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Open Books Challenge 2025: BIPOC Mystery Author
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Updated December 26, 2024
RPL Staff
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Dead dead girls
Afia, Nekesa
Paper Book
Louise spends her days working at Maggie's Cafe and her nights at the Zodiac, Manhattan's hottest speakeasy. When a girl turns up dead in front of the cafe, Louise is forced to confront something she's been trying to ignore - several local black girls have been murdered over the past few weeks....
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The blue bar
Biswas, Damyanti
Paper Book
On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession. After years of dancing in Mumbai's bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when...
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Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
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The family Chao : a novel
Chang, Lan Samantha
Paper Book
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant's delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, content to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. Whether or not Big Leo Chao is honest, or his wife, Winnie, is happy, their food tastes good and...
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Runner
Clark, Tracy
Paper Book
"Lapel-grabbing and provocative...Clark writes with purpose, her sense of social justice never venturing into dogma but remaining fully rooted in Raines's actions and personality." - The New York Times Book Review "Clark has a unique voice in the P.I. genre, one that us...
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Looking for smoke
Cobell, K. A.
Paper Book
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K. A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a thriller that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word. A must-pick for readers who enjoy books by...
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Behind her lives
Cole, Briana
Paper Book
'That's not my sister.' Overwhelmed by shock and relief, those are the only words Deven can muster when she is called to identify the body of a suicide victim. A body she was informed was her sister, Kennedy. But as she stares at the lifeless stranger, she's filled with questions: Who is this woman?...
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Razorblade tears
Cosby, S. A.
Paper Book
*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* One of Barack Obama's Recommended Reads for Summer * New York Times Notable Book * NPR's Best Books of 2021 * Washington Post's Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year * TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books...
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Missing white woman
Garrett, Kellye
Paper Book
A "propulsive page-turner" (Alyssa Cole) and "thriller not to be missed" (Michael Connelly) from the award-winning author of Like a Sister, in which a woman thinks she's waking up to a romantic vacation--only to find a body in her rental home and her boyfriend gone. ...
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Queen of the tiles
Hanna Alkaf
Paper Book
They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen's Gambit in this "stunning...unforgettable" (Publishers Weekly) thriller set in the world of competitive Scrabble, where a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend when her Instagram comes back to life...
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Clark and Division
Hirahara, Naomi
Paper Book
Inspired by historical events, Clark and Division infuses an atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime fiction plot with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories Naomi Hirahara has gleaned from thirty years of research and archival work in Japanese American history.
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The case of Windy Lake
Hutchinson, Michael
Paper Book
Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee are four inseparable cousins growing up on the Windy Lake First Nation. Nicknamed the Mighty Muskrats for their habit of laughing, fighting, and exploring together, the cousins find that each new adventure adds to their reputation. When a visiting archeologist goes...
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Blackwater Falls
Khan, Ausma Zehanat
Paper Book
From critically acclaimed author Ausma Zehanat Khan, Blackwater Falls is the first in a timely and powerful crime series, introducing Detective Inaya Rahman. "A gripping and compulsive mystery, but much more than that: an exploration of faith, prejudice and fear of...
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Sheine Lende : a prequel to Elatsoe
Little Badger, Darcie
Paper Book
BOOKPAGE MOST ANTICIPATED YA OF 2024 Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood -...
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Guide me home
Locke, Attica
Paper Book
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Amazon Books, Kirkus Reviews, The Guardian, and Crime Reads In this stunning culmination of the award-winning Highway 59 trilogy, Detective Darren Mathews is pulled out of an early...
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Arsenic and adobo
Manansala, Mia P.
Paper Book
In the small town of Shady Palms, Illinois, Lila Macapagal and her relatives run Tita Rosie's Kitchen, serve delicious Flipino dishes, and solve crimes on the side.
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The widows of Malabar Hill
Massey, Sujata
Paper Book
Bombay, 1921: Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and...
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Tristan Strong keeps punching
Mbalia, Kwame
Paper Book
After reuniting with Ayanna, who is now in his world, Tristan travels up the Mississippi in pursuit of his archenemy, King Cotton. Along the way they encounter new haints who are dead set on preventing their progress north to Tristan's hometown of Chicago. It's going to take many Alkean friends,...
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Fearless Jones : a novel
Mosley, Walter.
Paper Book
In this thrilling 1950s noir, when a beautiful woman comes into Paris Minton's life, everything starts falling apart--leaving him no choice but to ask Fearless Jones for help. Mosley returns to mysteries at last with his most engaging hero since Easy Rawlins....
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The Bangalore Detectives Club
Nagendra, Harini
Paper Book
A "">New York Times Notable Book of the Year The first in a charming, joyful crime series set in 1920s Bangalore, featuring sari-wearing detective Kaveri and her husband Ramu. Perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies...
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A quiet teacher
Oyebanji, Adam
Paper Book
A teacher trying to hide in the shadows finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation in this compelling and fresh read from a new unique, contemporary voice. "Imagine John le Carré attempting an Agatha Christie mystery. Or the other way around. In any...
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Under lock & skeleton key
Pandian, Gigi
Paper Book
"Wildly entertaining." --The New York Times Book Review A Lefty Nominee for Best Mystery Novel Known for her wonderfully addictive characters, multiple award-winning author Gigi Pandian introduces her newest heroine in this heartfelt series debut. Under Lock...
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The verifiers
Pek, Jane
Paper Book
ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S BEST MYSTERY BOOKS OF THE YEAR * Introducing Claudia Lin: a sharp-witted amateur sleuth for the 21st century. This debut novel follows Claudia as she verifies people's online lives, and lies, for a dating detective agency in New York City. Until...
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Mango, mambo, and murder
Reyes, Raquel V.
Paper Book
When food anthropologist Miriam Quinones-Smith's move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women's Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls...
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Harvest house
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
NSK Neustadt Laureate and New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith delivers a thrilling cross-genre follow-up to the acclaimed Hearts Unbroken. Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia...
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Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers
Sutanto, Jesse Q.
Paper Book
A USA Today bestseller Edgar Award Winner for Best Original Paperback Audie Award Winner for Mystery Libby Award Winner for Best Mystery A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by...
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