Expanding your reading experience can be invigorating with authors that have unique settings and unusual viewpoints. It may be past time for you to expand into Asian (and Asian American) mystery authors. We’ve come a long way since Earl Derr Bigger’s Charlie Chan or John P Marquand’s Kentaro Moto when white men portrayed Asians in demeaning and insulting ways. Now we are importing the best in crime fiction from all over the world. These great authors give us a richer and broader reading experience introducing us to a more authentic portrayal of Asians and of Asian cultures.

Reading right now:

Hong Kong prize winning author Chan Ho-Kei’s second novel was released in June. “Second Sister” centers around Natasha who is raising her 15-year-old sister Anastasia when she comes home one day to find that Anastasia has jumped to her death. Natasha believes that Anastasia may have been killed because of something that happened to her on a Hong Kong subway ride which changed her into a silent and unhappy teen. Natasha sets out to find out the truth which takes her down a dark road of internet bullying, sexual harassment, and teen suicide.

On hold right now:

One of Singapore’s top selling authors Ovidia Yu has written two separate series and one standalone mystery. Her Crown Colony series is an historical series set in 1930s Singapore with amateur sleuth Su Lin, the governess for the Acting Governor of Singapore. The first novel in the series was “The Frangipani Tree Mystery” and while the fourth novel just came out in June and is called “The Mimosa Tree Mystery” (a fifth novel is expected in 2021 “The Cannonball Tree Mystery).

Qiu Xiaolong’s tenth book in his Inspector Chen series “Hold Your Breath, China” finds Chen trying to hunt down a serial killer when he is called away by government officials to infiltrate a group of environmental activists. This latest in the series just came out in June and if you want to start from the beginning the first in the series is “Death of a Red Heroine.” These fascinating books often involve Chen battling the political climate of Shanghai as well as the criminal element.

Chinese author Zhou Haohui is finally following up his first novel in the Death Notice series with “Fate” which is coming out next year. Chengdu Police Captain Pei Tao and his task force caught the killer in “Death Notice,” only to have his protégé continue those killings in “Fate.” Both these killers are punishing those that they felt got off too easily.

Other Mysterious Things:

There are many amazing Japanese authors known for their mystery novels all of which are worth your time: Keigo Higashino, Natsuo Kirino, Hideo Yokoyama, Kazuaki Takano, Tetsuya Honda, and Fuminori Nakamura. Henry Chang is a Chinese American author from New York who wrote the Detective Jack Yu series starting with “Chinatown Beat.” Award winning Japanese American author Naomi Hirahara has two series the Mas Arai series and her LAPD bicycle cop series are both terrific. Filipino author F.H. Batacan’s “Smaller and Smaller Circles” is a must read. Born in Malaysia, Shamini Flint wrote the Inspector Singh Investigates series and the first one was “A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder” which is an excellent series.

It’s always a great time to explore options and find a new mystery author. Perhaps it’s time to look more closely at African American mystery authors. I am sure you have read some of these authors’ books, but hopefully this will introduce you to some other great mystery authors that you may have missed who are either African American authors or authors who have written novels with black detectives (or both).

Reading right now:

Ishmael Reed’s “The Last Days of Louisiana Red” centers around private eye Papa LaBas who was also the hero of “Mumbo Jumbo.” I have already read “Mumbo Jumbo” so if you haven’t I would suggest you start with that book. Both these books were written in the 1970s and are hardly traditional mysteries or traditional novels, but are amazing works of satire, racial commentary, and surrealism. Reed writes poetry, jazz, and important books. He taught at Berkeley for over 30 years. He once said that “a black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”

On hold right now:

“Ace Boon Coon” arrives on bookshelves in September which gives you time to read the first mystery novel in this series “A Negro and an Ofay” by Danny Gardner. Once a Chicago Police Officer, Elliot Caprice finds himself at the lowest point of his life when he’s released from jail to discover his family home in foreclosure and the man who raised him dying. When he takes a job as a process server, he becomes mixed up in the death of a wealthy man and ends up running from the police and the Syndicate.

Kellye Garrett has written three books in her award winning mystery series starring actress and apprentice private eye Dayna Anderson. As the first book in the series, “Hollywood Homicide” introduces Dayna whose parents are about to lose their house. When she witnesses a deadly hit-and-run, she decides to try to find out who was driving the car in order to collect the reward and help her parents. As she works on the case, she finds that she enjoys trying to solve a mystery and that she is about to start her second career.

Award winning author, Gar Anthony Hayward has written two mystery series and several standalone novels. His last book in the Aaron Gunner series was “Good Man Gone Bad” which came out last October. The first book in the series was “Fear of the Dark.” After Vietnam, Gunner failed the police academy so decided to try being a private detective. Through the seven books in the series, Gunner learns to be a good PI but it’s never easy working in South Central LA where money is usually a problem and so is the constant violence.

Gary Phillips has written a bit of everything from science fiction to mystery including his PI series featuring Ivan Monk. His latest mystery novel came out this year and starts a new series with Matthew Henson (“Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem”). This book is a 1920s adventure in the style of Indiana Jones.

If you haven’t read Rachel Howzell Hall’s books, you a great opportunity coming up in September when her latest standalone novel “And Now She’s Gone” becomes available. If you want to get started reading her books, she has a detective series out with “Land of Shadows” being the first in the series. Her latest standalone came out last year (“They All Fall Down”). Her books have been called clever, twisty, modern thrillers.

If you haven’t read a Walter Mosley book, you have probably seen the movie “Devil in a Blue Dress” with Easy Rowlins played by Denzel Washington. His most famous series is his Easy Rowlins series. After five years of not adding to the Easy Rowlins series, “Blood Grove” is coming out in February, 2021 and will be the fifteenth book in the series. His most recent book came out in February, 2020, and was the sixth book in the Leonid McGill series.

From 1999 to 2006, Paula L. Woods wrote a mystery series featuring Detective Charlotte Justice, a black women in the LAPD. Eleanor Taylor Bland’s detective series started with “Dead Time” and finished thirteen books later with “A Dark and Deadly Deception.” Barbara Neely died in March having left us with an award winning series of mystery novels featuring the shrewd housekeeper turned amateur detective Blanche White. The first book in the series is “Blanche on the Lam.”

Other Mysterious Things:

I will have to continue this list of authors at another time since there are so many award winning, exceptional authors that fit in this category. As a side note, I just want to recommend some amazing books on race and the police and also on defunding the police. In the near future, the police force may very well change dramatically and thus how authors write about them will also change in the mystery novels we love. It will be interesting to see what that looks like. I have hope that it will reflect a different attitude towards African Americans and the citizens police are supposed to protect and serve. The New York Times recently put together a great list which included: “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, “Locking Up Our Own” by James Forman Jr., “Biased” by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, “Ghettoside” by Jill Leovy, and “Rise of the Warrior Cop” by Radley Balko. Also see https://electricliterature.com/10-nonfiction-books-on-why-we-need-to-defund-the-police/ Some of the books they recommend include:

The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement by Matthew Horace and Ron Harris

Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman

When Police Kill by Franklin Zimring

Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment, ed. Angela Davis

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie 

What does it mean to be a bestselling author? It seems to depend. For the “New York Times” how books make it on their list is a trade secret. It seems reasonable to think that bookstores and publishers would keep records of book sales and be able to compile lists. But somehow when you try to find a definitive way that books are categorized as bestsellers it doesn’t seem to be that straight forward. Despite the mysterious nature of what a bestseller is we seem to know one when we see one. We also know that once an author has one bestseller, all the books that follow are written by a “bestselling” author and once you get that distinction no one can take it away. Let’s talk about the current bestselling authors with books coming out in February.

Reading right now:

Jonathan Kellerman’s “The Museum of Desire” is his 35^th book in the Psychologist Alex Delaware series. This is a terrific series that hasn’t lost its edge. In the current installment, Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis work to unravel the mystery behind an inexplicable massacre of four people killed in a stretch limo by a Bel Air mansion. The dead have no connection to each other, were killed in a variety of ways, and have been displayed bizarrely. Definitely a case for a Psychologist.

On hold right now:
James Patterson’s “Blindside” is the 12^th book in the Michael Bennett series written in conjunction with James O. Born. Detective Bennett agrees to help the mayor of New York find his missing 21-year-old daughter. Bennett finds ties to the Mayor’s daughter and a homicide in the Bronx that leads back to an hacking operation. The homicide is part of a killing spree with national security implications.

C. J. Box’s “Long Range” which is the 20^th book in his Joe Pickett series. Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett investigates an attempted murder of a local judge’s wife. To top it off there is a grizzly bear attack. Plus a threat to his best friend who is suspected of being the assassin.

J. D. Robb’s latest is “Golden in Death” the 50^th book in her In Death series. Homicide detective Eve Dallas finds herself investigating a murder where the motive is unclear and the weapon is terrifying. When an airborne toxin is released in a gift to Pediatrician Kent Abner, Dallas can find no possible suspects. After another person dies in the same way, she must look for connections that might lead to a killer.


I love Agent Pendergast. Such an unusual yet familiar investigator. “Crooked River” is the 19^th in this FBI agent series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child which now finds Pendergast trying to uncover the mystery of the severed feet found floating in the ocean. Not two feet mind you but many feet. This is bound to be great!

Other Mysterious Things:

Many bestselling mystery authors write series books, but not all. Sophie Hannah’s new book “Perfect Little Children” is a standalone novel. Mary Kubica’s latest “The Other Mrs.” is also a standalone. Lisa Jackson’s latest (“Last Girl Standing”) is not only a standalone, but she is writing it with Nancy Bush. Sarah Pinborough’s “Dead to Her” is a standalone. Lots of great mysteries to look forward to.