The best books that dive into great writing with crime writers of color

This book is so much more than a police procedural set in the South with a Black female detective as its protagonist. Snowden writes Southern Gothic stories with all the wonderful emotional obsessions and foreboding suspense that anchor that genre. As the child of a serial killer, Detective Raven Burns witnessed many of her father’s deadly attacks, including the murder of Raven’s mother. Haunted by her past, Raven struggles with both real life and personal demons to secure justice for victims in the present.

I love that S.A. Cosby weaves sly, ironic humor into his protagonist’s observations, often about race and living in Southern Virginia. Even better, the wives and girlfriends are much smarter and more competent than the men. It has been years since Ike Randolph did time. He is determined to be a dedicated family man, but he can’t help himself when his son is murdered along with his white husband. Partly driven by vengeance and partly by guilt for how he treated his gay son, Ike teams up with Buddy Lee, the other father. Buddy is as flawed and guilty as Ike, but together they set out to put things right

Kellye Garrett is a master of snappy dialog and takes on human behavior. No one is spared, least of all the protagonist herself. However, Lena Pierce’s situation is not funny. After her family was ripped apart by her highly successful but difficult father, a music mogul, Lena has lived life on her own independent terms. Now Lena’s estranged half-sister, Desiree—a reality TV star—is dead of an overdose in the Bronx, blocks from Lena’s house. Convinced that Desiree was murdered, Lena tracks down what happened to her sister’s life. Pulled into the spotlight of media attention on Desiree and their father, Lena has her work cut out for her.

When I heard an interview on NPR with Rachel Howzell Hall, I knew she needed to be on my list. Rachel is very prolific, so the book was a tough choice. Since I tend to prefer standalones over series, I picked They All Fall Down, a novel of suspense and a delicious take on the locked room mystery—in this case a luxurious remote private island in Mexico. Each of the seven guests has a dark past they would like to hide, including the narrator, Miriam Macy. Soon, the stranded guests are being outed and dispatched. Who will be next? We’re rooting for Miriam as her tale gradually unrolls. 

Edgar Award-winner Bluebird, Bluebird, is the first in the Jay Porter Series. Black Texas Ranger, Jay Porter, tried to escape East Texas and become a lawyer, but his home and people clawed him back. Jay is on the verge of losing his prestigious job, his reputation in tatters, when he heads to a tiny rural town to investigate the death of a visiting Black lawyer from Chicago and the seemingly separate death of a local white woman. Locke deftly reveals how the persistent stain of racism continues to poison many facets of life, while the law enforcement hierarchies and jurisdictional infighting threaten to undo Jay’s best efforts.