Rainbow Mysteries
Mysteries Featuring Gay Characters
Best Murder of the Year by Jon Bloch
Gossip columnist Rick Domino is stunned when his lover, actor Shane Kirk, wins an Oscar for Best Actor but is nowhere to be found. When Rick finally finds Shane holding a gun and a dead body, Shane takes off, leaving Rick to face the police.
The Actor’s Guide to Adultery by Rick Copp
In a land of early bird specials, low-budget films and "day glo" thongs, former child actor Jarrod Jarvis unwittingly becomes immersed in a murder investigation, while contending with his best friend's unfaithful new husband, his failing TV show, a stalker, a gorgeous P. I. and a mob vendetta.
Bitch Slap by Michael Craft
Mark Manning and his lover, Neil Waite, investigate when a proposed merger between the family newspaper, "The Dumont Daily Register," and a local paper company leads to a fracas between society reporter Glee Savage and the other company's manager, who later turns up murdered.
Posted to Death by Dean James
American vampire sleuth Simon Kirby-Jones arrives in the cozy village of Snupperton Mumsley to start a new life, but when Abigail Winterton, the town's nasty postmistress, is murdered after a spirited meeting of SMADS (the Snupperton Mumsley Amateur Dramatic Society), Simon must dig through a wealth of suspects to expose a killer.
Sock by Penn Jillette (Adult Fiction)
A sock monkey narrates the story of a NYPD diver who finds the body of a dead woman (and former lover) in the waters off New York City and joins forces with the victim's best friend, a gay hairdresser, to find her killer.
Private Eyes by Jonathan Kellerman
Twenty years after an assailant permanently scarred and crippled her actress mother, Gina, Melissa Dickinson is convinced that the attacker, now out of prison and back in L.A., will return to finish the job and enlists the aid of Dr. Alex Delaware to help protect her and her mother.
Mucho Mojo by Joe Lansdale
Digging up the skeletal remains of a child wrapped in pornographic magazines under his late uncle's house, Leonard vows to clear his uncle's name by investigating on his own and uncovers an evil past of dark obsession.
Nightcrawlers by Bill Pronzini
Gay-bashers seeking a thrill brutally beat a young man and stalk gay lovers in the Castro district. Enter three seasoned investigators: Jake Runyon, Tamara and "Bill" (Nameless finally has a first name). When Tamara goes missing, Jake and Nameless race time to find her before it’s too late.
Tropic of Murder by Lev Raphael
In an intense atmosphere of mounting crisis, untenured State University of Michigan English professor Nick is desperate for a quick getaway. Nick's partner, Stefan, suggests an idyllic week at Club Med. The Island of Serenity, however, proves to be anything but serene, and again, Nick finds himself face-to-face with murder as his vacation in paradise becomes a nightmare.
The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
When its charismatic protagonist, the disaffected and dissolute Rilke, comes upon a hidden collection of disturbing erotic photographs during a house clearance, he feels compelled to unearth more about the deceased owner who coveted them. What follows is a compulsive journey of discovery, decadence and deviousness that leads him into a dark underworld of transvestite clubs, seedy bars and porn shops.
Moth and Flame by John Morgan Wilson
Relegated to demeaning assignments after a once-impressive career, Los Angeles journalist Benjamin Justice performs research to complete a murdered writer's work and uncovers links between the victim, a controversial housing development and a local handyman's disappearance years earlier.
Mysteries Featuring Lesbian Characters
Stay by Nicola Griffith
Drawn out of seclusion to help an old friend find his missing fiancée, ex-cop Aud Torvingen finds the woman in the clutches of a disturbed sociopath, which ignites a rage that invigorates, terrifies and tortures her.
Intimate Ghost by Ellen Hart
Arriving late at a wedding she was hired to cater, Jane Lawless discovers that the guests have been drugged and that the groom has died, a situation for which she realizes she will be blamed unless she can identify the responsible party.
Report for Murder by Val McDermid
Freelance journalist, Lindsay Gordon, is strapped for cash. Why else would she agree to cover a fund-raising gala at a girls' public school? But when the star attraction is garroted with her own cello string, mere moments before she is due on stage, Lindsay finds herself investigating a vicious murder. Who would have wanted Lorna Smith dead? Who had the key to the locked room in which her body was found? Who could have slipped out of the hall at just the right time to commit this calculated and cold-blooded crime?
Son of a Gun by Randye Lordon
When her godchild's father is murdered in the hallway of his apartment building, NYC private investigator Sydney Sloane investigates a threatening phone call received by the victim's wife from a man who claims to be the son she gave up for adoption many years earlier.
Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller
Learning that his wife, who has been missing for fourteen years, is alive and letting people believe he is responsible for her disappearance, Matthew journeys to California to clear his name.
Let’s Face the Music and Die by Sandra Scoppettone
Lesbian private investigator Lauren Laurano embarks on a case that takes her from the city streets to cyberspace in defense of a friend who stands accused of murdering her elderly aunt.
Easy Street by Elizabeth Sims
Lillian Byrd is flat broke. For a few extra bucks she agrees to help an old friend renovate her house; by the end of the first day on the job there is a partially demolished wall, a mysterious stash of cash and a dead body. And Lillian's attentions have been diverted by the appearance of a drop-dead gorgeous neighbor.
The Ice House by Minette Walters
In a British village, an unidentifiable body is found in the ice house of a home belonging to three women long suspected of being witches. Ten years ago, Police Inspector Walsh thought one of the women guilty of murder and now plans to do whatever it takes to untangle the women's secrets.
An Hour to Kill by Karin Yapalater
Unlikely colleagues James Gurson and Didi Kane team up to solve a series of Central Park killings, a case that turns personal when the detectives discover that the murders involve people and events from their own lives.