Mystery & Thriller

Rav Trivedi is the kind of protagonist I didn't know I needed: sharp-dressed, sharp-tongued, and falling for his prime suspect. He's to Die For works better as a romantic thriller than a whodunit, but with dialogue this witty and a voice this fun, I'm not complaining. A step up from typical gay fiction—and I'm already hoping for a sequel.

Liam is a homicide detective with a secret side hustle: killing the murderers who got away. When his partner Gabriel catches him red-handed, it should be the end—but instead, it's the beginning of a bloody, banter-filled romance. Alice Winters' Deadly Mistakes series is fun, fast, and doesn't ask too much of you. Just don't expect to remember it next week.

Henry Rios is freshly sober and investigating a death that might not be an accident. But Carved in Bone isn't just a mystery—it's a portrait of gay San Francisco on the brink of the AIDS crisis. Michael Nava delivers character, history, and heart in equal measure.

C.S. Poe raises the stakes in this grittier sequel, and Larkin and Doyle's slow-burn connection is more convincing than ever. I just wish the mystery knew what kind of book it wanted to be.

storm unearths a body and a Victorian death mask in Madison Square Park. Enter Everett "Grim" Larkin—a cold case detective with perfect recall and zero social graces. The mystery kept me guessing, even if I wanted more moments to watch Larkin's unusual mind at work.

A gay Latino lawyer. A charming young man in recovery with a dark family secret. A hunt for truth through San Francisco's mean streets and Nob Hill mansions. Michael Nava's 1986 noir is gritty, authentic, and handles addiction with unflinching honesty—plus a twist I never saw coming.

Inheriting a mystery bookshop in a quaint seaside village? Living the dream—until there's a body on your floor. Murder at Pirate's Cove is cozy, charming, and comfort-food readable, but I wish the mystery had been a little less predictable.

Not all gay mystery books are created equal. Some deliver clever plots and authentic gay characters. Others... well, they tried. Here are five that actually stick the landing—from 1920s espionage to brutal revenge thrillers.

If you love cozy mysteries and want gay protagonists who are smart, funny, and refreshingly drama-free, Charlie Cochrane's got you covered. The Best Corpse for the Job and Jury of One are charming, well-plotted, and spice-free—but they deliver exactly what they promise: a damn good time.

Greg Herren's Murder in the Rue Dauphine delivers exactly what a good mystery should: a compelling plot, a likable protagonist, and a sense of place so vivid you can feel the French Quarter humidity. It's not perfect—the dialogue could be sharper, the twists more intricate—but it's a damn good read for anyone who wants a gay PI navigating New Orleans noir without the story being about being gay.

Levi and Dominic hunt a serial killer through the neon-soaked streets of Vegas, and Kingsbridge nails the sense of place. The mystery kept me hooked, the romance worked, but after five books I was ready for some variety—in the plot and the bedroom. A fun, escapist thriller that could've been outstanding at three books instead of five.

Big, bookish, emotionally complicated—Will Darling is everything. The third book in KJ Charles's 1920s espionage series delivers the best mystery, the sharpest banter, and a romance that knows the difference between taking your clothes off and actually letting someone in. Murder, mayhem, and a buff guy who runs a bookshop. What more do you want?

Will Darling and Kim Secretan are back for another round of blackmail, conspiracy, and the kind of yearning that makes you want to throw the book across the room (in a good way). If you loved Slippery Creatures, this 1920s adventure deepens everything that worked—and sets up a finale you won't want to miss.

A gay WWI vet running a bookshop gets tangled up with a charming disgraced aristocrat, and the banter alone is worth the price of admission. The mystery's solid, the chemistry's electric, and I'm already halfway through book two.

Cut & Run might be the dumbest murder mystery I’ve ever read—so obvious, so ridiculous, so confidently wrong about everything that it almost becomes entertaining. This M/M romance has a devoted fanbase, but I spent the entire book wondering if I was being punk'd by the mystery genre itself.

John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky: A brilliant, unsettling literary thriller about morally bankrupt characters in the publishing world. Disturbing, compelling, and impossible to put down.

M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains brings gorgeous Shakespeare integration and compelling queer romance, but loses momentum in its second half. A C+ dark academia read that promises more than it delivers.

A wickedly smart, double-layered whodunnit that serves up classic crime fiction with a wink, a twist, and a killer reveal.

A brooding, sharply written gay mystery where old wounds, new crimes, and unresolved desire collide under the weight of a small town that never forgets.

Jane Pek’s debut blends amateur sleuthing with themes of queerness, identity, and data ethics—smart and engaging, if not entirely satisfying.