African American Crime Fiction

Dive into a riveting murder suspense series that's a perfect blend of cozy mystery and fearless crime fighters in the tight-knit community of Kickapoo. In this town where secrets are scarce and everyone's business is on display, crime-solving runs in Katrina Jacobs' blood. For Katrina Jacobs, all she wants after a long day is a good night's sleep, but tonight that will not happen. A cold-blooded murderer is stalking the streets of Kickapoo, and it's up to her to bring them to justice. What troubles Detective Katrina Jacobs most about this case is not just the murder itself, but the hate ...

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.

The Fast-paced Hood Drama continues in BBW Struggling for Love 2! Still suffering from the traumatic event at her workplace, Jayla just wants to curl up in bed and rest her weary soul. Unfortunately, that won't be possible. Keenan's foolishness has put all their lives in danger. According to him, it's no longer safe for any of them. They have to leave the city immediately. Jayla is riddled with doubts and fears. The trust she had built up with Keenan has been destroyed. She doesn't feel good about following his lead anymore. She's also worried about leaving her ailing mother behind in ...

This is the PREQUEL to a 5 book series. The Prequel + 4 books. This is an introduction to the series. An urban fiction novelette. Meet Summer Vance, a Chicago transplant new to the Atlanta experience. Name a better city than the ATL that welcomes pretentious perpetrators and successful scammers. Summer's outrageous attempts to set up dope boys, run abortion schemes on professional athletes, to extorting rappers' secrets leads her to build a fake women's empowerment brand until she's exposed. Armed with a slick mouth and a Miami doctored BBL, Summer's adventures will leave readers shook ...

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

After surviving A brutal attack, Jayla wakes up in the hospital, dazed and confused. She's grateful to be alive. But she's desperate to check on her son who was also seriously injured. Unfortunately for her, a major obstacle stands in the way. Despite all the work he's done in the streets, Drako has never found himself in handcuffs before. That's about to change. All he wants to do is get to the hospital and check on Jayla and her little boy. But his nemesis Detective Fields has other ideas. He's been trying to put Drako behind bars for several years. This might just be the opportunity he's...

The fast-paced, hood drama continues in BBW Looking for Love 6. Jevon‘s luck has finally run out. He’s locked up on Riker’s Island. All alone with no allies. And surrounded by enemies. His lawyer is working hard to get the charges dropped. But it may be too late for that. So many people would love to put his body on their résumé. Detective Shonda Robinson has completely lost her mind. There’s no turning back now. If she doesn’t clean this mess up soon, she’ll lose everything she’s worked for. And she’ll also end up in prison for a long time. As long as Jevon is still alive...

'When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.' -1 Corinthians 13:11 Alfonzo Diaz has the quintessential New York City swag born from growing up in a neighborhood where respect hinges on how much you're feared. His well-laid plans to leave a life of crime is thwarted when his beloved Uncle is murdered in a botched hit. In Alfonzo's search for the killer, he is about to uncover that crime is in his DNA. There are no saints or sinners in Alfonzo's world, but there are imperfect people. Alfonzo 1-30 ...

After being kidnapped and taken to a warehouse, Jayla thought that she had only a few minutes left to live. In those final moments, all she cared about was protecting her son. But just when she'd given up any hope of surviving, a guardian angel swooped in to save her. Drako isn't your typical guardian angel. He's a notorious Harlem Kingpin with a violent past, a turbulent present, and a very dangerous future. He agrees to take Jayla and her son from their captors. He plans on putting her to work in his club, Shakerz. Jayla has no choice but to agree to this unusual arrangement. She's ...

Daquan aka Soldier Bags, is a rapper but his shattered self-confidence has him trapped in a zone of self-preservation. If there's one thing he wants, it's to change his abusive, poverty stricken, lonely life. The thug's need for love and acceptance pushes him into the arms of a wild mob. Soldier takes right to the mob and falls into the harsh FO'EVA ROLLIN' streets where almost everyone wear masks to hide their true intentions and they all have no discipline. Will Soldier Bags learn his lesson before it's too late or will he keep BURNIN' THRU LIFE until the flames engulf him in a Hell like ...

TE’QUI is a well-known killer and stickup kid that pumps fear into the hearts of hustlers. He’s cold and calculating—traits that have helped him survive in the trenches. Despite his hard exterior, his desire for a woman to love and trust run deep, which leads him to KESHA, a beautiful hood chick looking for the right man to cherish and hold her down. Together they take the jack game by storm, stacking blood money and leaving D-boys outlined in chalk. But due to an unexpected occurrence, Kesha has to put her gun on the shelf, leaving her man to secure the bags alone. Te’Qui attacks ...

FEAR is given a $500,000 dollar contract to bust a snitch out of prison and deliver him to his crime boss father in Brazil. There’s only one problem though, he keeps running into a highly skilled assassin that’s hell bent on killing him, ANTON. The young hitter is determined to avenge his father’s murder even if it means sacrificing himself for his cause. Will Fear fulfill his contract before Anton catches up to him or will he die by the young hitter’s hands? Meanwhile, EUREKA’s marriage is on the rocks. Her husband, TRISTAN, realizes that his wife still has feelings for an old ...

Malcolm is a young lawyer who just buried his great-grandfather and is now called to action. He takes on the case of a young black man destined for an Ivy League school when he kills three white men that broke into his house in self-defense. The only problem is these three thieves are cops which causes this small-town boy’s hopes and dreams to come crashing down. Malcolm fights for this young man to stay free as well as free himself by trying to find the killer of his dead fiancée, which leads to more harm than good...

She infiltrated the Bratva to expose them. He caught her, claimed her, and made her seduction his favorite form of punishment. Kendra came to the Black Veil to destroy it. Disguised, wired, and ready to risk everything, she planned to gather proof and vanish before they ever saw her coming. But the moment Viktor lays eyes on her, all of that burns. The Bratva’s deadliest enforcer doesn’t turn her in. He drags her out of the party and into a game she can’t escape, offering her up to his boss like prey and then being told to make her fall. To seduce her. To use her. To break her. Viktor...

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

Mustafa AKA Tubb is a major player on the local drug scene. He’s tough and street smart, but he does have one major weakness, which is women. When his wife catches him with two strippers in their bedroom she moves out with his kids. Shortly thereafter his trap house is mysteriously robbed, and he winds up back in prison on a parole violation. Just as he thinks he has hit rock bottom, he finds out that his best friend Blast has been sleeping with his wife. This could lead to bodies stacked on top of each other. Mustafa meets the woman of his dreams. She takes no shyt at all and she's loyal...

The fast-paced, hood drama continues in BBW Looking for Love 4. The tension is heating up between Jevon and Detective Robinson. He’s a criminal. She’s a cop. They’ve got no business being in a hotel room together. Will they be able to control their intense desires? Breanna’s life has been thrown upside down. She's gone from one crisis to another. But there’s always been someone there to save her. Her luck might’ve just run out. Shaniyah really wants to build something with Jevon. But she’s starting to realize that there might not be room in his life for a serious relationship....

Lex Legacy runs a legitimate dispensary out of Minneapolis with his two homeboys, Josh and Devin. With a surplus of product on their hands, they need to find a way to get rid of all that extra product and make a whole lotta money at the same time. Their Chicago connection can take it off their hands, easy. Unfortunately, the kingpin of Chicago doesn’t like that Lex’s crew and the Chicago connection are cutting into his profit, and he wants it to go away. Will Lex and his boys succumb to this hood tyrant, or do whatever it takes to keep that money rolling in? Not only that, but he’s ...

Thirty-year-old Holland Strokes was thrust into a lifestyle she had no idea existed after she said the words I do. Her life now is all about glamour, keeping up with the Joneses, and knowing at all times when to stay quiet and submit. The only thing that keeps her focus, besides the allotted time she’s awarded away from her chaotic life, are the pottery lessons she teaches. That’s until a mystery fellow joins her class with the skill and passion of an omega man, but the heart of an alpha. Thirty-six-year-old Flyte Tyme had always lived a lowkey lifestyle. He’s seen before heard and an...

With Drako's help, Harmony has managed to stay clean these last few months. He's become her new addiction. As long as he keeps showing her love and affection, she knows she'll be all right. Unfortunately, he seems to be pulling away from her since Jayla showed up at the club. She's not willing to share him. But she’s willing to do everything necessary to get rid of her rival. Jayla's baby daddy Keenan isn't dead. At least not yet. His captors have filled his head with lies. He believes that Jayla and his son are being brutally mistreated by Drako. Now he's being sent on a mission to take ...