering for a book service, one that specializes in mailing queer books to a carefully guarded list of subscribers. With bookseller Howard Salzberger gone suspiciously missing along with his address book, everyone on that list, including some of Andy’s closest friends, is now in danger. A search of Howard’s bookstore reveals that someone wanted to stop him and his co-owner, Dorothea Lamb, from sending out their next book. The evidence points not just to the Feds, but to the Mafia, who would be happy to use the subscriber list for blackmail. Andy has to maneuver through both the government and the criminal world, all while dealing with a nosy reporter who remembers him from his days as a police detective and wants to know why he’s no longer a cop. With his own secrets closing in on him, can Andy find the list before all the lives on it are at risk?
Johnny-Boy by AF Carter
Out Oct. 8, 2024, Mysterious Press
Johnny-Boy is a killer. He lives for the thrill of the hunt, the stalking of human prey. Fittingly, he works as a hitman but always finds time for extracurricular activity on the side. When a new assignment sends him to Baxter, a depressed Rust Belt town experiencing a chaotic upheaval at the dawn of a new economic beginning, Johnny-Boy plans to keep things professional. But when he realizes that the streets are awash with drug activity, small-time mobsters, and loads of transitory laborers in town to construct a new car plant, Johnny-Boy sees an opportunity to have a little fun while he’s there….
The work of cleaning up a town of lowlifes and criminals is a never-ending slog for Delia Mariola, Chief of Detectives. But when a young teenager?nearly the same age as her own son?is found tortured to death, the stakes suddenly feel higher than ever. Delia brings her best detective, Blanche Weber, onto the case and together they set out to discover who the killer is and what he’s doing in this town.
Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves
Out Oct. 8, 2024, Neem Tree Press
What if the only way to fix toxic masculinity were to erase it entirely? Mark Vogel is like the older brother Stefan never had, but one day he disappears without a trace. A year later, after encountering a woman who looks near-identical to Mark, Stefan becomes obsessed. He finds that dozens of young men have disappeared over the years, many of them students at the Royal College of Saint Almsworth, and most of them troubled or unruly. Why are students going missing? Who are these women who bear striking resemblances to them? And what is their connection to the selective student accommodation on the edge of campus, Dorley Hall? Stefan starts studying at Saint Almsworth for one reason and one reason only: to find out exactly what happened to the women who live at Dorley Hall, and to get it to happen to him, too.
Kapowie! by Marshall Thornton
Out Oct. 11, 2024, Kenmore Books
In the seventh book of the Lambda-Award winning Pinx Video Mystery series, Noah and his friends are on their way to a taping of the Kapowie! reunion show. As a teenager, Marc was a cast member. He’s convinced the producers to hire partner Louis to handle craft services for the all-night shoot. Noah and the new guy at the video store, Eldridge, tag along as helpers. Things go swimmingly, until movie star Finn Henderson takes a drug overdose and they all become trapped in the sound stage—possibly with a killer!
Long Time Gone by Hannah Martian
Out Oct. 15, 2024, Crooked Lane Books
In the small town of Wonderland, Wyoming, the truth is whatever the Coldwater family says it is. When their prodigal daughter, Jessica, was murdered forty years ago, their truth was that Holly Prine killed her–regardless of Holly’s innocence. But the Coldwaters aren’t the only reason private investigator Quinn Cuthridge hasn’t set foot in the town in nearly a decade. After her aunt sent her away when she was a teen, Quinn swore she’d never return. When she gets an unexpected call from her aunt’s ranch hand, Hunter, Quinn learns that her aunt has gone missing. Reluctantly, she returns to Wyoming to investigate and soon realizes that her aunt was getting dangerously close to long-buried Wonderland secrets, including who really murdered Jessica Coldwater.
The Betrayal of Thomas True by AJ West
Out Oct. 15, 2024, Orenda Books
It is the year 1715, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret. One night, lost amongst the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses. Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a young man is found murdered, he realizes there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices. Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before they hang? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own forbidden love?
Between You and Me by Gregory Ashe
Out Oct. 21, 2024, Hodgkin & Blount
Dashiell Dawson Dane is certain the universe is conspiring against him. After all, things have been good—almost too good—for way too long. He’s got a great group of friends. He’s writing regularly. And things with Bobby seem like they might, maybe, possibly be moving beyond friend territory. It’s all so good, in fact, that it feels like the setup for something truly catastrophic. Not to mention, it’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day. So, when Dash and his friends visit Shipwreck Shores, a local amusement park, he’s not terribly surprised when he stumbles across a body in the fun house. The surprising part comes when the body disappears before park security—or the sheriff—can see it. And while no one will say it to his face, some people in Hastings Rock seem to suspect Dash is making it up. No body means no official investigation, so Dash finds himself forced into his own search for answers. But the killer isn’t done yet. And Dash’s sleuthing sets the two of them on a collision course.
The Case of the Greensboro Gremlins by Erik Christopher Martin
Out Oct. 25, 2024, In a Bind Books
Summer vacation before seventh grade should be awesome. Instead, Dotty Morgan’s favorite clothes don’t fit; her mother constantly embarrasses her with bra-talk; and she’s growing in places she would rather not. She can’t even talk about it with her girlfriend, Hannah, who is tall and slender and has never had to stretch a shirt until threads popped to squeeze into it. What is a 12-year-old supernatural sleuth to do? Find a mystery, of course. Her BFF, Parker, is competing in a young designer fashion show in Greensboro, the prelude to Fashion Week. After a series of dangerous accidents plague the rehearsals, Parker hires Dotty to investigate. Her sleuthing reveals gremlins are behind the mishaps. Worse, someone put them in the theater on purpose. Sabotage!
Other Releases:
When a Stranger Knocks by Sarah Prescott out Oct. 1, 2024
Merchant by N. Slater out Oct. 2, 2024
Jon’s Helter Skelter Cold Case by AJ Sherwood out Oct. 4, 2024
Arcanum by Ashlyn Drewek out Oct. 7, 2024
Ready or Not by Alina May out Oct. 10, 2024
Suffer by Justin Grey out Oct. 11, 2024
The Face of Hektor by Kyle Baxter out Oct. 11, 2024
Stolen Hearts by Michele Castleman out Oct. 15, 2024
Gatherdusk by Lee Colgin out Oct. 15, 2024
Echoes by Nicole Pyland out Oct. 18, 2024
These Dark Hours by Lyra Haven out Oct. 29, 2024
Sawyer by Fel Fern out Oct. 31, 2024
Editor’s Note: We are looking for someone new to take over this column in April of 2025, if you are interested in knowing more please let us know.
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.
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