African American Crime Mystery

The Red Bottom Bandits may be the world's most fashion-forward gang of masked outlaws. They're the talk of DC for their daring robberies and fly gear. And their latest caper is penned by Ashley Antoinette (of Ashley & JaQuavis) at her sultry, streetwise best.

"Captivating, suspenseful & raw. An accurate depiction of life during that time. Incredible!" When Danny Jackson says "the N-word" on his fifth birthday his grandmother tells him their family doesn't use that word, though he's learned it from his father. There's a mysterious grave in their woods, and all he's ever heard it called was "the N-word Grave." Thus begins a family saga and coming of age story as an Appalachian grandmother tries to change her family's trajectory regarding race relations. Danny and Martin Noble Peoples, a descendent of the murdered black man, team up to uncover the ...

Seven years ago, Mckayla, the woman of Ray’s dreams, abruptly disappeared the same day a member of his family was killed in a hit and run accident. When she resurfaces out of the blue engaged to his cousin (Shawn), Ray struggles with letting her go and focusing on his job as Chief of Staff to his father, Governor Walt Rucker. Shawn makes the separate startling discovery that the families of him and his and his new fiancée are already tied together deeper than their nuptials could stich them, and he decides to keep it to himself for the time being. After a by chance run-in, Ray and ...

If Lisbeth Salander and Jack Reacher had a Black/Thai love child, she’d be Sophie… What would you do if the crime you were hired to solve tugged at your heartstrings? Private investigator Sophie’s latest case weighs heavy: someone has desecrated the nesting grounds of the majestic Laysan Albatross on Oahu, the murder of a generation of endangered birds—and the outrageous crime appears to be spreading to other islands. Sophie teams up with Sergeant Lei Texeira on Maui to search for killer whose brutal activities outrage the public. Meanwhile, deadly assassin grandma Pim Wat continues...

Nan's day is not off to a good start. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Walter is off...again, and when she offers a fellow busker a place to stay for the night he ends up murdered on her kitchen floor. To make matters worse, the busker turns out to have been an undercover cop. And his former partner has taken an immediate and extreme dislike to Nan. When she finds that the dead man stashed a wad of cash in her apartment, cash that could go to help his blind girlfriend, Nan's desire to do the right thing lands her in trouble.

The kingpins of Oklahoma City, one from the north side and one from the south side, push pounds of weed, gallons of PCP, and kilos of cocaine through the corridors of the OKC, using very different methods to keep their people in line. King is the leader of the north side crew. Along with his protégé, Tippi, he runs his crew with deadly force. Each member knows there is no room for error when it comes to getting money on the north side. Flamboyant, the leader of the south side crew, is the opposite.

Forced to flee Detroit, ruthless and rotten Kenya and her identical twin, London, have dodged the bullets of a vicious hired hitman and endured the pain of a brutal rape. Now, due to mistaken identity, the girls must deal with Storm's strange disappearance and his partner's heinous murder before it's too late and they're next. Once again the sisters' lives are turned upside down. This time, the consequences could land them both in jail - or dead and unclaimed in the county morgue.

After a long Labor Day weekend, 73-year-old Eugene Washington is found dead in his Leimert Park home. At first blush, his death seems unremarkable- heat wave combined with food poisoning from a holiday barbecue. But something in the way Washington died doesn’t make sense. LAPD Homicide Detective Elouise "Lou" Norton is called to investigate the death and learns that the only family Washington had was the 6,000-member congregation of Blessed Mission Ministries, led by Bishop Solomon Tate. But something wicked is lurking among the congregants of this church.

Ke'yoko and Ka'yah are identical twins with two totally different personalities. As young girls they formed a bond that could not be broken. It isn't until they become grown women that their loyalty is tested by secrets, deception, and lies. Growing up with a strict and controlling father and a weak and sniveling mother, Ke'yoko's only goal is to get as far away from them as possible, even if it means leaving Ka'yah behind. Being rescued by Ja'Rel is like a dream come true.

Smoke Kings is a powerful and propulsive novel with a diverse and unforgettable cast of characters. Like Steph Cha's Your House Will Pay it explores decades of racial tensions through a fictional landscape where the line between justice and revenge is blurred.

Niles has just returned from eight years of serving his country as a Special Forces sniper. He's looking forward to a consulting job with Dynamic Defense and spending time with his family, including his bipolar mother, Lorna, and his hard-drinking uncle, Willie. What Niles doesn't know is that Dynamic Defense is actually a CIA front. He's not interested in joining them, but they won't take no for an answer.

Faith Newsome has it all: a loving husband, beautiful daughter, and a stable life as the owner of a thriving shoe boutique in Washington, DC. Yet a part of her feels as if she’s not who she seems to be, as if she’s living a lie. When Faith gets kidnapped by a group of goons while walking to her car, she suddenly remembers who she is - not the suburban wife and mother whom she convinced herself to be, but Champagne, the daughter of one of the most ruthless killers and drug dealers in New York City who went missing and was presumed dead years prior.

Detective Houser wants nothing more than his retirement, but when a murder case involving the WMM firm lands on his desk, he can’t avoid it. All of law enforcement knows that WMM Advertising, also known as We Make Millionaires, is one of the biggest and hardest-to-penetrate fraudulent telemarketing firms in the state of Georgia. A tape recording of a man’s death may finally help Houser make a case against the firm. Calling in Alexis Greenspan, a.k.a. Nina Coles, the top sales associate in the company, Houser is determined to use her to find out the company’s secrets.

Black rookie cop Trevor “Finn” Finnegan aspires to become a top-ranking officer in the Los Angeles Police Department and fix a broken department. A fast-track promotion to detective in the coveted Robbery-Homicide Division puts him closer to achieving his goal. Four years later, calls for police accountability rule the headlines. The city is teeming with protests for racial justice. When the body of a murdered black academy recruit is found in the Angeles National Forest, Finn is tasked to investigate.

In the fifth Leonid McGill novel, Leonid finds himself in an unusual pickle of trying to balance his cases with his chaotic personal life. Leonid is approached by an unemployed office manager named Hiram Stent to track down the whereabouts of his cousin, Celia, who is about to inherit millions of dollars from her father's side of the family. Leonid declines the case, but after his office is broken into and Hiram is found dead, he gets reeled into the underbelly of Celia's wealthy old-money family.

Trained to be a Special Forces killer, Leader came back from his tours of duty broke - and near-broken. So when the streets came calling, he rose from ruthless hood enforcer to a powerful international cartel's most feared "cleaner". And when tragedy hit home, his sensitive son, Justus, turned out to be a natural assassin - and unshakably loyal to his father. Together, they are an unstoppable team that leaves no trace behind.... Until a mysterious woman from nowhere begins working Leader's deep-hidden weaknesses. Slowly, she's exploding all his secrets....

Taz is the ruthless leader of an elite group of bandits who rule the streets of Oklahoma City. No one has met the mysterious boss who gives them their orders via laptop, but the arrangement works for everyone involved. Their criminal enterprise keeps them rolling in dough, allowing them to purchase property and businesses all over town. When Taz falls in love with Sacha, an ambitious young lawyer, he makes an unexpected enemy. Cliff, another lawyer at the firm, wants Sacha for himself, and he'll stop at nothing to win her back from the thug she's with.

It's 1955 and ex-cop Tommy Smith is working as a crime writer for the only daily black newspaper in America when his boss, a prominent publisher with a politically complex past, turns up murdered, a group of corrupt white cops takes the opportunity to make sure Smith is prime suspect. To clear his name, Smith will need to enlist the help of his old boss, the resilient Sergeant McInnis - who has logged seven difficult years as the only white cop in a black precinct.

After Brady Sims pulls out a gun in a courtroom and shoots his own son, who has just been convicted of robbery and murder, he asks only to be allowed two hours before he'll give himself up to the sheriff. When the editor of the local newspaper asks his cub reporter to dig up a "human interest" story about Brady, he heads for the town's barbershop. It is the barbers and the regulars who hang out there who narrate with empathy, sadness, humor, and a profound understanding the life story of Brady Sims.

Life couldn't get better for the Crescent Crew. With an exclusive Mexican pipeline, they've got the Southern drug trade on lock. Former founder Qwess is leveraging rap superstardom to break the music industry's commercial stranglehold. And former leader Reece is fresh off a five-year prison bid - and out to forever secure the Crew's dominance. But as Reece is working a brutal vendetta, a Crew mutiny will drag him back into all-out street war. Now, between the ambitious young Crew and ruthless OG Reece, only one can live to reign....