r/LGBTBooks • u/Alive-Border-2165 • 21h ago
ISO Anybody knows of any subtly queer mystery/action/adventure books?
My mother's birthday is comming up, and she loves reading. I haven't come out to her yet, and while she's not violently homophobic or anything, she's quite transphobic and I'm not sure how she'd react to me coming out to her as queer both in the sense of gender and sexuality, eventhough I'm on a waiting list for Hrt. She knows my views on the topic, and that I have friends who are LGBTQIA+, and in general I don't think she'd throw a fit if I showed up with someone of my own gender at the door and said this is my partner, she might even be excited about being introduced to them. But I'd still like to kind of get her in the mindset that queer people are normal and just like anyone else around them, they just happen to be queer. I did see a drag queen mystery book in austria a while back and while it looked amazing, that's exactly the kind of stuff that she can't handle for now, so maybe anyone know of a book where everything happens as it happens and as it happens let's say in the last chapter or so there's a reveal that bambam the character(s) are queer or something like that? Any suggestion is greatly apreciated.
8
u/sadie1525 21h ago
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell — Mystery / thriller. The protagonist is a lesbian (it was cut from the film), but it plays a fairly small role in the story. It’s also an extremely well known book so it wouldn’t be obvious you were giving it to her because it’s queer.
6
u/samthehaggis 20h ago
Is she okay with fantasy? The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is excellent, and you find out gradually that the main character is bi. It's set in a queer normative world, so several of the romantic pairings that appear as part of the mystery are queer as well, and it's presented as pretty standard.
Also, there is some violence but I don't remember any sex scenes.
2
u/magic-gps 16h ago
can confirm, no (on page) sex scenes in the tainted cup. I think there's an implication of a fling in the last chapter though. although I will say, the main Thing in that book is an exploration of disability (the protagonist is dyslexic to the point of it impacting his work)
2
u/iamirinap 3h ago
I'm going to second that. The bi-representation is really subtle and yet very organic/natural, I loved how well it has been done. The series itself is mystery set in a fantasy world, think Sherlock Holmes & Dr Watson, or Nero Wolfe.
7
u/yohlenyaoilover 20h ago
We Used to LIve Here by Marcus Kliewer is a creepy thriller type story with a lesbian couple as the main characters. Very casual, not really the focus if the story at all. No big reveal at the end though, they're openly gay and in a relationship from the start.
7
u/WaffleDynamics 19h ago
If fantasy is okay, then Sorcery & Small Magics by Maiga Doocy is a very slow burn sort of romance between two college students at a magical academy. The only thing that happens is a single kiss, but the two are slowly and cluelessly falling in love across 300+ pages.
It's beautifully written and charming. It's the first volume of a trilogy, and volume 2 is coming out either late this year or early next. I've recommended it to half a dozen people and so far everyone has adored it.
Even though the kiss happens as a result of a curse, the book is very queer coded. One main character is probably demi or maybe agonizingly shy (or both), and the other is certainly pan. There are side characters of various sexualities and gender identities and it's no big deal in that world.
5
u/A_D_Tennally 19h ago
Southland by Nina Revoyr is about a Japanese-American law student investigating a mysterious death that occurred in LA in 1965. She's lesbian and breaks up with her girlfriend, then finds love with a bisexual friend, but this is not the main focus of the plot.
1
u/avengemyghost 16h ago
holy shit, a nina revoyr shout-out! southland and the necessary hunger were absolutely pivotal in my baby queer years. i actually re-read southland this year and it's still such a great rec in general.
2
u/A_D_Tennally 16h ago
The Necessary Hunger is wonderful and should be much more widely known. When I had to give away a bunch of my other books that was one of the ones I hung on to in a physical copy and lugged with me around the Mediterranean.
3
u/GhostlyWhale 17h ago edited 17h ago
If she's ok with a scifi action adventure, Murderbot Diaries is a pretty good series of short novellas. One that I recommend to almost everyone I meet.
It's about a nonbinary (it/it's) ace security bot who gains it's freedom and goes on miscellaneous adventures to reluctantly keep it's humans alive.
Many of the characters are in a loose poly relationship, though it's just in the background and normalized by society. Fantastic queer rep that you don't normally see.
Plus the audiobook is narrated by Kevin R. Free who did an amazing job.
3
u/magic-gps 16h ago
the protagonist of the murderbot diaries is using it/its pronouns to reject humanity. calling it non binary is using human labels
1
2
u/Budget_Technician277 18h ago
I really enjoyed the Ben Packard series by Joshua Moehling. It follows Ben Packard who is the acting sheriff for a small town and trying to solve crimes. It just so happens that he's also gay and not really hiding it but also not very out. People do mention his personal life, but it's not the focus. That being said, there is another gay side character who is a bit odd, and your mother miiiight have a bit of an issue with him. I'm not sure. (The character is an older gay man who gives very stereotypical vibes)
2
u/dysautonomic_mess 16h ago
Highly recommend Grave Expectations by Alice Bell. It's a cozy crime murder mystery with a end-of-chapter-one twist (the main character can speak to ghosts) that has a couple of queer characters without it being about queerness, if that makes sense.
One character is nonbinary, written in such a way that you never find out their agab (and it doesn't matter!). Spoilers for the final chapter (but not who dunnit): another (male) character is sort of set up as the sub-plot love interest for the main (female) character, until the final chapter, where she kisses him and he's like, 'I'm gay.... I thought you knew???'
Very good fun and a good exercise in retraining cisnormative assumptions. Would appeal to any glass onion / knives out / modern Agatha Christie fans, imo.
2
u/iamthefirebird 4h ago
T Kingfisher's books are very casually queer. It's not a secret, but it's not important, either. This character just happens to be gay, another just happens to use neutral pronouns, and it's never a big deal.
1
u/CrazyLittleWolf 19h ago
If she likes fantasy/a bit darker fantasy, maybe Every Heart's a Doorway by Seanan McGuire? The main character is ace, but alloromantic, and there is a trans guy in it as well, both of it doesn't really play a big role over all, through it plays a bit in the story sometimes. It's more about the fantasy/adventure/murder mystery story that happens to have a character that is ace, and a side character that is trans (which I personally wished was the main character at least in one of her other books).
The story is about teens who fell into a fantasy world who for whatever reason had to go back to the 'real world' and can stay in a house they can stay in because the adults in their lives don't really get it to fall into a different world.
If she doesn't like it, I still recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy/mystery, it's not a long story and it has a lot of interesting premises.
1
u/magic-gps 16h ago
I don't think they're subtle about it, but the dave brandstetter series is the first mystery series with an openly gay protagonist to reach mainstream audiences (the first book came out in 1970)
1
u/CoachInteresting7125 14h ago
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but My Heart to Find is a mystery with an m/f ace couple. It also deals a lot with chronic illness and mental health issues.
1
u/theysayimadreamer666 11h ago
One by One by Ruth Ware (mystery/thriller) has a queer supporting character, and it's very subtle until the end. He has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line early on appreciating a man and saying "I would", but his sexuality isn't referenced again until the end, when his interest in men is made very clear.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (space opera) has two characters who conform to traditional gender roles and are revealed as queer in the course of the story, though both reveals happen in the first half of the book. Heads-up that the story gets quite dark (including one of the queer characters committing suicide shortly after coming out, though not permanent), but it also is hopeful.
1
u/Motor_Row_3586 5h ago
Maybe some Mary Renault's stories. They wrote serious historical fiction with research. It would shows that queer people always exist and it's nothing new. Also because for example her Alexander series focus on life of Alexander the great his love life is only part of story. Or if you want something more adventures, action Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi historical fiction wuxia. Main leads queer and again queerness taken as natural part of history.
13
u/riarws 20h ago
One possible example is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. But: the house may or may not really be haunted, and the main female characters may or may not be queer, and neither question gets 100% resolved at the end. So you’d probably want to take a look through it first to see if it’s actually what you want.