FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DARK HOURS BOOKS LAUNCHES INDEPENDENT CRIME-FICTION PUBLISHING IMPRINT
New boutique publisher champions distinctive voices, unforgettable characters, and compelling stories of crime, mystery, and suspense.
June 15, 2026 — Dark Hours Books, a new independent crime-fiction publisher, announces its launch with an inaugural publishing program featuring mysteries, thrillers, historical noir, and original crime-fiction anthologies.
Born from a love of extraordinary crime fiction, Dark Hours Books is dedicated to distinctive voices, unforgettable characters, and stories with a powerful sense of place—fiction in which the streets, neighborhoods, landscapes, history, and culture are as essential as the characters who inhabit them.
Committed to quality over quantity, the boutique publisher initially plans to release approximately four to six titles annually, spanning private-eye novels, police procedurals, psychological suspense, historical crime, contemporary noir, and themed anthologies.
Dark Hours Books will launch its first titles in early 2027:
PRAISE GOD FOR PASTIES — Pamela G. Holmes | February 23, 2027
A psychological thriller that reflects the imprint's commitment to distinctive voices and compelling stories of suspense.
THE DUME OF NIGHT — Michael Lister | March 2, 2027
Set in 1945 Los Angeles, this historical noir introduces Mason “Mase” McKnight, a private detective and Hollywood studio fixer investigating the disappearance of a movie star and the kidnapping of her six-year-old son. The novel launches a new series steeped in the glamour and darkness of Hollywood's Golden Age.
CITY OF DEAD NAMES — Jennifer Grant | October 2027
An anthology of mystery, suspense, noir, and literary crime centered on trans characters, lives, experiences, and communities. The collection seeks complex, compelling stories that place trans characters at the center rather than the margins.
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS — Aaron Bearden | December 2027
An anthology exploring the seductive, ruthless, and dangerous world of music through stories of mystery, murder, corruption, obsession, betrayal, and revenge—from recording studios and nightclubs to concert tours and the music industry.
Both anthologies are seeking original submissions.
Submission guidelines and additional information are available at www.DarkHoursBooks.com.
Dark Hours Books believes the best crime fiction is about more than crime. It's about characters under pressure, secrets and consequences, justice and revenge, and the choices people make when the rules break down.
With an emphasis on editorial collaboration, distinctive design, professional production, and individualized publicity, the publisher aims to produce books readers remember, recommend, and keep coming back to.