In The Game

When businesswoman Virginia Kelly meets her old college chum Bev Johnson for drinks late one night, Bev confides that her lover, Kelsey, is seeing another woman. Ginny had picked up that gossip months ago, but she is shocked when the next morning's papers report that Kelsey was found murdered behind the very bar where Ginny and Bev had met. Worried that her friend could be implicated, Ginny decides to track down Kelsey's killer and contacts a lawyer, Susan Coogan. Susan takes an immediate, intense liking to Ginny, complicating Ginny's relationship with her live-in lover. Meanwhile Ginny's inquiries heat up when she learns the Feds suspected Kelsey of embezzling from her employer.
Nikki Baker is the first African-American author in the lesbian mystery genre and her protagonist, Virginia Kelly is the first African-American lesbian detective in the genre. Interwoven into the narrative are observations on the intersectionality of being a woman, an African-American, and a lesbian in a “man’s” world of accounting and life in general.
First published to acclaim in 1991, this new edition features a 2020 foreword by the author.
“Baker has produced a winning character in Ginny Kelly … Read it by the fire one cold autumn night, then smugly recommend Nikki Baker to your friends.” — Deneuve
“It has adventure, romance, and some of the best internal dialogue anywhere.” — Meagan Casey
“Baker infuses her characters with fascinating strengths and poignant weaknesses, characteristics the sharp-minded Kelly notices and gnaws on not just to solve the murder but to expose the sometimes daft elements of Lesbian resort life and the sterner reality of Black life in America” — Ann Aptaker (Criminal Gold)

Nikki Baker was born in 1962. "In the Game" was her first novel, tossed off as a bit of lark and diversion, and published by Barbara Grier and Donna McBride's Naiad Press in 1991. Written in the spirit of pulp fiction, featuring a black lesbian as hero, her Virginia Kelly mystery series charmed readers instantly. "The Lavender House Murder", set in Provincetown, followed in 1992. By the time the third book, "Long Goodbyes", appeared in 1993, a substantial audience had grown and the second book nominated for a Lambda Literary Lesbian Mystery Award. Kelly's final appearance, "The Ultimate Exit Strategy", was published in 1996. Ms Baker, throughout, remained a bit mysterious herself. In the 25 years since, fans have continued to clamour for fresh adventures, and ponder about Kelly's ongoing relationships. ReQueered Tales is proud to restore this engaging series to print and thanks the retiring Ms Baker for coming out of retirement this little bit. A whole new generation of fans await and many friends are ready to renew their acquaintance with Virginia Kelly.