Book picks similar to
The Lion's Circle by Amelia Ellis
mystery
lesbian-mystery
keep-checking
lesbian
Affinity
Sarah Waters - 1999
Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by an apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.
Steele Intent
Kimberly Amato - 2015
THIS IS A NEW EDITION."Don't think you're untouchable…you or your son." Then a dial tone..Shrewd, hardened New York homicide detective Jasmine (“Jazz") Steele’s just come back from a grisly crime scene involving the body of a brutally-beaten young girl, the second she's investigated this week. That was horrendous, but with these eight words, ending ominously in “your son,” Jazz’s immediate fear is for her vulnerable nephew, Chase, who’s already been through hell in his seven short years. In Kimberly Amato’s hard-boiled yet deeply emotional police procedural, no one is spared tough breaks and turbulent anguish. A lesser cop than Jazz would barely be able to cope.A year ago, a gruesome car accident claimed the lives of her only brother and his wife, making her the de facto mother of 7-year-old Chase. The sudden household change ended in the loss of her life partner and still best friend, chic police psychologist Frankie, not to mention the dashing of Jazz's lifelong dreams of becoming a successful mystery novelist. Now every day is a battle against Chase’s demons—and her own.Quick reconnaissance reveals the call wasn't a clever joke courtesy of Hadley, Frankie's droll actress roommate, nor was it Victor, the wry police department coroner who happens to be Jazz's confidante. Further detective work shows the caller wanted Jazz to find him—along with the fresh dead body he left for her in a Harlem warehouse.With a shadow on Chase and the aid of Frankie's grace-under-fire, not to mention Victor's brandy-fueled heart-to-hearts, Jazz--who has more 'tude than even the toughest investigator, male or female--navigates the cruel streets of New York City while struggling to keep custody of the only family she has left, doggedly in search of the elusive, psychopathic murderer who seems to be summarily killing off women who look suspiciously like someone close to Jazz... and she's not willing to lose yet another person she loves. Fans of the exciting new wave of hard-boiled women sleuths created by writers like Megan Abbott, Laura Lippmann, Lisa Lutz, and Vicki Hendricks will be attracted to the author’s take-no-prisoners style, and her unflinching attention to harrowing detail.Yet lovers of traditional mysteries will appreciate the web of fierce loyalty tempered with fearful caution that links Jazz’s tiny but hardy support system—Victor, Frankie, and Hadley, not to mention Chase himself. Somehow or other, Amato manages to mix all the excitement of an action thriller with the swirling emotions of a mainstream psychological novel.Those with a weakness for badass female cops like Mary Shannon of In Plain Sight and Olivia Benson of Law & Order SVU will revel in Jasmine Steele's gritty determination laced with compassion. Readers of lesbian mysteries will be reminded of Sandra Scoppettone’s Lauren Laurano and Laurie R. King’s Kate Martinelli.And it's also a great read for fans of resilient heroines of psychological thrillers like Liz Keen of The Blacklist and Carrie Mathison of Homeland, who will love Jasmine Steele's fearlessness, tinged with the very real emotional roller coaster of love turned to grief. "(Amato) makes Detective Steele a winning female character, and... introduces comic relief at just the right moments. This is very fine writing by a lady who knows the idiom!"-- Grady Harp, San Francisco Review of Books
Memory
Lucy Heart - 2019
Until Estella left. Piper and Estella met when they were kids. Estella was rich and spoiled, Piper was poor and curious, and—in each other—the two girls found an unexpected friendship. Year after year went by as they grew up together, growing closer and closer as time passed, until Piper realized that she loved Estella more than anything in the universe. The day Piper told Estella she loved her was the day Estella walked out the door, never to return again... Or so Piper thought. Years have passed, and they're both grown women living opposite lives on opposite sides of the country. All they have between them are the memories of a young love that was so beautiful and profound that it changed their lives forever... But a chance encounter pulls the two women together once more. Does true love exist? Or are some scars too deep to ever heal?
The One: A Short Story
K.C. Luck - 2018
Someone with the same habits, the same hobbies, the same interests. She wants The One. And she will do anything to find her. If you like a quick, little read with a touch of romance, a touch of spooky, then you will love KC Luck’s page-turning short story. Note: This is a short story and includes strong female characters in a lesbian relationship.
Fracture
K.L. Hughes - 2013
After having overcome a very emotionally trying childhood and young adulthood, Leigh finally managed to escape the harsh words of an emotionally abusive father, the estrangement of a family that refused to accept her lifestyle, and the horribly oppressive nature of the small, Midwest town she had always called home. Not to mention the memories of a brief, yet powerful love affair with a woman almost twice her age who not only became Leigh’s first and truest love, but who also became the source of her deepest heartbreak, and ultimately, changed her life. Twelve years after her tragic parting with Beth Layton, the older woman who had managed to steal Leigh’s heart as a teen, Leigh is living the high life over a thousand miles from her hometown in one of the largest cities in the U.S. Making a six-figure salary working for a publishing company, having just received a major publishing contract for her manuscript Fracture, having earned a reputation as one of the hottest lesbian commodities in the city, and with the love and respect of Jared Patel, the most incredible friend she could have ever hoped for, Leigh couldn’t ask for a happier, healthier, more successful life.That is, until the mass publication of and media attention surrounding her semi-autobiographical novel, Fracture, swiftly forces open the dusty doors to her complex past, and her long lost, but far from forgotten love, Beth, shows up in the city that Leigh now calls home, looking to rekindle a twelve-year-old flame. Will Leigh be consumed by the desires of her heart or by the fear of the heartbreak that dances in her memories?
In Pursuit of Joi
Olivia Renee Wallace - 2013
She is the mother of the perfect daughter. She has her own thriving business and seems to be living the perfect life. But she has secrets... Secrets that haunt her dreams.Along comes Latoya Bradshaw. She's beautiful, successful, and edgy.She awakens feelings in Joi that have lain dormant for years. She reminds Joi of her past.Joi must decide on whether she wants to continue living the life of the woman that she has become or risk it all to become the woman that she once thought that she was meant to be.
Little Lies
Lila Bruce - 2016
With Horton hiding from both the mob and the FBI, Dylan and her team are assigned the task of keeping tabs on Horton’s ex-wife after mounting evidence leads them to believe he will run to her. Keeping Lia Broderick under surveillance should have been just another day on the job for Dylan. But, when Lia becomes the victim in a bank robbery gone terribly wrong, Dylan has no choice but to break cover in order to step in and save her. Despite her best efforts to maintain a professional distance from the attractive accountant, Dylan finds herself being reeled deeper and deeper into Lia’s life. As the investigation heats up—both under the covers and out—it becomes clear that Lia is the key to finding the evidence that the mob is willing to kill to get their hands on. When Dylan is betrayed by a rogue agent, she suddenly finds herself on the run with Lia, uncertain who she can trust. And as the mob closes in, Dylan realizes that the greatest risk is the one she’s taking with her heart.
This is Devin Jones
Kristen Conrad - 2016
Suddenly Hollywood’s biggest night becomes Hollywood’s biggest nightmare. Alone and unarmed, Devin Jones has to get them out. Or die trying.
The Blue Place
Nicola Griffith - 1998
Born in Norway into the failed marriage between a Scandinavian diplomat and an American businessman, she now makes Atlanta her home, luxuriating in the lush heat and brashness of the New South. She glides easily between the world of silken elegance and that of sleaze and sudden savagery, equally at home in both; functional, deadly, and temporarily quiescent, like a folded razor.On a humid April evening between storms, out walking just to stay sharp, she turns a corner and collides with a running woman, Catching the scent of clean, rain-soaked hair, Aud nods and silently tells the stranger Today, you are lucky, and moves on—when behind her house explodes, incinerating its sole occupant, a renowned art historian. When Aud turns back, the woman is gone.