Lesbian Mystery Roundup: May 2010

Posted on 02. Jun, 2010 by Victoria Brownworth in Mystery

With summer just around the corner, we need beach reading. Since I was a child, beach reading has meant mysteries. When I was eight it was Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. Soon after I discovered Agatha Christie, Mary Renault and Mary Roberts Rhinehart. Then I dallied with Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett—who wouldn’t?—and even gave my heart ever-so-briefly to Mickey Spillane (although I think it was his “tomatoes” I truly loved).

As an adult, however, it’s been difficult for me to tear myself away from mysteries written by women. I have long worshiped at the altar of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell and am driven to search for the latest Sue Grafton or Laura Lippman. I have spent many an evening with the likes of Ellen Hart, Katherine Forrest, Val McDermid, Nicola Griffith and J.M. Redmann.

I love a good mystery. And if the rate at which LGBT presses are churning out mysteries is any indicator, many share my love of a good mystery. Fortunately for us aficionados of the wide range of mysteries—from cozy parlor to the darker, edgier thriller—a passel of good tales awaits.

Click to read the review	THE MIRROR AND THE MASK By Ellen Hart Minotaur Books ISBN: 9780312375270 Hardcover, $25.99, 320p Lambda Award Finalist [Read the review]
Click to read the review	DEATH OF A DYING MAN By J.M. Redmann Bold Strokes Books ISBN: 9781602820753 Paperback, $16.95, 228 p. Lambda Award Winner [Read the review]
Click to read the review	COMMAND OF SILENCE By Paulette Callen Spinster’s Ink ISBN: 9781602820753 Paperback, $14.95, 288 p. Lambda Award Finalist [Read the review]
Click to read the review	MISSING LYNX By Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou Bold Strokes Books ISBN: 9781602821378 Paperback, $16.95, 312 p. [Read the review]
Click to read the review	OF COURSE IT’S MURDER By Kate Sweeney Intaglio ISBN: 9781935216117 Paperback, $16.95, 220 p. [Read the review]

Related posts:

1. 2010 Holiday Gift Guide
2. The Mystery Maven: Gift Guide
3. GunnShots: Fall 2010
4. ‘Murder in City Hall’ and ‘The Seeker’
5. Gay Mystery Roundup: Bidulka, Plakcy, Sherman, Ryan, & More

About Victoria Brownworth

Victoria A. Brownworth is the Lambda-award-winning author and editor of more than 20 books. She was the book critic for the Baltimore Sun for 17 years and her reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Village Voice, Chicago Sun-Times, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, PW, the Advocate, OUT and Curve, among others. She has been an editor for several major publishing houses. In 2010 she established Tiny Satchel Press, an independent publisher of young adult books geared toward multi-cultural and LGBTQ inclusive writing. Her most recent book, From Where We Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth, nominated for several awards, was published in February 2011. Her fiction is also included in the Lambda Award-nominated collection Women of the Mean Streets.

Tags: *Lesbian, Bold Strokes Books, Command of Silence, Death of a Dying Man, Ellen Hart, Intaglio Publications, J.M. Redmann, Kate Sweeney, Kim Baldwin, lesbian mystery, Minotaur Books, Missing Lynx, Of Course It's Murder, Paulette Callen, Roundup, Spinsters Ink, The Mirror And the Mask, Victoria Brownworth, Xenia Alexiou