Books like 'Crime Wave'
Readers who enjoyed Crime Wave by Adam Carpenter also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary gay romance angst mystery secret-relationship queer
-
Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe
Sometimes, the most dangerous animals are the ones you let inside.When a man hires Emery Hazard to track down a teenager who, he claims, robbed him, Hazard isn’t convinced. The story has holes in it, and the client seems eager—too eager—to keep the authorities from getting involved. But Hazard is willing to play along; he suspects something much darker is going on, and he wants to know what it is... -
Breaking Cover by Kaje Harper
For homicide detective Mac, it's been a good year. Having Tony to go home to makes him a better cop and a better person. For Tony, it's been hard being in love with a man he can't touch in public. Evasions and outright lying to friends and family take a little of the shine off his relationship with Mac, but Tony is determined to make it work... -
Father Complex by Gregory Ashe
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsHaving a father can be hard. Being a good one might be even harder.The call-out for the double homicide, when it comes, is a strange one: two men gunned down in a motel room, no witnesses, no real clues. Even stranger, the men were enemies, and no one seems to know why they were in that motel room together... -
The Spoil of Beasts by Gregory Ashe
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA jailhouse slaughter. A relentless killer. And way too much jackassing around. When word comes that two key witnesses in an investigation are dead, North and Shaw are surprised—and pleased—to learn that their friend, John-Henry Somerset, is interested in hiring them as freelance contractors for the Wahredua police department... -
-
Shut Up and Drive by L.M. Krier
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA serial sex attacker is spreading fear in Stockport and DI Ted Darling and his team are on the case.The man randomly targets young women and abducts them from busy supermarket car parks. He's armed with a knife and is clearly highly trained in how to handle it.Ever-dwindling police resources make the manhunt harder, even though the attacker clearly doesn't care whether or not he's caught... -
The Death of Friends by Michael Nava
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWinner of six Lambda Literary awards, the Henry Rios mystery series is iconic. Originally published during the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic in the gay community, The Death of Friends received extraordinary praise both as a mystery and an eloquent work of witness... -
Rialto by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott
Someone has it out for Rialto. Ian Banner is loving his hectic life. He’s newly married, ready to start a family, and opening a new restaurant. All his dreams are coming true. The last thing he needs is a problem with his restaurant. But when one attack after another comes, he grows convinced he has another enemy... -
Jem and Tean: Guys Gone Wild by Gregory Ashe
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJem and Tean: Guys Gone Wild is a collection of short stories. It includes the following:“First Dates”A prequel to The Lamb and the Lion books, this short story shows Jem and Tean as they are set up on blind dates—with disastrous results.“Cheap Seats”Jem and Tean go to the movies. Jem insists it’s an epic bromance date. Tean insists they’re just casual acquaintances... -
Bandit & Coyote's Passion by Ciara St. James
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBandit has lived with a secret for half his life. One that only a couple of people know. As much as he loves his life and his MC family, he’s terrified to reveal it. What if he does and they desert him? He’ll never be able to stand it if that happens. It isn’t the only secret he has. The second one is as much of a risk as the first, maybe more... -
Enduring Night by John Wiltshire
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Nikolas has always liked art. You'd have thought that Ben and Nikolas would have learnt that their romantic holidays inevitably end up as disasters. A short break on the polar ice sees them trapped in a nightmare of murder and deceit... -
Pushing the Limits by Riley Hart
I was fourteen when my dad married Lane’s mom and our families became one, when my favorite moments were those spent staying up all night, talking or watching Lane create art.There aren’t many things more inconvenient than loving your stepbrother. I know the limits, and that’s pushing them too far.Over the years I’ve pulled away from him...Categorized as:
angst secret-relationship queer m-m contemporary bisexual friends to lovers stepsibling -
When I'm Old and Grey by L.M. Krier
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDI Ted Darling doesn't like coincidences. There are too many for comfort surrounding his latest case. They're spilling over into his private life, too, when some toxic family secrets are uncovered. A serial killer appears to be targeting vulnerable elderly people in care homes and despatching them in the most cynical way. Ted and his team are struggling to get a lead on who the killer really is... -
Body and Soul by Patricia Logan
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMore than ten years ago, a series of train bombings devastated railways throughout Europe. Strange poetry sent to local newspapers right before each bombing, confounded investigators at the time. In one of only a handful of failed covert missions, Jarrett had been sent into North Korea to take out the bomber... -
Thunder and Lightning by Patricia Logan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsJarrett Evans and Thayne Wolfe have been partnered in the ATF for nearly two years and their love and commitment to each other has grown over time. Now faced with one final challenge, the boys are headed to Arizona to help Thayne’s mom, stumbling headfirst into a brand new case... -
-
In Dog We Trust by Neil S. Plakcy
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsan alternate cover edition can be found hereAfter a bad divorce and a brief prison term for computer hacking, 42-year-old Steve Levitan has returned to his home town of Stewart’s Crossing and taken a part-time job as an adjunct professor of English at his alma mater, Eastern College... -
Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino by Sagan Sagan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThirty-nine-year-old Nozue went from living a routine, melancholic life of sleep and work to spending his days in bliss with Togawa, his younger subordinate. Now six months into their relationship, the two have graduated from dates at a pancake shop to spending their nights together... -
Rag and Bone by Michael Nava
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne of the most highly acclaimed writers in the mystery genre "explores new emotional depths" in this last Henry Rios novel. The gay Mexican-American attorney, after the loss of his lover, must face his own mortality while recovering from a heart attack-and reach out to a family he didn't know he had... -
Ghost of Christmas Present by Pandora Pine
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith only a week until Christmas, Detective Jude Byrne is wrapping up final preparations for his family’s celebration. He’s made a list and checked it twice, bought presents, planned the neighborhood cookie exchange, and hung mistletoe. Jude’s got a handle on everything, that is, until his son asks if his grandfather is coming to celebrate with them—a man Jude hasn’t seen in six years... -
Armor: A Firsts and Forever Series Novella by Alexa Land
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDante Dombruso has always been his family’s armor. It’s his job to keep them safe. But he feels he failed them eighteen months ago, when a mysterious arsonist set a fire intended to wipe the Dombrusos off the map. Now Dante is driven to make things right, yet with each day that passes, the trail grows colder and his frustration increases... -
Modern Warfare by Valerie Vaughn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCovert Affairs M/M Romance Book Two Navigating a new relationship is never easy, but Deputy Director Syler Perrin has the uniquely hair-raising privilege of doing it with one Special Agent Arthur Dufault, premiere CIA operative and all around menace... -
Daddy Detectives Episode 1: A Tyler and Ian Jamison Story by April Wilson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis is the first installment in a new series for private investigators Tyler and Ian Jamison. Our heroes are adjusting to life as a married couple and are now parents of newborn twins. While the guys are enjoying paternity leave, their administrative assistant, Kimi, comes to them with a personal emergency... -
Interwoven by Ripley Hayes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDaniel Owen has spent the best part of ten years renovating his house when he finds the cellar. By falling into it. The mysterious cellar has a mysterious door, and behind the mysterious door is a mysterious box … and in the box … there are clues to the shocking history of Daniel’s beloved home town. A cold case is occupying Mal Kent’s time. A notorious car thief is released from prison... -
A Mean Season by Marshall Thornton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDom Reilly is back. In this follow up to Year of the Rat, Dom helps clear three men wrongly convicted of rape while also following a pet project—the twenty-year-old case of a man accused of killing his lover in 1976. Meanwhile, Dom gets wind that someone is looking for him. A private detective from Chicago... -
FOG[电竞] by Man Man He Qi Duo, 漫漫何其多
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratings现代电竞+男神VS男神医疗师攻X突击手受【主角配角均无原型,谢谢大家】---Yu Sui and Shi Luo met each other when they were much younger. One was a pro-gamer, a widely-renowned, best of the best, in-game medic. The other was an e-sports newcomer who was just starting out. The two originally played for the same team, during which their relationship became increasingly deep.But things did not go as expected... -
-
Only the Flower Knows 2 by Rihito Takarai
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsZwischen Misaki und Arikawa scheint nach dem verhängnisvollen Kuss alles wieder normal zu sein, aber es macht Arikawa fertig, dass er ständig an seinen Kommilitonen denken muss. Denn er weiß einfach nicht, wie er sich Misaki gegenüber verhalten soll. Als dieser sein Handy im Labor vergisst und es klingelt, geht Arikawa aus Neugier ran... -
Point and Shoot by Patricia Logan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThayne Wolfe and Jarrett Evans have been working together for nearly a year. Now, living together as well, their relationship has taken on a whole new meaning for both men. It seems that danger has always been a part of their lives in the ATF but when SAC Stanger sends them to a relatively routine crime scene, things quickly get complicated... -
Puzzle by Nora Phoenix
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBranson loves his job as an analyst for the CIA. Working on the investigation into the assassination of the president is fascinating, and even more so when Ryder, a geeky forensic accountant without a filter, joins the team.But Ryder doesn’t seem to like Branson. At all. And when he explains to Branson why, Branson is forced to face an uncomfortable truth in the mirror Ryder holds up... -
Only the Flower Knows 3 by Rihito Takarai
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsZwischen Misaki und Arikawa hat es endlich richtig gefunkt und sie haben sich am Bahnhof geküsst! Als Arikawa ihm daraufhin anbietet, bei ihm zu übernachten, willigt Misaki zwar ein, doch er ist richtig nervös und dabei so süß, dass Arikawa seine Finger nicht von ihm lassen kann. Nach dieser ersten gemeinsamen Nacht sucht Misaki ein letztes klärendes Gespräch mit Kawabata... -
Dauntless by Victoria Denault
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHe’s everything I’ve ever wanted, at the worst possible moment.One and done. That’s always been my motto when it comes to guys, because I’m not about to pull someone else into the closet my parents have locked me inside. I’ve been waiting years to claim my inheritance and live the life I want to live–out, free, and oh yeah, rich... -
Change of Heart by K.M. Neuhold
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsDoes my husband's heart still miss me now that it beats in the chest of another man? Lub-dub A heartbeat more familiar than Easton’s own Lub-dub He vowed to love his husband until death do they part. And then the worst happened. Lub-dub His heart kept another man alive. River. A stranger in the world with Easton's husband's heart pumping the blood that warms his skin... -
Hidden Treasures by Marshall Thornton
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsIt’s about a dress. A valuable blue sequined dress worn by a famed actress in a film from the 1940s. For some reason everyone thinks video storeowner Noah Valentine has it. Which might not be a big deal except that it’s connected to the murder of a prominent Hollywood costumer.In the second of the Pinx Video Mysteries, Noah attempts to solve the mystery of the dress... -
Concealed Hearts by Nicky James
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsTwo closeted men in one rumor-hungry small town have no chance of keeping their love a secret.Chief of Police Windsor Elkhart is a master deceiver. Not a single person in Jasper has a clue he’s gay, which explains the endless suitors all vying for his attention. Happily married to his job, he’s convinced life is good enough... -
Mr. Picture Perfect by Daryl Banner
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsCOLEAll I wanted to do was take my grandma to the crafts festival.Instead, I accidentally save someone’s lifeand end up on the front page of the Spruce Press.That’s not all. The person whose life I save happens to bemy childhood crush Noah Reed.I’m hardly an example of perfection.But now they’re organizing a pageant featuring the town’s hottest bachelorsand I’m number one on the list... -
His First Surrender by Max Walker
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSAM CLARK Family, friends, and video games. The three things that define my life. When a fourth variable gets added in the form of a smoldering detective named Rocky Hudson, suddenly everything changes. Life isn’t as simple anymore, and it begins to start feeling like a new world is opening up to me. A new world filled with firsts... -
-
Forbidden Lover by Jocelynn Drake
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDevlin Relic was off limits.The sweet man had already lost a husband and nearly lost his life when someone put a contract on his head last year.He needed to focus on raising his adopted son and finding a nice, normal man.Kai was anything but nice and normal.He was an assassin, and that did not fit into Dev’s neat and tidy life... -
One Vote for Murder: Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries by S.C. Wynne
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrenemies and psychopaths keep life interesting. If they don't kill you, that is.Maxwell foolishly hoped things might settle down once he found the perfect new location for his medical practice.Not. So. Much.After a shocking revelation, Maxwell finally knows why River Martin hates him with a passion. And River isn't willing to let bygones be bygones. To put it mildly... -
One Vote for Murder by S.C. Wynne
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrenemies and psychopaths keep life interesting. If they don't kill you, that is.Maxwell foolishly hoped things might settle down once he found the perfect new location for his medical practice.Not. So. Much.After a shocking revelation, Maxwell finally knows why River Martin hates him with a passion. And River isn't willing to let bygones be bygones. To put it mildly... -
Zenith by Eli Easton, R.J. Scott
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA killer haunts Prophet, and this time it’s personalThe discovery of a body at the Thompson Cabins sets off a chain of events that hits too close to home for Sheriff Gabriel Thompson. When his brother Sam becomes a prime suspect in the murder investigation, Gabriel is forced to keep secrets from Tiber and call in outside help as he fights to prove Sam’s innocence... -
Until Jude by Briar Prescott
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsI'm the first one to tell you doing the right thing has never been high on my list of priorities.Same goes for respecting the law. And ethics in general.It's more like guidelines anyway.Until him.Jude Riley.I invite myself into his life and refuse to leave. I know it's wrong. I know I shouldn't.I do anyway.It's never meant to turn into anything serious.It's never supposed to matter.Until it does... -
Yellow, Volume 02 by Makoto Tateno
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsYellow Volume 2 marks the return of our heroes Goh and Taki to infiltrate the Japanese narcotics trade. This time, they're after your garden variety heroin that's being "floated" to Japan in a most unique way... -
Interlude: Cavatina by Tal Bauer
Cavatina: A solo in the midst of a larger composition Join the couples from your favorite Tal Bauer novels in Interlude: Cavatina, a collection of stories that brings everyone together in one volume! Jack and Ethan Spiers-Reichenbach are settling into their marriage and enjoying their second holiday season together, this time in Texas instead of the White House... -
Kiss Marry Kill by S.C. Wynne
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSnakes don’t only crawl in the grass.River Martin has begun to reveal his true motives for being in Rainy Dale, and, shocker, it’s not good news for Maxwell.If Maxwell is going to go to war with River, he’ll need people on his side. In his quest to be more of a people person, he’s roped into attending the wedding of one of his young patients, Janelle Raiden... -
In Sequence by Cole McCade
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsABOUT THIS EPISODE The Golden Ratio killer resurfaces in California to target a former victim, and this time the case takes Malcolm and Seong-Jae hunting deep into his past, searching for connections between victim and killer that may reveal his identity... -
Snow Storm by Davidson King
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe city of Haven Hart rests under the heel of Christopher Manos. He reigns over the most dangerous and deadliest citizens as the most powerful crime boss the city has seen in generations. Yet, for the last five years, the harshest edges of his nature have been tempered by the loving devotion of his husband, Snow, and the nephew Christopher adores like a son... -
-
Posies and Poison by Wendy Meadows
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsBrenda Sheffield can’t believe her luck when she finds out that the family business, The Sheffield Bed and Breakfast, has been handed down to her upon the death of a relative. For too long, she’s been idle – a new challenge is precisely what she needs... -
Killer Bond by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDaniel Hendricks wants a vacation. Ward Security’s accountant and resident code breaker just needs a little R&R from the chaos and usual shenanigans of the office. But what was supposed to be a sexy vacation hook-up explodes in his face when he’s mistaken for a rogue secret agent... -
Baby's Got Blue Eyes by L.M. Krier
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSomeone is dumping bodies on DI Ted Darling's patch and he's not happy. Ted's a good solid copper, in an old-fashioned way, with an excellent clear-up rate. He also happens to be gay and has his own unique way of dealing with any prejudice that brings him. But this killer seems to be running effortless rings round him and every promising lead just takes him up another blind alley... -
Only You by Aimee Nicole Walker
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTwo completely different men and one powerful attraction. Sebastian Blake is a cynical, self-made billionaire who has only known rejection and abandonment in his personal life. Adam Johnson is a closeted gay man who works for the law firm representing Sebastian in a civil lawsuit filed against him by a former employee... -
Something About Us by Riley Hart
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFalling in love was the easy part. Lucky and Saint are head-over-heels for each other. It doesn’t matter that they met only a few months ago. It also doesn’t matter that this is Saint’s first real relationship and Lucky’s first with a man. They’re infatuated, happy, and excited to start their life together in LA. It isn’t as easy as they thought... -
Slay Ride by Davidson King
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsChristmas is a time for joy, family, and friends to gather around the tree and fill their hearts with love. Unfortunately, there are some people who don’t deserve happiness during the holidays. Mason keeps to himself. His best friend, JJ, is the only one he chooses to be close to, plus his job keeps him busy. Excitement isn’t something he needs or wants in his life...
Find out more about romance.io.
Get recommendations by genres & tropes
Use the romance book finder to mix and match over 100 content keywords to find the books that match your preferences

Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.