Buckle in folks for another thread. In spirit of #blackouttuesday, and inspired by my chats with (and reading of) some amazing writers of colour over past decade - plus crime fic can be brilliant at exploring social issues & conflict - here are some @CrimeWOC to buy/support today Let's kick things off with three absolute maestros, and three of my very top reads of the past couple of years. Do yourself a favour and add these to your shelf, if you haven't already: nuanced tales about race relations and flawed criminal justice systems in contemporary USA.

I've just commented on a thread where a city-based reader asked for #ruralnoir recommendations; female authors & protagonists (most 'best of rural noir' lists are extremely male-centric). Here's a dirty dozen of great tales/series I recommended they give a go. What do you think? So @christine_carbo is a newer-to-me author I first read last year. Fantastic rural crime set around Glacier National Park in Montana. Loved her 2018 release A SHARP SOLITUDE so much that I went online that day and ordered her entire backlist. Review: bit.ly/2JXE0Bu

Alright, I know I'm a bit late on this one. It's been a busy week with Ngaios, McIlvanneys, stay-at-home-Dadhood and others things. So apologies for tardiness. 26 writer recommendations (many of them crime) with no women? By the Book: George Pelecanos nyti.ms/2BDvKah That's certainly an 'interesting' take from a guy widely admired for his writing. I ain't a fraction of the writer GP is, but just for fun, here's 26 amazing crime writers I've read, loved and would highly recommend. Rules: living authors; 3+ books; I'd read anything they wrote