Like Fiona Mosley’s Hot Stew, Bad Girls is more of a book about found family and societal othering than a book about sex workers (because sex workers are people and have all the complexities of ordinary lives, ok).

From sex workers in Brazil, to language students in Beijing, from the working class districts of Casablanca to the vineyards of South Africa, let May’s best international crime novels show you a different version of the world than the ones in travel brochures.

This month’s international titles are sultry, atmospheric, and thrilling.