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Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
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Good news for writers and literature in California!
There’s a new organization forming to support the literary arts throughout the state of California. It’s called The Center for California Literature, and Christopher Soto is its Executive Director and Founder. Its advisory board includes Adriana Noemí Sánchez, the Latino Community Foundation Director of Community Organizing; William Johnson, the Director of PEN America Florida; award-winning author Roxane Gay; and others. We need all the possible protections for the arts right now, so this is wonderful to see.
And now for the mystery books to read this fall. First, I feel I must begin with a bit of a disclaimer. For some, I know I may come across as a little premature in talking about fall now, especially as it may still be a little toasty in some parts of North America, but the third week of August is when I usually start gearing up for a new season. The new season being, of course, essentially the best season for readers.
The new BIPOC mystery books below will take you through the south side of Chicago to postwar Tokyo, and include everyone from chefs as amateur sleuths to legendary detectives.
Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
On the south side of Chicago, Savvy Summers is running a soul food café when the 75-year-old neighborhood f-boi drops dead, and suddenly her bestselling sweet potato pie is at the center of a homicide investigation.
This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki
This YA graphic novel comes courtesy of an award-winning writer and illustrator. It uses comics, diary entries, and news articles to tell the story of what happened to Wilberton Academy’s resident It Girl, Elizabeth Woodward, when she’s found dead the morning after the school’s opening night of Romeo and Juliet. Her death is ruled a suicide, but transfer student Abby Kita knows better. She was the last to see Elizabeth alive, and she knows the girl had secrets. Question is, were they enough to get her killed?
Murder at the Black Cat Café by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Bryan Karetnyk
Though this is part of the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi stories,