Be Gay Do Crime – Queer Heists, Con Artists and Assassins
- Proud Geek
- May 2
- 7 min read
This week we're taking a look at queer books that focus on queer criminals. From gay victorian grave robbers to asexual assassins, queer con artists and criminal mob bosses, here are 12 LGBTQ+ books with a focus on being gay and doing crime.
Note: All of these books are explicit and tackle difficult themes - please check trigger warnings before reading these books.
Finn Longman
Dark YA Thriller
Queer Rep: Asexual Women
Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin’s attempt to live a normal life.
Trained and traumatised by a secret assassin programme for minors, Isabel Ryans wants nothing more than to be a normal civilian. After running away from home, she has a new name, a new life and a new friend, Emma, and for the first time in Isabel’s life, things are looking up.
But old habits die hard, and it’s not long until she blows her cover, drawing the attention of the guilds – the two rival organisations who control the city of Espera. An unaffiliated killer like Isabel is either a potential asset... or a threat to be eliminated.
Edited By Molly Llewellyn & Kristel Buckley
Short Stories/Anthology
Queer Rep: Queer Women, Trans Women, Queer Cast
In sixteen brilliant, wild-eyed stories, Be Gay, Do Crime delivers a celebration and reckoning of why queer people turn to crime - be it unintentionally, as a means of survival, as protest, as rescue, or to right injustices big and small.
A trans woman makes increasingly frequent hoax calls to a business where she's had a negative experience, watching the consequences with perverse joy. A group of aging queers turns to bank robbery to stop the sale of their bungalow complex to a development company. As the president prepares to give a speech, two women lurk among the journalists, ready to shoot him. And an aspiring author takes to stealing items from strangers’ homes in a kind of cosmic redistribution each time one of her relationships fail.
A. Rae Dunlap
Historical Thriller/Horror
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Historical fiction, true crime, and dark academia intertwine in this queer gothic thriller about 19th century gay grave robbers in 19th century Scotland.
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. Naïve but determined James Willoughby has abandoned his posh, sheltered life at Oxford to pursue a lifelong dream of studying surgery in Edinburgh. A shining beacon of medical discovery in the age of New Enlightenment, the city’s university offers everything James desires - except the chance to work on a human cadaver. For that, he needs to join one of the private schools in Surgeon’s Square, at a cost he cannot afford. In desperation, he strikes a deal with Aneurin “Nye” MacKinnon, a dashing young dissectionist with an artist’s eye for anatomy and a reckless passion for knowledge. Nye promises to help him gain the surgical experience he craves - but it doesn’t take long for James to realize he’s made a devil’s bargain... Nye is a body snatcher. And James has unwittingly become his accomplice.
Rebecca Fraimow
Sci-Fi Rom-Com
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Ruth Johnson and her sister Jules have been small-time hustlers on the interstellar cruise lines for years. But then Jules fell in love with one of their targets, Esteban Mendez-Yuki, sole heir to the family insurance fortune. Esteban seemed to love her too, until she told him who she really was, at which point he fled without a word.
Now Ruth is set on disguising herself as provincial debutante Evelyn Ojukwu and set for the swanky satellite New Monte, she’s going to make Esteban fall in love with her, then break his heart and take half his fortune. At least, that's the plan. But Ruth hadn't accounted for his younger sister, Sol, a brilliant mind in a dashing suit... and much harder to fool.
Sol is hot on Ruth's tail, and as the two women learn each other’s tricks, Ruth must decide between going after the money and going after her heart.
Tess Sharpe
YA Thriller
Queer Rep: Bisexual Women
Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.
For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:
#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.
#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:
#3: Right after they enter bank, two guys start robbing it.
The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage…
K. Ancrum
YA Crime Mystery/Romance
Queer Rep: Queer Men, Instersex
Icarus Gallagher is a thief. He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man - the wealthy Mr. Black - has been their target, revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people and feelings at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.
Until one night, he does. Not by Mr. Black, but by his mysterious son, Helios, now living under house arrest in the Black mansion. Instead of turning Icarus in, Helios bargains for something even more dangerous—a friendship that breaks every single one of Icarus’s rules.
As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the bars of the gilded cage that has trapped both of their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape.
Amanda Dewitt
YA Crime Fiction
Queer Rep: Asexual Cast
Some people join chess club, some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring in his private school’s basement. What else is the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul supposed to do?
Everything starts falling apart when Jack’s mom is arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime. His sister Beth thinks this is the Shannon family’s chance to finally go straight, but Jack knows that something’s not right. His mom was sold out by Peter Carlevaro: rival casino owner and jilted lover. Gross.
Jack hatches a plan to find out what Carlevaro’s holding over his mom’s head, but he can’t do it alone. He recruits his closest friends - the asexual support group he met through fandom forums. Now all he has to do is infiltrate a high-stakes gambling club and dodge dark family secrets, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right?
Eleanor Vendrell
Adult Rom-Com
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Phil, never Philippa, is getting to breaking point with her dad and their mounting debts from his gambling addiction. So when best friend and bad influence Chaz offers a solution to all of her worries, she knows she will do what it takes.
When that solution turns out to be a heist of a rare Orchid due to bloom for the first time in captivity, she obviously thinks he's joking. But Phil's mission is to infiltrate the renowned Felborough Botanic Gardens as a volunteer, befriend the employees for intel, and on the big day make it out with the Orchid.
But falling head over heels for Lily, the grumpy head gardener's assistant was not part of the plan, and as the heist approaches, Phil is faced with a steal the orchid and break Lily's heart or lose her house to her dad's gambling problem.
Chiyoko Origami
BL Manga
Queer Rep: Queer Men
A wholesome Boys Love rom-com between a handsome but oblivious mob boss and his young, simplehearted but moody second-in-command!
Akihiro Kashima is the right-hand man of the Sawatari mob, and he has a secret. He’s been hopelessly in love for years—with his boss! As a trusted subordinate, he’s subject to the head honcho’s unintended acts of seduction. But with Akihiro’s position in the group at stake, he couldn’t possibly reveal the infatuation that plagues him. Stuck between duty and his feelings, something’s gotta give!
Makana Yamamoto
Sci-Fi Fantasy
Queer Rep: Agender Lesbian, Queer Women
Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person - costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most.
And it's all Angel's fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station - of home - to spend the best part of a decade alone.
But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting - and she has an offer.
One last job. One last deal. One last target. The trillionaire tech god they failed to bring down last time.
945
BL Manhwa
Queer Rep: Queer Men
This hit Boys' Love webtoon/manhwa (comic) is coming to print in English for the first a full-color and Mature-rated romantic comedy about a convenience store part-timer and a handsome gangster!
Yeo Eui-joon needs cash, so he works part-time at a convenience store--where the clientele includes hoodlums and mobsters. He's tired of being yelled at while ringing up booze and trying to talk his way out of extortion, but he's not tired of seeing a certain good-looking gangster walk in the door. Gunwoo is huge, gruff, and intimidating at first... but he seems to care about Eui-joon's well-being, and is quick to knock aside anyone giving Eui-joon a hard time. After Eui-joon gets a peek at the enormous condom size Gunwoo buys, a little spark of attraction might just grow into a big, fiery love story!
Jules Arbeaux
Sci-Fi Fantasy
Queer Rep: Aro/Ace Spec, Gender Non-Conformaing, Queerplatonic
Thousands of lives in the balance. Five years ago, interstellar pirate Idrian Delaciel ordered a withering - a death curse - cast on Remy's brother, costing him his life. Now, Remy is ready to return the favour.
Only when he casts the withering, it also rebounds onto him. The implications are unthinkable - that Remy is fatebound to his brother's killer. The only way to slow the curse is to close the distance between them, so Remy infiltrates Idrian's criminal crew, hiding his identity as the witherer.
But Remy quickly learns that Idrian is the sole provider of life-saving supplies to thousands of innocents. And if he dies, they will perish with him. With more at stake now than just revenge, Remy must find a way to break the curse.
Do you have a book recommendation you'd add to this list? Send us a message on Instagram @ProudGeekStore or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌
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