A hand picked selection of mysteries featuring LGBTQIA+ characters. these mysteries tend to explore other themes that resonate with the LGBTQIA+ community, such as personal journeys and growth, the challenges people face in their pasts and how people come to terms with and make peace with those challenges. If you prefer your mysteries to have some weight to them and for the characters to have some complexity, this is the right list for you.
Rep: Lesbian. Lacy is growing up in the '90 with her family, who run a daycare centre, when a wave of satanic panic sees both of her parents thrown in jail, accused of horrific crimes. After almost reaching breaking point, Lacy makes a decision that…
Rep: Gay. Oliver Park has finally gotten his life back on track. No longer an addict, he is in a loving relationship with an older man and he has a quiet life. So why would he risk everything and go to Haus; a gay bath house. And why follow a…
Rep: Lesbian. Immerse yourself in this dreamy David Lynch-esque mystery full of symbolism, childhood trauma, the emotional journey of immigrants and the murky Russian mafia. Olga has left her past behind to immigrate from Russia to Wisconsin. As…
Rep: Gay. Nick and his boyfriend Clay have a plan when they arrive in Venice; to trick an extremely wealthy ex-pat American into buying a load of counterfeit antiques. Simple plan isn't it? But their target is much more wiley than they expect, and…
Rep: Queer. Sister Holiday is a chain smoking, punk rock loving, tattooed queer nun, who, when her sanctuary and home; Saint Sebastian's school, is the site of a shocking arson attack, takes matters into her own hands and tries to solve the crime by…
Rep: Lesbian. Don't Forget The Girl brings together two friends who lost their best friend to a serial killer. 12 years later, with the execution of the serial killer looming, the two estranged friends must reunite for the media storm. A meditation…
Rep: Gay. Mark Lausson thought he was living the dream when he landed a coveted job at Sawyer College, but its not long before the bills start to pile up, and the loneliness of his position starts to set in. So when confident, mysterious Tyler turns…
Rep: Queer, Gay. Rilke is an eccentric, witty and often outrageous gay man who is an auctioneer and enthusiast of all things antique. When he comes across some graphically erotic and violent photos in a deceased estate, and feels deeply compelled to…
Rep: Lesbian, Queer. Filled with heartbreak and intrigue, this mystery is one woman's personal journey to discover what she can about the woman she devoted her life to. When X dies, her wife, CM, wracked with grief and sadness, throws herself into…
Rep: Queer, Transgender. if court room legal thrillers are you cup of tea, look no further. Erin McCabe takes on the biggest case of her life when A young transgender prostitute is charged with fatally stabbing the state senators son. The evidence…
Rep: Gay. Ann Cleeves is an absolute giant in the contemporary mystery genre. Her newest series features Detective Matthew Venn. When Matthew came out, he was forced to leave the strict evangelical community he was raised in. He is living with his…
Rep: Gay. Get ready to feel all the feels with this book. Two hardened ex-con men, one white and one african american, learn that their sons, a gay couple, were both murdered. An unlikely alliance forms between the dads as they decide to hunt down…
Rep: Gay. A shocking, creepy and very dark crime read. Two teenagers go missing when they choose the wrong man to rob. The man whose house they invade, Emmett, now obese and in chronic pain, actually kidnapped and murdered two women and was never…
Rep: Gay. This very innovative book begins with the main character explaining the predicament he has found himself in; namly that there is the dead body of a man next to him in his bed. What ensues is a wild story that is at times laugh out loud…
