Sometimes my entertainment takes on an accidental theme, and I’m left craving more. This was the recent case when I watched Netflix’s Big Mistakes (“Yeah, I’m okay. I ran over Max by accident.”) and read Samantha Allen’s, Puck.
One might be a crime series and the other a romance novel, but they each bring the queer chaos front and center. And now I want all the queer chaos—messy, sad, funny, unaware, self-aware, petty, mean, kind…all of it! I’ve got some mystery books to fit the theme and energy in different ways. There’s a hot mess PI series, a short story anthology, and a crew of drag queens stealing from the rich.
Be Gay, Do Crime: Sixteen Stories of Queer Chaos, edited by Molly Llewellyn, Kristel Buckley
*Chandler Bing voice* Could the title be more perfect?!
In the tiers of crimes you can be convicted of, we’re more in the shallow end of the pool with petty crimes with this one. There’s an evil twin impersonating her sister for revenge, an adult who fraudulently enters contests for children, a lesbian couple who find an abandoned baby and adopt it, skipping the actual legal process of adoption, and more tales that range in mood from mischief with laughs to somber and literary.
All access members continue below for more queer chaos!
The Last Place You Look (Roxane Weary #1) by Kristen Lepionka
Disaster bisexual!
Roxane Weary’s life is a hot mess when we start this PI mystery series (with thriller endings!). Her dad, a police officer, has passed away, and she’s drinking too much, making poor decisions in her romantic life, and not doing great in the professional department either. But the thing with Weary is she’s genuinely trying. Which is how she ends up in serious danger with a case she takes on: there’s a man on death row for killing his girlfriend and her parents. The thing is, the girlfriend’s body was never found, and now his sister swears she just saw her.
There are four great books in the series, which let you watch Weary’s personal evolution as she solves crimes!
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig
A socialite and a crew of drag queens stealing from the rich!
Margo is a teen socialite with a secret life: Margo and her crew of drag queens steal from the rich. From jewelry heists to art from museums, they are talented at getting in and getting out with the valuables. They all have different reasons for this life of crime—including paying a drag mother’s debt and paying for a ballet school—and they must decide if they’re willing to attempt an impossible job for the biggest payout…
With Death Prefers Blondes, you get plenty of action and heists while also getting to know Margo and her heist crew as they try to find their way in the world.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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