Michelle Richter is a Senior Agent at Fuse Literary whose deal record and award nominations make her one of the most decorated crime-fiction specialists in the business, with a secondary lane in women's fiction and book club reads.
In brief
Her client list has produced award nominees and winners across virtually every major crime-fiction prize — Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Macavity, Strand Critics, ITW Thriller, Derringer, and more — since 2018, a breadth that signals genuine commercial and critical range.
Crime fiction in its many forms (domestic suspense, psychological thriller, cozy, traditional mystery, literary mystery) is her clear core business; women's fiction and book club reads are a real secondary lane, not a token mention.
She brings an editorial eye shaped by time at St. Martin's Press and actively champions BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled voices — meaning those writers are not an afterthought but a stated acquisition priority.
She is open to YA mystery/thriller and select contemporary YA, a category not always emphasized in older profiles — writers in this space should note it is listed on her current agency page.
Query only through her online submission form — she explicitly states emailed queries will be archived unread, and she now asks for a query letter plus the first twenty pages (no synopsis required per the live agency page).
Lately
Her current agency bio emphasizes that she is especially eager for suspense and psychological thrillers featuring complex leads, and specifically calls out BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled voices as always welcome — framing inclusion not as a preference but as an acquisition priority.
What Michelle is looking for
This is her stated top priority and her heaviest area of deal activity. She gravitates toward complex lead characters, unreliable narrators, and plots built around what happens behind closed doors inside families, relationships, and communities. She wants fresh voices here, not retreads of familiar setups.
She embraces the full spectrum from cozy and amateur-sleuth to literary crime — and her award track record confirms she can place work across that range. She prizes a fresh voice above subgenre convention, and is specifically eager for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices in crime fiction. Locked-room and ensemble mysteries are among her named interests.
Stories driven by family secrets, complicated female friendships, and sibling dynamics are her sweet spot within this lane. She responds to emotionally layered narratives that reward discussion — the kind of book that lingers after the last page. Both commercial and literary registers are welcome here.
Listed on her current agency page and therefore an active interest — not a legacy holdover. 'Select' contemporary YA suggests she is discriminating rather than broadly open, so the project should have a strong hook and a clear sense of audience. YA crime and thriller projects are the safer bet given her overall profile.
Not the right fit
On Michelle's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Michelle
Send your query letter and the first twenty pages of your manuscript — her current agency page no longer asks for a synopsis in the initial submission, so follow that guidance over any older instructions you may have seen elsewhere.
Do NOT email your query to her address; she states explicitly that emailed queries will be archived unread. Use only the online form.
If you submitted by email in the past, her agency page invites you to resubmit through the form without penalty.
After requesting a full manuscript, she asks writers to wait three months before following up — and says to use the online form for that follow-up as well, not email.
Lead with what makes your voice or protagonist specific: she repeatedly signals interest in fresh, distinctive voices over competent-but-familiar genre execution.
If your protagonist or author identity falls under BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or disabled experience, it is worth noting — she has named this as an active priority, not a checkbox.
Unreliable narrators, family-secret plots, and sibling/friendship dynamics are recurring enthusiasms; if any of those are central to your book, surface them early in the query.
Crime writers should know her touchstones span cozy and literary registers equally — do not assume she only wants gritty noir or only cozy. Match your comp titles to the actual tone of your manuscript.
For conference, press, or rights inquiries only (not queries), her email address is publicly listed on the agency site.