8 Must-Read AAPI Mystery Books

Set in fedal Japan, this historical mystery follows samurai detective Sano Ichiro. Sano has gained power through the shogun's court, but now tensions between him and his enemies are teetering on the brink of war.

When an old skeleton resurfaces with connections to the shogun, Sano and his wife, Reiko—a brilliant woman who defies convention by contributing to investigations—must confront dark secrets.

The night that a burning kimono set a blaze nearly decimating the city, what was Sano's own mother up to? The shogun allows Sano and Reiko three days to find out, or else they may lose both their position at court and their families' lives.

After a devastating breakup, Lila Macapagal moves back home to lick her wounds. Once there, she's asked to save her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant—but in the midst of all her hard work, she has to contend with a group of matchmaking aunties.

When an infamously nasty food critic who also happens to be Lila's ex stops into the restaurant, things get even more complicated. Especially after he falls over dead, mere moments after a confrontation with Lila herself.

The cops see her not just as the prime suspect, but as the only suspect, and the restaurant's shady landlord is looking for any reason to finally kick the family out. Lila is left with no choice but to figure out this mystery herself.

She's backed by the nosy auntie network, as well as her barista best friend and her beloved Dachshund.

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department heads off to a weeklong vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai. But his relaxation gets off to a bad start when he finds that the once clear waters are now covered in algae and toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants.

When the director of one of the plants is found murdered,  the leader of a local ecological group is the obvious suspect. However, Inspector Chen must proceed carefully if he wants to find answers to this brutal murder.

Yale Yee's cousin, Celine, is visiting from Hong Kong, and it's up to her to act as tour guide to a girl she hasn't seen in 20 years. On top of that, her father thinks the best way for them to bond is by running a food stall in the Eastwood Village Night Market.

It's been years since Yale has cooked, and as a social media influencer, Celina isn't exactly qualified, either. But after losing her job at the local bookstore, Yale doesn't have a lot of options.

The pair serve small dishes and delicious drinks, and business starts to pick up, which is to Celine's crafty marketing mind. Their bubble tea is a big hit.

And then one of their customers turns up dead, and Yale and Celine are the prime suspects due to the gold flakes they use as a garnish. Now these polar opposite cousins must work together to clear their names and find the truth.

Hana Westerman is a steadfast Māori detective who is balancing single motherhood, rampant prejudice, and a high-stress career in Auckland CIB.

After a mysterious video leads Hana to a crime scene, she finds a secret room containing a man who has been ritualistically hanged alongside a strange inscription. After a second death that is seemingly unrelated to the first, Hana finds a disturbing link to the past.

160 years ago, as the British set about a bloody colonization of New Zealand, a band of colonial soldiers maliciously executed a Māori Chief. It's clear to Hana now that these murders are utu, the Māori tradition of rebalancing for the crime committed all those decades ago.

There were six soldiers responsible for the murder of the chief. The two recent murders were descendants of two of those very soldiers.

Four more murders remain, meaning it's up to Hana to find New Zealand's first serial killer.

Neeti Shah is a retired librarian who just wants to find a little peace in life alongside her chai-loving friends. But when Neeti's childhood friend and neighbor turns up dead, suspicions arise when the killer's MO is shockingly similar to her most recent book club read.

Rohit's body was found at the bottom of a staircase next to a copy of Agatha Christie's Dumb Witness. The deceased had been blackmailing his neighbors, along with threatening them with litigation and terrorizing them with nasty nicknames.

But was it enough to get one of them to kill him? Neeti decides to find the truth for her old friend, but she's going to need the help of the Masala Chai Mystery Club to do it.

This brand new cozy mystery hits shelves July 21st!

In 1976, in New York's Chinatown, Robert Chow is a Vietnam vet turned alcoholic. He also serves as the only Chinese American cop on the Chinatown beat—and the only officer who can speak Cantonese.

Unfortunately, Chow has been reduced to a token. He's swanned out for ribbon cuttings and community events, but given no real respect or acknowledgement.

Given that, it should come as no surprise when his superiors dismiss his suspicions that an old Chinese woman's death was actually a murder. Fueled by rage, he sets out to find answers on his own terms.

Mary grew up in Liberty Lake, Minnesota. She was a chubby, reserved teen with an Ivy League scholarship—the quintessential nice girl.

But three years later, she's back in town, thinner, jaded, and kicked out of Cornell for a reason she's refusing to divulge to anyone. She nabs a job at the local grocery store, trying to understand her seemingly inescapable downward trajectory.

Then Olivia Willand, a beautiful and charming rising social media star, goes missing. She was adored by everyone in Liberty Lake—except her former best friend, Mary.

Mary knew Olivia to be stubborn and manipulative, a far cry from the cultivated image on her Instagram. And as Liberty Lake obsesses over Olivia's disappearance, Mary can't help but wonder if it's related to another missing person, 19-year-old DeMaria Jackson, who was dismissed as a runaway.