by Elizabeth Wilkerson
“Not The End”
Few things are as upsetting as reading the final page of a satisfying book. The End. Two words as unwelcomed as the last day of vacation. Two words that mean new friends are vanishing along with a familiar setting.
When I get to the end of a book, there’s a moment of confusion, of uncomfortable disorientation. What do I read next? If I’m lucky, I’m reading a series. Finishing a good book isn’t as distressing when there’s a trusted replacement waiting in the wings. But if I’m reading a standalone, I am standing alone. Alone with the panic of indecision.
My mountainous to-be-read pile offers no help. I’d stashed the TBR books to be enjoyed in the future. But—like the unidentifiable leftovers, glazed with ice crystals, hiding in the back of my freezer—I have no idea why I’d accumulated them. Gripped by analysis paralysis, I’m stuck in that dizzying state of choosing my next book. Or at least I used to be.
Enter Crime Writers of Color’s searchable database with hundreds of books written by our members. The robust catalog can be parsed all kinds of ways to help readers find their way through the next-book labyrinth. Searches can be filtered by sub-genre, release date, even by ethnicity, race, and culture. Looking for hardboiled mysteries by Latinx authors? The CWoC database has books for you. In the mood for cozies by Black writers? Tons of choices. From paranormal to police procedural, with the Crime Writers of Color database, you can identify your next read with pinpoint precision.
Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala
Release Date: October 4, 2022, Berkley
When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can’t be far behind. She’s proven right when he’s suspected of murder and secrets surrounding her shady cousin start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer…right?
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Release Date: October 4, 2022, Bantam
As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of her predominantly white home town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of reunions. The ceremony erupts into chaos when the couple’s daughter, Caroline, is snatched from the wedding. Liz joins the search only to uncover a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Now Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Sinister Graves by Marcie Rendon
Release Date: October 11, 2022, Soho Crime
Set in 1970s Minnesota on the White Earth Reservation, Pinckley Prize–winner Marcie R. Rendon’s gripping new mystery follows Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwe woman, as she attempts to discover the truth about the disappearances of Native girls and their newborns.
Standalone by Christopher Chambers
Release Date: October 18, 2022, Three Rooms Press
Former homeless addict Dickie Cornish is back, given an assignment by a Chief of Police who can’t trust her own department. But can Dickie trust anyone in blue?
Robbers and Cops by George Cramer
Release Date: October 20, 2022, Russian Hill Press
Depression-era brothers fall into a life of crime lasting decades pursued by relentless cops.
Festive Mayhem 3 by Francelia Belton, Delia C. Pitts, Paige Sleuth, Stella Oni, Barbara Howard, Elizabeth Wilkerson, and Carolyn Marie Wilkins
Release Date: October 24, 2022
Seven crime writers of color have teamed up for the third year running to offer you the gift of escape this holiday season. This limited-edition collection includes brand-new stories set throughout the year, as well as some reissued seasonal favorites. Whether you enjoy humorous cozy mysteries with plucky amateur sleuths or hard-boiled noir starring gritty private investigators, this anthology is for you.
Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris
Release Date: October 25, 2022, William Morrow Paperbacks
Anywhere You Run is the gripping, suspenseful story of two Black sisters on the run to different parts of the country after one of them kills a white man in the Jim Crow south of 1964. Can they escape the secrets they left behind?
The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biswas
Release Date: October 25, 2022, Thomas & Mercer
On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession.
Blue Like Me by Aaron Philip Clark
Release Date: November 8, 2022, Thomas & Mercer
A brutal homicide sets ex-LAPD Detective Trevor Finnegan and his former partner on the hunt for an enigmatic killer in a gripping thriller by the author of Under Color of Law.
Barren by JJ Savaunt
Release Date: November 15, 2022
In order to protect her daughter, Dr. Jacqui Stevenson realizes she must head a human trafficking ring in a place least suspected—a hospital.
The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan
Release Date: November 22, 2022, Hodder & Stoughton
This is the third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series. It’s Bombay, 1950. A dead white man is found in the Himalayas with only a notebook containing cryptic clues. Meanwhile, in Bombay, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose targeting Europeans? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate, they uncover a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.
Hide by Tracy Clark
Release Date: December 6, 2022, Thomas & Mercer
When a young red-haired woman is found brutally murdered in downtown Chicago, one detail stands out: the red lipstick encircling her wrists and ankles. Detective Harriet Foster is on the case. As a Black woman in a male-dominated department, Foster anticipates a rocky road ahead acclimating to a new team. In her desperate race to catch the murderer before they strike again, Foster will have to confront the darkest of secrets—including her own.
Bookclubbed to Death by V.M. Burns
Release Date: December 27, 2022, Kensington
After the local library in North Harbor, Michigan, is flooded in a storm, Sam offers her bookstore as a new venue for the Mystery Mavens Book Club. Unfortunately, she immediately runs afoul of the club leader, Delia Marshall, a book reviewer who can make or break careers—something Sam can ill afford with her debut historical mystery soon to be published. But the next morning, Sam opens her shop to find the unpleasant woman dead on the floor, bashed with a heavy—apparently lethal—tome: the Complete Works of Agatha Christie.
Dark Water Disappearance by K.D. Richards
Release Date: December 27, 2022, Harlequin Intrigue
There was no quiet homecoming for Nikki King; not with a body discovered on her lakefront property and Terrence Sutton’s unexpected arrival. The police detective is convinced his sister’s disappearance and the threats Nikki has been receiving are connected. Nikki would rather avoid the man who once let a family feud tear them apart, but can she afford to refuse his protection? Not with danger lurking in the dark water just beyond her doorstep.
Someone Had To Do It by Amber Brown and Danielle Brown
Release Date: December 27, 2022, Graydon House
After a fashion intern overhears a diabolical heiress’s nefarious plot to murder her father, the billionaire CEO of the fashion label she’s always dreamed of working at, she’s hunted for her silence and becomes entangled in this opulent world filled with deceptively beautiful people and things.
That Dangerous Energy by Aya de Leon
Release Date: December 27, 2022, Dafina
A struggling artist falls into a love triangle with a fossil fuel mogul and a climate justice activist. But when she witnesses the ruthless business tactics the oil man is willing to use, will she agree to spy for the movement? Not only must she choose between her conscience and her safety, but also between the two men: the cutthroat billionaire searching for redemption and the activist who will justify anything for the climate movement. Either choice might cost her life.
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 Halloween episode went up last week.
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What great tips! My reading basket is now filled for the next three months. Thanks, Liz!