The QUILTBAG Detective: Queer Characters in Crime Fiction

Read Kristen Lepionka's quick-hits list of the top depictions of queer identities in crime fiction, and then make sure to sign in and comment below for a chance to win a copy of her upcoming debut novel, The Last Place You Look!

The Quiltbag Detective sounds like a great title for a cozy series, right? QUILTBAG is actually an acronym*—a catchy, inclusive one gaining popularity for the LGBTQ+ set. Crime fiction actually has a long history of homophobic language in its pages, but despite that—or maybe in spite of it—queer detective characters have been around for some time, able to navigate spaces that straight characters can’t and provide insights that straight characters don’t see. 

From the over-the-top camp of Lou Rand’s The Gay Detective (1961, also published as Rough Trade)—widely regarded as the first American gay detective character, whose sexual orientation is cloaked in not-so-subtle innuendo and sarcasm—to the 16 Lambda finalists for gay and lesbian mystery last year, there are plenty of writers with compelling depictions of queer identities in crime fiction. Here’s a brief primer on some of the high notes. (A number of these are out of print at the moment, so polish up your library card or your magnifying glass for a used bookstore treasure hunt.)

George Baxt

Debuting in 1966, A Queer Kind of Death introduced readers to Pharoah Love, the first black, gay detective character. Love borders on caricature, but Baxt’s representation of the gay subculture in Manhattan is significant.

FADEOUT by Joseph Hansen (1970)

Joseph Hansen

The first openly gay mainstream character is widely considered to be Dave Brandstetter, first appearing in Fadeout (1970). Dave is an insurance investigator, not a PI, but he has the droll Southern California attitude of Phillip Marlowe but with an extra dose of empathy. Smart, exquisite prose throughout this series. 

M.F. Beal

1977’s Angel Dance stars Kat Guerrera, a Latin journalist turned unofficial PI who also happens to be one of the first American lesbian detective characters. This book is a wild ride through political intrigue, sex, drugs, and 70s feminism; groundbreaking and a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the genre.

Katherine V. Forrest

In 1984 the world met Kate Delafield, Forrest’s lesbian police detective in Los Angeles. She stars in nine books, and my favorite is The Beverly Malibu, a solid procedural with good old-fashioned police work, a hotel full of secrets, and a sexy romance element. 

Ellen Hart

Since 1989, lesbian sleuth Jane Lawless has starred in twenty-three mysteries and counting—five of which have won Lambda awards for lesbian mystery. Jane is a restaurant owner/private eye in Minneapolis in this series, which starts with Hallowed Murder and continues this year with Fever in the Dark.

Read Debbie Meldrum's review of Fever in the Dark!

Michael Nava

Henry Rios is a burned out, gay attorney on the verge of quitting his job as a public defender when we meet him in The Little Death (1986), an intricately plotted mystery that follows multiple murders and the sinister side of probate law, which is way more interesting than it sounds.

Nikki Baker

Baker’s Virginia Kelly is one of the first black lesbian sleuths. Virginia debuted in The Lavender House Murders (1992) and continues solving crimes through three additional entries. This series is a standout for Virginia’s smart, funny, introspective voice.

Catherine Lewis

A personal favorite of mine is Dry Fire (1996), a painfully realistic coming-of-age story and procedural novel that follows Abby, a lesbian police cadet and eventual patrol officer in North Florida. This book is a standalone and Lewis’s only novel for adults, but it has an ending that leaves you heartbroken in the best way.

DEATH OF A CONSTANT LOVER by Lev Raphael (1996)

Lev Raphael

Nick Holloway is a university professor and solver of murders in academia—of which there are more than you might think in this witty series that started in 1996 as well. I especially like Death of a Constant Lover, not least because it pokes a bit of fun at the amateur sleuth convention by acknowledging the veritable pandemic of violent crime at the State University of Michigan.

Carol Anshaw

Okay, so the protagonist of Seven Moves is not a detective, and this book isn’t exactly a mystery, but it concerns the disappearance of Christine’s lover, Taylor, and the investigation into what it really means to know someone that follows. Written in gorgeous, literary prose, there is a lot to enjoy here for crime fiction readers who want a deep dive into a missing persons case.

Renee James

James’s Transition to Murder follows hairdresser and transgender woman Bobbi Logan’s journey as she transitions from a gay man to a woman while also battling a psychopathic killer targeting trans women in the close-knit LGBTQ+ Boystown community of Chicago. The idea of a trans protagonist in the genre is new ground, as the usual appearance of a transgender person in crime fiction or television is as a victim or plot device. Bobbi is an instantly likable heroine with a refreshing point of view on the way a person’s gender identity informs how we move through the world.

Ann Aptaker

A snappy historical mystery, Criminal Gold is set in the gritty underworld of late 1940s New York. It hits all the marks: a crime boss, a wily fence, the mysterious death of a gangster's moll, and (of course) a femme fatale whose pretty face may or may not be masking the duplicitous darkness of her heart. What sets this novel apart is Cantor Gold, the tough-talking, short-haired, silk-suited, lesbian art smuggler at the center of the tale. It's a unique blend of lesbian pulp and the typical period detective novel as well as the first in the Lambda Award-winning series starring Cantor Gold.

Know of others? Drop a note in the comments!

*QUILTBAG stands for Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay
 

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Finished The Last Place You Look Comment Sweepstakes: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.  Sweepstakes open to legal residents of 50 United States, D.C., and Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 years or older as of the date of entry.  To enter, complete the “Post a Comment” entry at https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2017/05/the-quiltbag-detective-queer-characters-in-crime-fiction-comment-sweepstakes beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) May 18, 2017. Sweepstakes ends 2:59 p.m. ET May 26, 2017. Void outside the United States and Canada and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules here. Sponsor: Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

 

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Kristen Lepionka grew up mostly in her local public library, where she could be found with a big stack of adult mysteries before she was out of middle school. In the name of writing research, she has gone on multiple police ridealongs, taken a lock-picking class, trespassed through an abandoned granary, and hiked inside an Icelandic volcano. Her writing has been selected for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Grift, and Black Elephant. She is also the editor of Betty Fedora, a semi-annual journal that publishes feminist crime fiction, and lives in Columbus, Ohio with her partner and two cats.

Comments

  1. Rochelle Melander

    What a great list! Thank you. I’m also a fan of Claire McNab’s books–and loved the Kylie Kendall series, starting with The Wombat Strategy.

  2. James Joyce

    I looked everywhere, for this!

  3. lasvegasnv

    interesting

  4. Mary Costea

    would love a copy.

  5. Jeffrey Tretin

    Sounds great

  6. Karl Stenger

    I would love to read the book.

  7. Vernon Luckert

    Looks like a great read.

  8. Douglass P Abramson

    Good article

  9. pearl berger

    thanks for this great post and wonderful article.

  10. ellie lewis

    This list is extraordinary and the books are captivating.

  11. Barbara Bibel

    Great list of books!

  12. Pearl Berger

    talented author. What an interesting list which I will keep.

  13. Janice

    Wow. Very interesting. I did not know any of this.

  14. Desmond Warzel

    Count me in, please!

  15. Carolyn

    Very interesting!

  16. Jackie Wisherd

    I would enjoy reading this book

  17. Carl

    Well, Quiltbag has just become our household’s go-to acronym. Thanks for the education and the chance to win.

  18. bill norris

    would love to read this

  19. Michael Carter

    Great!
    Please enter me in this sweepstakes.
    Thanks —

  20. susan beamon

    I guess I don’t pay that much attention to the love life of the charactors in the mysteries I read, unless it is vital to the plot. Still, it was an interesting list of mystery series that I didn’t know about.

  21. jane

    I do not care what the sexual orientation is of the main character, I enjoy an interesting main character. The list gives me so possible authors to read.

  22. Susanne Troop

    Sounds like a great read!

  23. Susanne Troop

    Sounds like a great read!

  24. Daniel Morrell

    looks like a fun one

  25. Laurent Latulippe

    My mom would love to read this.

  26. vicki wurgler

    love to read this book thanks

  27. Tammy Little

    would like to read this

  28. Richard Derus

    Kate Delafield! I’d lost track of her. Thanks for bringing her back.

    Also, what about Don Strachey, Richard Stevenson’s character? And then Greg Herren’s two series, Chanse McLeod and Scotty Someone (never liked that series too terrible much) both set in New Orleans. Plus Mark Zubro’s two series…Paul Turner, and the married men Tom and Scott…and then there’s Canadian sleuth Dan Sharp via Torontonian Jeffrey Round, and Anthony Bidulka’s Saskatoonian globretrotter Russell Quant.

  29. MARGARET GAWLEY

    A new world of detective fiction for me…open to exploration.

  30. Caroline Lennek

    Thanks for compiling this list because it provides many opportunities to explore different aspects of detective fiction. Looking forward to this opportunity to win a great book!

  31. Portia Asher

    Great article..

  32. ReadingwithDominick

    This looks like an interesting read! Great cover & title.
    I really appreciate books with characters from all walks of life…
    Thanks for the chance to enter this giveaway!!

  33. Robert Grieco

    Honestly, I’ve never read anything by Kristen Lepionla, but sure would love to!
    [url=http://www.criminalelement.com/kristen%20lepionka#filter] [/url]

  34. Karen Terry

    Has a great plot.

  35. Patrick Murphy

    I would like to win this

  36. Barbara Fish

    Please choose me!

  37. pat murphy

    Hope to win !

  38. Kyle Johnicker

    Definitely need more and better portrayals of the LGTB community in all forms of media.

  39. Cathy Pegau

    Nicola Griffith’s Aud Torvingen series, Always, Blue Place, and Stay (not sure I have them in order) are quite good.

    Definitely need to grab a few of these. Thanks!

  40. John Meixner

    sounds like a interesting thriller

Comments are closed.