VALENTINE'S DAY MYSTERIES

Although Valentine's Day is all about love, love and hate are often quite close...so this holiday is perfect for mystery crime fiction. Here's my updated Valentine's Day Crime Fiction list: Mysteries that take place on or around Valentine's Day. Be sure and check out my other blog, DyingforChocolate, for Valentine's Day Chocolate Reviews, Recipes, and Vintage Chocolate Ads.  And, I'll be posting my Sweetheart Sleuths mystery list tomorrow!

February 14, Valentine's Day, is also International Book Giving Day, so books are the perfect Valentine's Day gift. Bundle some of the following Valentine's Day Mysteries with a box of chocolate truffles, tie it all up in a red ribbon, and you're good to go!

As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Valentine's Day Mysteries

As Gouda as Dead by Avery Aames
Regulated for Murder by Suzanne Adair
Murder in the Paperback Parlor by Ellery Adams  

Love Lies Bleeding by Susan Wittig Albert
Death by Baguette by Jennifer S. Alderson
Valentine's Day is Murder by Carolyn Arnold
In Cold Chamomile by Joy Avon
Not My Valentine by Tony Bassett

Death of a Valentine by M. C. Beaton
Donut Hearts Homicide by Jessica Beck

Hot Chocolate and Homicide by Cindy Bell
Marked Down for Murder by Josie Belle
Valentines and Murder; Killer Valentine Cookies; Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning
A Manhattan Murder Mystery by Susan Bernhardt
The Broken Hearts Club by Ethan Black
Murder Borrowed, Murder Blue by Stephanie Blackmoore
A Witchy Valentine by Danica Britton

What Happened to Romance? by Franky A. Brown
Hearts & Hostages by Katherine H. Brown (novella)
Claws and Effect by Rita Mae Brown

Butter Off Dead by Leslie Budewitz
A Valentine for the Silencer by Cora Buhlert
Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron

How To Murder The Man Of Your Dreams by Dorothy Cannell
The Chocolate Cupid Killings by JoAnna Carl
The Mortsafe by Lillian Stewart Carl

This Old Homicide by Kate Carlisle
The Valentine's Day Ball by Susan Carroll
Sucker Punch by Sammi Carter
Cat Got Your Secrets by Julie Chase

Secret Valentine by Cherry Christensen
Lethal Treasure by Jane Cleland
A Holiday Sampler by Christine E. Collier
Red Roses for a Dead Trucker by Anna Ashwood Collins
A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette

St Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree
A Catered Valentine's Day by Isis Crawford
Murder on Valentine's Day by P. Creeden
Cupid's Curse; The Saint Valentine's Day Murders; Shamrock Shenanigans; The Valentine Mystery by Kathi Daley
Hard Feelings by Barbara D’Amato

A Valentine Wish by Sylviai Damsell
Lucy and the Valentine Verdict by Rae Davies
Love on the Rocks by Debbie De Louise

A Valentine Murder by Steve Demaree
Love With The Proper Killer by Rose Deshaw
My Lady Valentine by Lindsay Downs
The Saint Valentine's Day Murders by Ruth Dudley Edwards
Operation: Romance by Jessica L. Elliot

Valentine's Day by Liz Dodwell

The Stolen Valentine by K.J. Emrick
Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich
My Funny Valentine by Caroline Fardig (novella)
Corridor Man: Valentine by Mark Faricy

A Valentine's Day Miracle by Tammy Falkner
Happy Valentine’s Day: My Funny Valentine by Michelle Fitzpatrick
The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming
Addressed to Kill by Jean Flowers (Camille Minichino)
Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke
A Flair for Truffles by Deborah Garner

The Heartless Valentine by Kacey Gene
A Fatal Slip by Melissa Glazer
Valentine by Celina Grace

St. Valentine's Night by Andrew M. Greeley
Caveman's Valentine by George Dawes Green
A Valentine for One by Patrice Greenwood
My Bloody Valentine by Alastair Gunn
Bleeding Hearts by Jane Haddam
Sweetheart in High Heels by Gemma Halliday
The Valentine's Day Murder by Lee Harris
Deadly Valentine by Carolyn G. Hart
Deadly Valentine by Jenna Harte

Romantically Ever After by Liwen Y. Ho
Death of a Chocoholic by Lee Hollis
The Ghost of Valentine Past by Bobbie Holmes
Cupid's Revenge; The Sham by Melanie Jackson

Handmade Hearts by June McCrary Jacobs
Ghoul You Be My Valentine? by Olivia Jaymes

Valentine's Day Vandal by Annie Jones
Vistas, Vices, & Valentines by Tonya Kappas
Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz 

A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day by Jackie Lau
Killing Cupid by Laura Levine
Valentine's Victim by Harper Lin

Love from A to Z by Lia London
A Fatal Slip by Meg London 

February Fever by Jess Lourey
The Venom in the Valentine; Lady Rample and Cupid's Kiss by Shea MacLeod 

Moonshine Valentine by Tegan Maher 

Heart Attack by Terri Main

The Scent of Murder by Jeffrey Marks
Valentine's Cupcake & Murder by Ann S. Marie
A Valentine's Kill by Mona Marple
The Winter Mystery by Faith Martin
Sugar and Spite by G.A. McKevett
Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay
The Valentine Victim by Dougal McLeish

Scot on the Rocks by Catriona McPherson
Valentine Murder; Chocolate Covered Murder: Valentine Candy Murder by Leslie Meier

Love You to Death by Grant Michaels
Murder Bites by Addison Moore & Bellamy Bloom
Cat Playing Cupid by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Valentines & Victims Donna Muse
The Body in the Attic, The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page

A Blossom of Murder by Summer Prescott

Be My Valencrime by Amy M. Reade
A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell

My Deadly Valentine by David W. Robinson
Valentined by Patricia Rockwell
The Valentine's Day Clue by Rupali Rajopadhye Rotti

Chocolate Covered Murder by Necole Ryse
Valentine by Tom Savage
The Treble Wore Trouble by Mark Schweizer
Sweet Hearts by Connie Shelton
Gilt by Association by Karen Rose Smith
My Wicked Valentine by Lotta Smith 
Mystery on Valentine's Day by Lee Strauss

Deadly Valentine by Kathleen Suzette

Murder of a Pink Elephant by Denise Swanson
One Rough Man by Brad Taylor

My Nerdy Valentine by Vicki Lewis Thompson

The Coniston Case by Rebecca Tope
Pineapple Valentine Mystery by Amy Vansant
Thou Art with Me by Debbie Viguie 

Outside Valentine by Liza Ward
The Lucy Valentine mystery series by Heather Webber
Valentine's Blizzard Murder by Linnea West

The Haunted Valentine by J.A. Whiting
Red Roses by J.A. Whiting and Nell McCarthy  
Daughter Of The Stars by Phyllis A. Whitney
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff 

Short Stories

Crimes of Passion with stories by Nancy Means, B.J. Daniels, Jonathan Harrington and Maggie Right Price
Cupid Shot Me, a collection of  Valentine's Day LGBTQ+ mystery stories, edited by Frank W. Butterfield

Valentine's Madness: a 1920s Historical Mystery Anthology, edited by Beth Byers
"My Heart Cries Out for You" by Bill Crider
Valentine's Day Is Killing Me edited by Leslie Esdaile, Mary Janice Davidson, Susanna Carr
"Sweetheart in High Heels" by Gemma Halliday
Crimes of the Heart edited by Carolyn G. Hart
Love and Death, edited by Carolyn G. Hart
Valentine’s Day: Women Against Men-Stories of Revenge edited by Alice Thomas
Homicidal Holidays: Fourteen Tales of Murder and Merriment, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman & Marcia Talley

Children's Literature

Valentine's Day Disaster by Geronimo Stilton
Scooby-Doo! A Very Scary Valentine's Day

As always, let me know if I've missed any titles!

CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES //CHINESE NEW YEAR CRIME FICTION

恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! This is the Year of the Dragon.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, I've updated my list of mysteries that take place during Lunar New Year Celebrations. As always, I welcome any additions. I'd like to include any other Asian New Year Crime Fiction, so please send author/titles.

CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES

The Corpses Hanging Over Paris by Cathy Ace

The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers
Between a Wok and a Hard Place by Leslie Budewitz

Year of the Dog by Henry Chang 
Peking Duck and Cover by Vivien Chien

Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley 
Serpent's Doom by Connie di Marco

Neon Dragon by John Dobbyn
Dim Sum Dead by Jerrilyn Farmer 
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara

Chop Suey by Ty Hutchison 
The Skull Cage Key by Michael Marriott
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

Breezy Friends and Bodies: A Raina Sun Mystery by Anne R. Tan
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulik (7th Century China) "New Year's Eve in Lan-Fang"

 Children and Young Adult:

The Nancy Drew Notebooks: The Chinese New Year Mystery by Carolyn Keene
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy  

Short stories:

 "The Lady Fish Mystery" by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, EQMM, September/October 1996.
"Murder Keeps No Calendar" by Cathy Ace.
 

SUPER BOWL MYSTERIES AND OTHER FOOTBALL CRIME FICTION

 

I'm stoked, of course, because my home team will be playing! Go, Niners!!!

There's lots of real crime surrounding the Super Bowl: drugs, money, gambling, egos, and so much more. All fodder for the crime writer. So in 'honor' of Sunday's Super Bowl Game, I've updated my short lists of Super Bowl and other Football Mysteries. This is in no way a definitive list -- just some football crime fiction for you to enjoy in case you're not watching the Super Bowl! As always, I welcome additions!

If you're interested in other Sports Mysteries and essays on Football Mysteries, Mystery Readers Journal has had several Sports Mysteries issues. The last Sports Mysteries Issue of MRJ was Volume 25:4 (Winter 2009-2010). Available in Hardcopy and .pdf download

Super Bowl Mysteries

The Hidden Key by George Harmon Coxe
Super-Dude by John Craig
Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein (YA)
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris
Paydirt by Paul Levine
The Last Super Bowl by Robin Moore & David Harper
4th and Fixed by Reggie Rivers
Murder at the Super Bowl by Fran Tarkenton and Herb Resnicow
Life's Work by Jonathan Valin
Killerbowl by Gary K. Wolf

Movie:  
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
 
Other Football Mysteries (not including British Football, of which there are many titles)

The Professor by Robert Bailey
Memory Man by David Baldacci

Rough and Tumble by Mark Bavaro
Pass Judgment by Jerry Brewer
Sweeper by Steve Bruce 
Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben
Coliseum by Barney Cohen
Et Tu Brady by Joseph Collum

Football is Murder by Kathy Cranston
All Saints Day: A New Orleans Football Mystery by Sean Patrick Doles
Under the Stadium Lights by Hunter Mills Gallo

Day of the Ram by William Campbell Gault
Murder at Cleaver Stadium by Douglas Lee Gibboney
Quarterback Trap by Dallas Gorham
Double Reverse; Ruffians by Tim Green
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Bleeding Maize and Blue by Susan Holtzer
Crown of All Virtues by Reece Kepler
The Prophet by Michael Koryta
Two-Minute Warning by George LaFountaine
Bump and Run by Mike Lupica
The Draft by Wil Mara
Dead Ball Foul by Kayla McGrady
A Cardinal Offense by Ralph McInerny
Parker's Blood by William Miller
Foul Play; Dead Ball; Off Side; Killer Pass; Foul Play: Own Goal by Tom Palmer
The Jook by Gary Phillips

Foul by Will J. Robson
Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt
Marked Man; Red Card by Mel Stein

The Footballer by Ben Stevens
The Football Manager Murders by Chris Tookey
A Touch of Death by Charles Williams

Short Stories:  

The Mighty Johns, edited by Otto Penzler

Nonfiction: 
Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry (winner of the 2011 Edgar for Best Fact Crime)
All-American Murder by James Patterson & Alex Abramovich

Children's:

Bones and the Football Mystery by David A. Adler, Barbara Johansen Newman (Illustrator)
The Mystery of the Stolen Football by T. J. Edwards, Charles Tang (Illustrator)
The Football Fiasco by Mike Lupica
Courtney Case and the Missing Football by Jeannie Meekins

Agatha Award Nominees 2024: Malice Domestic

 Malice Domestic 36 announced the nominees for the Agatha Awards. Congratulations, All! 

Please Ban My Book: Guest Post by Jahmal Mayfield

When I sat down to begin working on my debut crime novel, Smoke Kings, I did so with great purpose and intention. I knew that if it was ever published that it would establish my brand. A brand of fiction that is "gritty, crime-centric, written with a Black gaze, and peppered with social commentary." I also wanted the language of the book to sing, like some of my favorite crime novelists. James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow, and Walter Mosley come to mind. I wanted it to be a propulsive read that compelled readers to flip pages as if they were searching for the winning Powerball numbers hidden in the text. I wanted it to be a novel with something to say. A novel with heart.

Oh, and, uh, my final wish was for it to end up on a banned book list someday.

Wait. What?

By this point, you're wondering if I have a fever. If the accompanying delirium has left me in an altered state of consciousness. Confused and suffering some sort of cognitive impairment. Why would any author write a book they hoped would be banned?

Wouldn't that, like, defeat the purpose?

After all, it's quite challenging to sell books and establish a writing career if readers can't read said book.

You make a good point.

So let me backtrack a moment.

First off, a little bit of context would be helpful. One of my all-time favorite books is To Kill a Mockingbird. As you probably know, it’s a gorgeous melding of a legal drama and a coming-of-age tale with a healthy sprinkling of social commentary.

Right up my alley.

The precocious Scout is one of the most indelible narrators in all literature. It isn't a perfect novel--not that such a beast exists--but it's as readable as any book ever written, in my humble opinion (and I'm not alone).

It's also one of the Top 10 most challenged and/or banned books in the United States.

Book banning is an ugly form of censorship that dates to the 17th Century. According to the website everythinglibrary.org, the first book banned in the US was the three-volume New English Canaan, a work that criticized Puritan customs.

Books are usually challenged or banned outright purportedly to protect readers from difficult ideas and information. Well, as you might imagine, I'm against the practice. But as I started writing the first longhand pages that would become Smoke Kings, I knew that the premise alone would prove unsettling to some readers. Three Black activists and an ally hatch a plan to kidnap the descendants of hate crime perpetrators and force them to pay reparations.

Whew!

Talk about your "difficult ideas and information."

It's a balanced and fair book, though, and I'm proud that in Kirkus' Starred review they note the complex issue of race "has rarely been captured as powerfully or affectingly as it is here."

So, okay, I may not actually want to see the book banned.

How about I hope it lends itself to some robust book club and water cooler discussions?

***

Jahmal Mayfield writes gritty crime novels that touch on large social issues. He was born in Virginia but currently resides in New Jersey. In addition to writing, Jahmal serves as the director of a nonprofit program that provides employment support to people with disabilities. Mayfield is a husband and father of two young adults who are both embarrassed by his frequent forays down the rabbit holes of YouTube to view old 90s hip hop videos. SMOKE KINGS was inspired by Kimberly Jones’ passionate viral video, “How can we win?”

How AI inspired my new Andreas Kaldis novel, At Any Cost: Guest Post by Jeffrey Siger

Attention fellow Luddite mystery authors, I’ve come to realize there is no need to fear the Metaverse or what it portends. We just need learn to write around it…not employ it. As one who bases his stories in the present rather than the past, it will be hard for me to ignore the implications of AI any more than I can ignore the existence of cellphones, computers, and DNA testing capabilities. But whether AI will be front and center to a plotline or just tangential, depends on what sort of story I intend to tell. 
 
To state the obvious, storytelling is about the story, not ancillary matters that detract from its telling. If AI doesn’t further the plot or interferes with my fast-paced style, it’s out.  I’ve come to accept that what my future plotlines might be shall continue to depend upon what the mystery writing gods have in store for me, not AI.
 
As you may know, I write the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series of Greece-based mystery thrillers that play out against serious societal issues confronting far more than just Greece. That niche has me continually on the lookout for what’s percolating on the edge of societal change.  A little over two years ago, as I was tinkering with using the history and intrigues surrounding Greece’s horrid wildfires for the backdrop to what is now my just released 13^th novel in the series (At Any Cost), I noticed a surge in internet and corporate interest over what some labelled the “metaverse.”
 
With my interest now piqued, and no clear explanation offered for what constituted this metaverse, I delved into it.  In what I can only describe as an epiphany, the very real threats posed by the bright and shiny lure of this digital metaverse jumped out at me as a solid foundation for the story I wanted to tell.  But for those threats to come to pass, one needed (a) extraordinary electrical power, (b) virtually unlimited financial capabilities, (c) world-class digital savvy, and (d) a ruthless unchecked autocratic nature. 
 
Lo and behold, my research revealed that all four elements already existed in abundance in Greece.  Greek forests destroyed by wildfires had been approved by the government for hosting wind and solar power generating facilities, and a trio of autocratic world powers possessing vast financial resources, top notch technical skills, and ruthless histories were and continued to be deeply involved in Greece. 
 
I sensed that once the trio’s goal of becoming masters of the metaverse attracted media attention, public panic and a new form of “arms race” would undoubtedly ensue.
 
I finished that book over a year and a half ago, well before wide-spread concern broke out over Artificial Intelligence/ChatGPT, more horrific wildfires, and the visible banding together in common cause of a trio of the world’s most autocratic powers.
 
As for why I had that epiphany, I wish I had an answer. I just seemed to end up there.  Writing by the seat of one’s pants can be like that. In the past, I’ve been called a “prognosticator,” a writer whose “finger is always on the pulse of modern-day upheavals,” and even “Cassandra” by some.  That’s all flattering to hear, though I never forget that things did not end well for Cassandra.
 
Hmm, perhaps ChatGPT can rework Cassandra from an inevitable axe murder victim, into more of a thoughtful Spock-type character rummaging around the Starship Enterprise predicting things. Just a thought.
 
And for the record, AI played absolutely no part in the writing of AT ANY COST … or Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. 

***

 
A former Wall Street lawyer, Jeff Siger fled his career as a name partner in his own NYC law firm to live on the Greek island of Mykonos, free dive for fish, and write mystery thrillers—13 published as of February 6, 2024. It was the best decision he ever made…other than proposing to his wife, Barbara.