Crime Fiction with Queer Protagonists and/or Authors

This began as a post (Jan, 2023) and is updated here.

I enjoy this sub-genre because the characters are…, different!

Queer Crime Fiction Authors listed by Oline H. Cogdill

You can read her list and her authoritative commentaries in a Mystery Scene magazine article here. She describes who was “first” in various ways, and what awards some of the authors have won. What I will do is just list these queer crime fiction authors with a link to their page on StopYoureKillingMe.com

Authors I’ve Read and Recommend

Richard Stevenson I have read a few of his Donald Strachey PI books and hope to read more. They are set in Albany, NY where Strachey’s partner is a legislative aid to a State Senator. There are 16 books in all: the first was published in 1981 (reflecting the glorious, promiscuous pre-HIV late 1970s; Death Trick is a fast-paced excursion through the seamy underside of gay Albany.) The last, Killer Reunion, was published in 2019 (reflecting the era of American tribal politics). The book series is like an immersion in gay history of the last 40 years via mystery fiction.  My ratings for these books vary but average to “B” – enjoyable.

About a half dozen of the books were made into movies. Search Amazon Prime (“Donald Strachey”).

Stevenson died in 2022. A final book, first of an intended new series, was listed in the Washington Post‘s “Best Mysteries of 2022” – Knock Off the Hat. It takes place  in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for “an indecent act with a native” in Cairo, can’t go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. I thought the story was “atmospheric” – with his office near the overhead railroad tracks in mid-century Philly. Rating: B.

P. J. Vernon I read his thriller, Bath Haus. Pretty much a page-turner. – Rating: B+

Stephanie Gayle She has written a 3 book series featuring a gay black police chief, newly hired in a lily white suburban Connecticut small town. There’s a bit of a historical factor in that the stories take place in the 1990’s (well before the legalization of gay marriage during 2004-2015). The plots will keep you guessing, the characters are well developed, there’s a moderate amount of suspense (moreso in Book 2), and it is interesting to follow the Chief, who tries to at first hide the fact that he is gay, and then tries to downplay the fact that he is gay – my identity is police chief. The writing is very good and I was fully involved, reading them quickly. I rated the three books A-, A, A-.

More Lists:

A List from Queer Crime Writers: A list of queer authors’ current and recent works. Great, good, and not fun reading all included – you decide. Limited to members of the Queer Crime Writers group – therefore “current and recent” books.

A List of 85+ Gay and Lesbian authors in StopYoureKillingMe.com (SYKM): See diversity index here. Like the above list, Great, good, and not fun reading all included – you decide. Current and older books.

Ten Important Queer Protagonists. Tom Ripley is #1 !! Patricia Highsmith wasn’t on the above SYKM list! Queer themes run through her books. I’m glad the article’s author included Henry Rios. These books by Michael Nava that begin in 1986 were the first books I ever read with a gay protagonist — an attorney! They’re great, a little dark, and written by an actual gay attorney and activist. He recently added two more books to the series after a long absence.

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