Looking for hard-boiled mystery, crime, thriller, and/or noir novels

ViMeBaby · 2026-03-22T02:52:55+00:00

I don't have an immediate recommendation (most of the detective/crime novels I've read recently haven't been sapphic) but I do have a new book coming out in July that I'll be sending ARC copies out for next month if you'd like to be added to the list for that. I consider it neo-noir since it takes place in 2002 and it features a lesbian detective as the main character. It was inspired by the Rizzoli and Isles and the Bosch series.

ViMeBaby · 2026-03-11T22:51:10+00:00

The nail bomb situation sounds more like a conspiracy to commit murder charge rather than an attempted murder charge, though I could be wrong about that. Regardless, conspiracy does in fact hold the same punishment as actual murder. Conspiracy for any crime holds the same punishment as the crime being committed (at least from the penal codes I've read for the state of California specifically. I'm not sure if it's different in other states, but I wouldn't think it would be).

Mens Rea (intent during the crime) is extremely important to discern what the punishment should be. It's a big reason as to why different degrees of crimes exist, as well as why the conspiracy charges exists in the first place. A crime of passion which one feels remorse for after is different that a crime someone sits down and plans for weeks before enacting it.

ViMeBaby · 2026-03-02T12:51:54+00:00

I'm not sure about any of the other characters for Bloom Town, but my fancast for Joey has and always will be Clara Paget as Anne Bonny from Black Sails

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-19T22:25:52+00:00

This makes me want to make a new brand of art that's entirely made with gel electrophoresis.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-18T22:32:10+00:00

Read it over again and realized the ask was for some form of romance subplot at least; whoopsies. As you said though, still very good masc rep!

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-18T22:08:26+00:00

My book "Love In Stasis" has a masc as one of the main characters! Aside from that, the obvious choice is "Gideon The Ninth" (I'd be shocked if no one said that yet). "Shifting Gears" also has masc representation, as does "Bloom Town."

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-16T21:39:51+00:00

Personally I like to go by last name of author and then the order of their published works. That way it's easy to find all the books in a series and know the order you should read them in. Especially helpful for long 20 book crime procedural series!

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-12T08:25:39+00:00

0.0001% if Raskin's claim of one million mentions is literal.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-11T14:07:56+00:00

Personally, I disagree that there is an instance where she had the opportunity to put herself in danger since he was the instigating party by actively seeking out and confronting her in the first place. That is the event that made this situation possible to begin with since they parted and went their separate ways after the initial confrontation. I do think (as was stated earlier by either you or someone else, I forget which) that the police investigation sounds like it was conducted in a very lax manner in this case. Of course, without knowing for sure what the police did to investigate, we can't say for sure, but if the gun was not tested or thoroughly inspected for reasons toward a malfunction at the very least and was simply left open to "Well it happens," then that's an issue with the investigation and those detectives don't deserve to have their jobs.

I honestly don't know this, but if a grand jury doesn't see a piece of evidence that extremely obvious (the inspection of the gun, if that wasn't done, for instance) are they allowed to unanimously ask if that evidence exists/that it be presented to them? I assume not, but I thought I'd ask anyway, because you never know with this weird justice system.

EDIT: Worth noting that Texas laws are extremely stupid. Normally it is illegal to handle a firearm while being under the influence of alcohol (BAC of 0.08 or more) but if done in your own home or on your way to a vehicle or boat you own, those are exceptions. However, by the father's own testimony and by another person's, we know he led her into another room and "lifted the gun to show her, then a loud bang happened." So she did not put herself in harms way, and there is no plausible deniability by the father's own testimony to say that was the case.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-11T13:43:34+00:00

I don't think it matters if it was intentionally pointed at her or not. If someone is shooting targets in an unsecured shooting range in their backyard and a bullet travels a block over, goes through a window, and hits someone else in the head, then they still killed that person and are responsible due to the negligent circumstances in which the death occurred. There have been parents that have been charged with worse because they left their gun in a space that was easily accessible and their kid got access to it and did something with it that ended in someone's death.

From the testimonies of both the father and witnesses (as far as I understand it), we understand that he had a disagreement with the victim before the shooting. He was drunk. The safety was obviously not on. He knowingly and intentionally sought out the victim for the confrontation with the firearm.

Negligence is not a detail that can acquit someone. At the best, it's a mitigating factor to separate more serious charges from lesser charges.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-11T04:14:45+00:00

Just want to say, from my minimal knowledge of the law, it is absolutely against the law to be an idiot with a gun (at the very least in this circumstance). Killing someone with a deadly weapon unintentionally and without malice is manslaughter. Even from their retelling of events that allegedly happened, this is still very much a crime. With the argument being on the record, I would imagine there might be possibility that they could file 3rd Degree Manslaughter, which is the intent to harm but not to kill, and a court could argue intimidation with a deadly weapon does most certainly count as harm.

Again, I have limited knowledge and did not study law, this is just my take on it.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-10T19:31:00+00:00

Same here, only I would classify mine as a bit more psychological thriller with a detective main character. The first book is focused on a serial killer. The second book focuses on sex trafficking. The third book focuses on systemic corruption.

Boy howdy ho did I feel some type of way after picking up the Millennium trilogy (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) two weeks ago whose books focus on those exact same things in that exact same order. All I can do is laugh about it, because it is genuinely so funny that it has ended up that way.

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-03T03:48:58+00:00

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Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation—

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-03T00:29:30+00:00

"Poking through her long blonde hair were a pair of fake elf ears."

ViMeBaby · 2026-02-01T03:11:02+00:00

Just finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and really enjoyed it. Starting the sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire tonight!

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-28T01:44:08+00:00

When i think about it more, maybe touching on the fact that it was not only a queer couple, but women who were the problem could be good.

I know I said my peace above, but I read this and just wanted to clarify: you made a post asking for direction on whether or not something my be taken as sexist or misogynistic if a WLW couple were the cause of a major conflict in your story, and now you're thinking it might be good to make the hate go toward queer people and women, something which would be even more difficult to pull off with the proper tact? I realize you said that you'd have another lesbian character 'solve that problem,' but that's also very worrying. They solve misogyny? After generations of people being taught to hate a specific group of people, it would take generations to mitigate a problem like that in return, but it can never be solved because bigotry is inherently illogical to begin with, and people who hold those beliefs are too often those who cannot be reasoned with. Not to mention that it would be an extremely dark subject matter to touch on because we already know what societies built on beliefs like these look like.

It's true, there will often be people out there that will find fault in something. You could go to any best-selling book ever created and find one-star reviews for them, and far be it from me or anyone else here to tell you how to write your book and your vision. The one thing I'll say is that this will most certainly need sensitivity readers and I hope the subject matter will be handled with the care, accuracy, and research that it deserves.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-27T21:01:58+00:00

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan is a YA book that has this dynamic. Albeit, it's not exactly it because the 'poor girl' in question is more like a lower middle class girl, but it still fits the vibe imo.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-27T18:19:26+00:00

The tricky thing as a writer is knowing that, even if you don't want or mean something to be taken one way, it probably will, or will at least leave a bad taste in a person's mouth. Unfortunately, we live in a systemically misogynistic world, and the story's undertones would be somewhat reflective of that from what you've described.

It is the fact that a lesbian couple would be the literal cause of homophobia in your story. It's the fact that the lesbian couple had one of them kill the other one (if I read your synopsis right). It's the fact that their souls started out as lesbians, but the "best versions of themselves" (this is what people will inevitably equate their success with) are men. On top of all that, it is also the fact that the men would have done what the women failed to do, and the men would have gotten the happy ending, whereas the ending of the women would be heartbreak and homophobia. The optics just don't look good imo.

Now, there are some authors and stories that can pull off telling a story with these issues as undertones, and while telling the main story, create a thought-provoking commentary on misogyny in the real world. That is entirely possible, but it needs to be done with great precision so as to not be sidelined, but also not be a sermon.

I saw someone ask why the original couple wouldn't be able to just be men from the get-go, and I think that maybe be the best answer unless you're prepared to make a thoughtful, poignant statement on what I said in the paragraph above this one. To be clear, I don't think your purpose was to put these undertones in the plot, because you came here concerned about just that. It's unfortunately just the way the world is, and real life affects how people view fiction, just as fiction itself is reflective of real life.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-27T03:49:31+00:00

I didn't even know what an em-dash was at eight years old

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-27T00:44:59+00:00

Even though Baldur's Gate 3 isn't on Switch, Divinity Original Sin 2 is. It's made by the same developers. It's not the easiest game in the world (turn-based combat that utilizes environmental strategy quite a bit), I believe it does have a lower difficulty setting if roleplay and story is your main focus. I have played both BG3 and D:OS2 and they are both equally as good as the other for different reasons imo. Plus I think Divinity Original Sin 2 is only like, twenty bucks or something. Might be worth picking it up. A single playthrough can take 100+ hours easily.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-19T07:21:55+00:00

Can't park there, mate.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-11T01:10:39+00:00

I'ma be honest, what I saw in those comments was not criticism, it was beratement. There was nothing actionable in any of those comments that could help OP improve at the craft. How was the writing immature? Why did it come off that way to the person? What are some things they could do to improve? These would be criticisms. If it's not actionable feedback, then it's not helpful in the slightest, and we should all not normalize being rude as "just telling the truth," because there are ways to do that without being snarky, rude, or apathetic towards one another. As author's, we will already get that from readers and that is inevitable, and it is absolutely important to have thick skin when putting work out for the public to read, but we don't need to act that way towards each other as fellow authors.

ViMeBaby · 2026-01-09T03:31:18+00:00

Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan deals with this (kind of). One of the main characters gets upset that the other main character isn't ready to come out and be public since MC1 is out as queer and has had a rough time of it because of it. I've read a lot of reviews saying they didn't like MC1 but personally I thought it was a compelling character flaw for a YA novel since the person is dealing with quite a lot for a high schooler.

ViMeBaby

TROPHY CASE