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These days, I’ve found myself really enjoying listening to mysteries and thrillers on audiobook. In addition to being a favorite book genre of mine, I also love a good mystery/thriller show. Listening to audiobooks sometimes feels akin to watching a show, especially when the narrator is good. This is why I always keep a mystery or thriller in the holster, ready to be listened to in between the other books I’m reading.
Feel free to holster the BIPOC mysteries and thrillers below, which are out at different times throughout the year. In them, S.A. Cosby brings the Southern noir, a matchmaker turns amateur sleuth, and the author of Bullet Train gives us a high-tech, Japan-set conspiracy thriller.
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
The king of Southern noir is back—this time with a book inspired by The Godfather. Roman Carruthers travels home after his father gets in a car accident, only to find things in shambles. His younger brother Dante owes dangerous men money, and his sister Neveah is barely holding the family business—a crematorium—together. Then he finds out that his dad’s accident wasn’t really accidental; it was a result of Dante’s foolishness. Real mobsters are out and about, and Roman has to use his talent for numbers to pull his family out of a hole. Meanwhile, his sister sets out to try to find out what happened to their mother, who disappeared many years ago.
The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed
I feel like I don’t see many romantic suspense novels coming out, so The Matchmaker seems especially juicy. It follows Nura Khan, a third-generation Atlanta-based matchmaker whose business is booming…literally. While many of her clients are pleased with her service, she eventually realizes that someone is feeling a type of way once a chain of terrible events unfolds. To save herself and her business, she enters into a dangerous cat-and-mouse situation with the perp. Good thing she has Azar—her pretend fiancé who she has not-so-pretend feelings for—by her side. Hopefully it’s enough.
Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours (Feb. 4)
You can actually get this debut speculative YA novel this week. In it, Sariyah Lee Bryant has a special ability. She can anticipate the tangible things people need—like pencils or phone chargers. But when gives her friend Deja something she needs, she vanishes. What’s more, this isn’t even the first time one of Sariyah’s friends has gone missing. She’s not about to let another missing Black girl become forgotten, so she sets out to find out what happened to Deja. But then everything else falls apart—Sariyah’s mother loses her job, and her brother’s sickle cell disease flares up. Still, she’s determined to find Deja and takes up a little side hustle using her abilities. The thing is, that little side hustle might end up putting her in the same place Deja’s in.
Seesaw Monster by Kōtarō Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa
Isaka’s Bullet Train was adapted into a very fun and over-the-top movie with Bad Bunny, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Byran Tyree Henry. In Seesaw Monster, mythology, family drama, and advanced tech all combine to make an action-packed espionage thriller. So first off, we have Naoto, a pharmaceutical salesman working in ’80s Japan, whose mother and wife fight constantly. One day, a stranger shows up with a possible solution to his problems. Fast forward a few decades, and Mito lives in an AI-dominated Japan. He also meets a stranger—this time on a train—who draws him into a conspiracy. Turns out he has a double, and there’s a deadly game he must play.
Subscribers, continue on for BIPOC releases out this week
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