{"id":55317,"date":"2025-02-11T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=55317"},"modified":"2024-12-28T16:19:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T22:19:19","slug":"queer-cozy-and-traditional-mysteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/queer-cozy-and-traditional-mysteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer Cozy and Traditional Mysteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s on your to-read list? I have quite a long list of queer mysteries that I’ve either discovered through review journals or have been recommended to me by friends. I have gathered up a list of recently published queer cozy and traditional mysteries, all first in series, to share with you all. Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these titles or of any queer mysteries that you have enjoyed!<\/p>\n

All the items in the list are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions provided by the publishers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A Killing in Costumes<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Zac Bissonnette (Book 1 in Hollywood Treasures Mystery series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jay Allan and Cindy Cooper were soap opera stars in the late \u201990s, a wholesome young husband-and-wife duo who combined musical talent with humor and charisma. When the truth about their sexual orientations came to light, their marriage and TV careers ended, but decades later they have remained friends. Together, they open Palm Springs\u2019 chicest movie memorabilia store, Hooray for Hollywood\u2013but no customers and dwindling finances spell trouble.<\/p>\n

A Hail Mary arrives in the form of Yana Tosh, a ninety-year-old diva of the silver screen who has amassed a valuable collection of costumes and props and is looking to sell. But first, Jay and Cindy have to beat their competition, a vice president from a mega-auction house with ten times their resources. And when he winds up dead, they become prime suspects in the murder.<\/p>\n

With their freedom and livelihoods on the line, Jay and Cindy desperately need to clear their names. There are plenty of other potential suspects, but they\u2019ll have to solve it soon before they\u2019re forced to trade in their vintage costume collection for two orange jumpsuits. – Crooked Lane Books<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Board to Death<\/a><\/em> by C.J. Connor (Book 1 in Board Game Shop Mystery series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in his hometown of Sugar House running his family\u2019s board game shop and caf\u00e9, Ben Rosencrantz just can\u2019t seem to get his life to pass go, much less collect $200. Once he was a happily married English professor in Seattle. Now he\u2019s a divorced caregiver, looking after his ill father and a Chihuahua named Beans while still figuring out the rules of retail management. At least the town has become more LGBTQ+ friendly than when Ben was a teenager\u2014and that flower shop owner, Ezra McCaslin, enjoys flirting with him.<\/p>\n

But despite his usual clientele of gamers, Ben is barely earning enough to keep the store running and stay on top of his father\u2019s medical bills. Then a local toy and game collector named Clive offers him a winning strategy\u2014to purchase a turn-of-the-twentieth-century edition of The Landlord\u2019s Game, the realty and taxation game that inspired Monopoly, at a tenth of the rare edition\u2019s true value. Suspicious of Clive\u2019s shady, low-priced deal, Ben turns the offer down.<\/p>\n

Then Clive turns up dead at the front door of Ben\u2019s and a backpack full of $100 bills appears on his doorstep. Now Ben is the #1 suspect in Clive\u2019s death, and unless he and Ezra can prove his innocence and find the real killer, he\u2019ll go to jail for murder\u2014and no amount of double dice rolls will set him free . . . – Kensington Cozies<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Death Drop<\/a><\/em> by Greg Herren (Book 1 in Killer Queen Mystery series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glam artist Jem Richard loved making New Orleans’ society mavens feel beautiful-but doesn’t like being stiffed. He reluctantly agrees to help with the make-up for the fall fashion show for the House of Mercereau, but demands payment up front after what happened the last time-when designer Marigny Mercereau’s check bounced. But no one warned him before he arrives, brushes and make-up palettes in hand, that the models he’ll be working on are drag queens! Pressed into service when one of the queens doesn’t show Jim wows the crowds and slays his fellow queens with his style and presentation on the runway. But between trips down the runway (and tequila shots for courage), Jim starts noticing bits and pieces of conversations and arguments showing all is not well behind the scenes of the House of Mercereau, and everyone seems to want Marigny dead. When her body is discovered the next morning, Jim finds himself in the sites of a killer! Jim puts on his best Shirley Holmes deerstalker cap and starts tracing the clues to help that handsome police detective-who may or may not be flirting with him-catch the killer before the killer catches Jem. – Provided by publisher.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Devil’s Chew Toy<\/a><\/em> by Rob Osler (Book 1 in Hayden & Friends series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seattle teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall wakes sporting one hell of a shiner, with the police knocking at his door. It seems that his new crush, dancer Camilo Rodriguez, has gone missing and they suspect foul play. What happened the night before? And where is Camilo?<\/p>\n

Determined to find answers, pint-sized, good-hearted Hayden seeks out two of Camilo\u2019s friends\u2014Hollister and Burley\u2014both lesbians and both fiercely devoted to their friend. From them, Hayden learns that Camilo is a \u201cDreamer\u201d whose parents had been deported years earlier, and whose sister, Daniela, is presumed to have returned to Venezuela with them. Convinced that the cops won\u2019t take a brown boy\u2019s disappearance seriously, the girls join Hayden\u2019s hunt for Camilo.<\/p>\n

The first clues turn up at Barkingham Palace, a pet store where Camilo had taken a part-time job. The store\u2019s owner, Della Rupert, claims ignorance, but Hayden knows something is up. And then there\u2019s Camilo\u2019s ex-boyfriend, Ryan, who\u2019s suddenly grown inexplicably wealthy. When Hayden and Hollister follow Ryan to a secure airport warehouse, they make a shocking connection between him and Della\u2014and uncover the twisted scheme that\u2019s made both of them rich.<\/p>\n

The trail of clues leads them to the grounds of a magnificent estate on an island in Puget Sound, where they\u2019ll finally learn the truth about Camilo\u2019s disappearance\u2014and the fate of his family. – Crooked Lane Books<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Renovated to Death<\/a><\/em> by Frank Anthony Polito (Book 1 in Domestic Partners in Crime mystery series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Real-life domestic partners and stars and producers of the new hit reality home renovation show Domestic Partners, bestselling mystery author Peter \u201cPJ\u201d Penwell and actor JP Broadway are enjoying work and life in their sleepy Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods\u2014until a suspicious death makes an unscripted appearance\u2026<\/p>\n

After a successful first season of Domestic Partners chronicling the renovation of their historic Craftsman Colonial, Peter and JP are taking on a renovation of a local Tudor Revival inherited by identical twin brothers Terry and Tom Cash. But linoleum floors and a pink-tiled bathroom aren\u2019t the only unwelcome surprises awaiting inside the house\u2026<\/p>\n

Just as the show is set to start filming, Peter and JP discover Tom Cash dead at the foot of the house\u2019s staircase. And when the police ruling changes from accidental death to homicide, the list of suspects grows fast. Could the killer be the crabby next-door-neighbor, the Realtor ex-boyfriend, the bartender ex-boyfriend, the other, much younger, ex-boyfriend, or even renovation-reluctant brother, Terry? And what\u2019s that awful smell coming from the basement? Now Peter\u2019s mystery writer skills, and JP\u2019s experience as the former star of a cop show, will be put to the test\u2014as will their relationship while they uncover the secrets of the house and its owners. With a killer on the loose, this is one fixer upper that may prove deadly\u2026 – Kensington<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The Body in the Back Garden<\/a><\/em> by Mark Waddell (Book 1 in Crescent Cove Mystery series)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt\u2019s sudden death, he\u2019s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can\u2026but Crescent Cove isn\u2019t done with him just yet.<\/p>\n

When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke\u2019s aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he\u2019s lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past.<\/p>\n

There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever. – Crooked Lane Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s on your to-read list? I have quite a long list of queer mysteries that I’ve either discovered through review journals or have been recommended to me by friends. I have gathered up a list of recently published queer cozy and traditional mysteries, all first in series, to share with[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,5,1,8],"tags":[9703,9705,9706,5981,9707,9710,9712,9708,9714,96,5940,9711,9709,1641,9713,9704],"class_list":["post-55317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-read-a-likes","category-reference","category-staff-picks","tag-a-killing-in-costumes","tag-board-to-death","tag-c-j-connor","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-death-drop","tag-devils-chew-toy","tag-frank-anthony-polito","tag-greg-herren","tag-mark-waddell","tag-mysteries","tag-queer","tag-renovated-to-death","tag-rob-osler","tag-series","tag-the-body-in-the-back-garden","tag-zac-bissonnette"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-eod","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55317"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55333,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55317\/revisions\/55333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}