April 2026: On this month’s episode of Chris Chambers Noir, two more inspiring novelists are the focus of our Q&A with our host, bestselling mystery writer Christopher Chambers.
This month’s topic: New Jersey smirk and Caribbean heart… Noir or not?
Meet our guests!
Author Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: Originally from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, and currently living in Apex, North Carolina. Ashley-Ruth is an emerging writer of contemporary Caribbean mysteries. The winner of the North Carolina Writers Network’s 2022 Jacobs/Jones prize for Black writers, Ashley-Ruth’s stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and The Caribbean Writer. Ashley-Ruth is a first grade teacher, a wife, and a mom of 4. For her, uninterrupted writing time is more valuable than gold. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Stone’s Throw, Smoking Pen Press, Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Devious and Mystery Most Humorous, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, and other esteemed anthologies. She writes mysteries highlighting the vibrant culture of her home. Ashley-Ruth is a 2023 SMFS Derringer finalist, a 2023 and 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, and one of the 2024 recipients of MWA’s Barbara Neely grant for Black mystery writers. Her first novel-length work is forthcoming from Crooked Lane Books in Spring 2026. She currently lives with her family and teaches first grade in North Carolina. Learn more: ashleyruthbernier.com
About Ashely-Ruth’s new book, The Bush Tea Murder: Culinary journalist Naomi Sinclair is cooking up a maelstrom of trouble upon her return to the blue waters of her native Saint Thomas. The first in a new cozy mystery series set in the US Virgin Islands, this charming amateur sleuth will enrapture fans of Joanne Fluke and Carrie Doyle. Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice.
But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into. Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is as deft at solving puzzles as rolling johnnycake dough—a good thing, since her island community, though small, keeps serving up plenty of trouble.
With the help of her friends and her crush, Mateo, Naomi must navigate the tumultuous turquoise waters of life in the Caribbean, all as her beloved father battles an illness that keeps tugging her back to her island amid her rising career stateside. Rich with mouthwatering recipes, lush landscapes, and a hefty dose of fun under the sun, The Bush Tea Murderhas all the ingredients to make up the perfect beach listen. Buy the book!
Also on this episode is Author Joel E. Turner, whose first novel, WILDWOOD EXIT, is a noir tale set at the Jersey Shore, was published by Level Best Books in 2025. Amy Rosenberg of the Philadelphia Inquirer called it “a quirky sand-in-your-shoes crime novel with a romantic heart.” His fiction has appeared in many US and UK journals. Learn more in this month’s interview.
Author Christopher Chambers
About Christopher Chambers: A Washington, D.C. native, Chris is a lecturer at Georgetown University, Chair of the International Conflict Resolution Center and is General Counsel to a not-for-profit benefitting HBCUs: Student Housing of America. He is the author of the Angela Bivens thriller series for Random House, The Rocket Crockett pulp noir series, and Black Pulp for Prose-Press, and editor, along with Gary Phillips, of The Darker Mask graphic short story collection, the Bronze Buckaroo Rides Again: Honoring Harlem’s Herb Jeffries. He was a finalist in 2008 for the PEN/Malamud Short Story Award for “Leviathan.”
He’s contributed short stories to The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir (Three Rooms Press) and is the winner of the Anthony Award. The Black Panther: Tales Of Wakanda, The Faking of the President, and Midnight Hour, Witnesses for the Dead with Gar Anthony Haywood–all major award-winning collections and bestsellers. His noir hardboiled mystery Scavenger (2020) won a starred review and profile in Publishers Weekly; the sequel Standalone sees the return of the indestructible homeless addict turned PI Dickie Cornish, patrolling the unforgiving city streets ravaged by COVID, with the third in the trilogy Streetwhys in 2025. His next Marvel contribution is in Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson. Learn more: ChrisChambersNoir.com
About Chris’s latest book, “Street Whys:” We again meet Washington, DC’s notorious detective, former street denizen Dickie Cornish, who faces off with bloodthirsty cops and the justice department. Underground detective Dickie Cornish faces a vindictive murder rap from his past if he doesn’t agree to help prove that the fentanyl ravaging the streets of DC is bankrolled by shadowy donors of a certain former president. Broke and desperate, Cornish soon finds himself on a collision course with shady public defenders and corrupt police officers, forcing him to use his street connections to flip their plan. Or die.
The Dickie Cornish series has met with widespread critical acclaim: Publishers Weekly dubbed the series debut, Scavenger, “[A] no-holds-barred crime novel…a 21st-century twist on traditional hardboiled noir.” The Strand Magazine selected Standalone, the second book in the series, as one of the “Top 25 Mystery Novels of the Year,” adding, “It’s apparent that the modern heir to Chandler, Woolrich, and Cain is Christopher Chambers, enough said.” And renowned crime author George Pelecanos raves that the series “really nails Washington, DC in the current environment.” Click here to buy Chris’s books.