African American Crime Fiction

When Sheriff Mapes is summoned to a sugarcane plantation to find a dead Cajun farmer, he knows who committed the crime. Mapes finds himself powerless, however, when nearly 20 elderly black men confess to the murder. Can justice be served, or will the dead man's brutish father pass judgment his way?

On an icy day in February, African American grandmother Vera Moon arrives home to find her grown son Charlie brutally murdered. She vows to find the killer who has managed to elude the police. Not knowing where to begin, Vera is involved in a suspicious hit-and-run car accident, witnessed by a young Irish American woman, Dani, on the run from the train-wreck of her own life.

Easy Rawlins, LA's most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Christmas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows this could only mean the ex-Marine Black is probably dead or will be soon. Blonde Faith: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!

Teen pop star Brittany Crutcher is found dead in small-town Tennessee. For attorney Bocephus Haynes, it’s just another night in Pulaski. Bo swore off criminal work after his last case, but the beloved singer’s murder demands answers. The prime suspect is local high school football hero and the victim’s boyfriend, Odell Champagne. However, this fallen athlete is one of Bo’s son’s best friends. Bo knows this young man and does not believe him capable of the crime. When Odell is charged with murder, Bo reluctantly takes the case, sparking outrage throughout the town.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and Caesar King feels weighted to the ground. The Five Families are in complete disarray, and Caesar realizes too late that stepping down was the wrong thing to do. It’s up to him to make the puzzle whole again. But when another war comes to their doorsteps and a past mistake comes back for blood, death rips through the boroughs like a tornado. In the end, there might not be any pieces left to put back together.

A city full of lies, deceit, and cold-blooded murder, Detroit plays widow to drug cartel after drug cartel, and the Last Kings are the latest to take over the throne. It seems that nothing can crumble their empire, but when an unexpected series of events take place and blood is shed, everything spirals out of control. Can Sadie and Mocha survive the game as the head women in charge, or will disloyalty and treachery threaten to end them for good?

Stand Your Ground is the story of three women who find themselves thrown together because of the most horrible of situations. Janice Johnson suffers through every mother's nightmare when she finds out that her 16-year-old son, Marquis, was murdered in the parking lot of a convenience store. But she and her husband's horror becomes greater when they find out that the shooter has not been arrested. The Johnsons begin a quest to get justice for their son - though the Johnsons want to take different roads to justice.

Forced to flee Detroit, ruthless and rotten Kenya and her identical twin, London, have dodged the bullets of a vicious hired hitman and endured the pain of a brutal rape. Now, due to mistaken identity, the girls must deal with Storm's strange disappearance and his partner's heinous murder before it's too late and they're next. Once again the sisters' lives are turned upside down. This time, the consequences could land them both in jail - or dead and unclaimed in the county morgue.

After refusing to participate in a police department cover-up involving the death of a young black man, Chicago detective Ashe Cayne is pushed out of the force. But he won’t sit quietly on the sidelines: he’s compelled to fight for justice as a private investigator. When a young woman, Tinsley Gerrigan, goes missing, her wealthy parents from the North Shore hire Cayne to find her. As Cayne looks into her life and past, he uncovers secrets Tinsley’s been hiding from her family. Cayne fears he may never find Tinsley alive.

After a long Labor Day weekend, 73-year-old Eugene Washington is found dead in his Leimert Park home. At first blush, his death seems unremarkable- heat wave combined with food poisoning from a holiday barbecue. But something in the way Washington died doesn’t make sense. LAPD Homicide Detective Elouise "Lou" Norton is called to investigate the death and learns that the only family Washington had was the 6,000-member congregation of Blessed Mission Ministries, led by Bishop Solomon Tate. But something wicked is lurking among the congregants of this church.

Jakki and School Boy are more than first cousins; they’re best friends and partners in crime with a reputation for getting theirs by any means necessary. The pair are ultimately forced to defend not only their family name but their loyalty to each other. With both wanting to stand at the head of the table, Jakki and School Boy feud. Sani, a well-known female gambling house owner, is at the top of her game, but after she decides to inject phony currency into her business, all hell breaks loose.

For elite assassin Nena Knight, eliminating dangerous players on the world stage is part of the job. The Tribe, a powerful business syndicate in Africa, ensures that she has those opportunities. But for Nena, the Tribe is more than just her employer; it’s an organization that supports the African people—until it turns on itself.

When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules—a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the lone star state, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home.

Walter Mosley, "one of crime fiction's brightest stars" ( People), returns to mysteries at last! Fearless Jones is a dazzling new thriller, set in 1950s L.A. and featuring the most engaging hero since Easy Rawlins.

In the fifth Leonid McGill novel, Leonid finds himself in an unusual pickle of trying to balance his cases with his chaotic personal life. Leonid is approached by an unemployed office manager named Hiram Stent to track down the whereabouts of his cousin, Celia, who is about to inherit millions of dollars from her father's side of the family. Leonid declines the case, but after his office is broken into and Hiram is found dead, he gets reeled into the underbelly of Celia's wealthy old-money family.

A smash debut novel from rising star Yasmin Angoe, Her Name Is Knight features an elite assassin heroine on a mission to topple a human trafficking ring and avenge her family....

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson received the Coretta Scott King Award for her children’s book Almost to Freedom. Here she relays the extraordinary story of Bass Reeves, a lawman in the Old West who escaped slavery to become one of the most successful U.S. Marshals in history.

When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it's up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.

The Cartel runs Miami, and loyalty to their organization runs deep, but when someone breaks the rules, things may be beyond repair. A snitch in the crew has dismantled the notorious Cartel, and now disloyalty threatens to tear the family apart. Young Carter is in the fight for his life as he faces drug kingpin charges due to the treachery of his best friend, Ace. Kidnapping, murder, deception, and seduction fill this thrilling sequel. Will Zyir find out that Breeze is still alive? Will Mecca be exposed as his brother’s killer?

Though battle-wounded and scarred, Raphael has survived the criminal underworld in Benin with the help of the US government. Together with his wife, Essie, and their adoptive son, Kaion, they enjoy a seemingly picture-perfect life. Their harmony is shattered when CIA agent Rhys unexpectedly shows up at their doorstep. No aspect of life comes without a cost, and Raphael soon realizes that even his comfortable existence has a price.