Lavender House

This was a great homage to the hard boiled detective genre. I adored the shout out to Johnny Dollar and flipping the femme fatale character on its head. Then they gave that character so much depth! I am so sad that this book is not marketed as an homage to the hard boiled detective genre. Without that background knowledge, there are so many wonderful details that get lost.
The mystery is good. The clues are good. The characters are all suspicious as they should be. Wonderful book!

TWs: Homomisia, slurs, hate crime/violence, animal death/hunting

4.5 rounded up

It's a queer novel surrounding a death in the Lavender House.. it was quite interesting! I enjoyed the queer/LGBTQ theme and the message behind exile, mistreatment, discrimination, etc. It's set in the 1950s but still quite relatable and feels modern. The pacing seemed just right, and it was a nice and short read but packed with messages and relatable feelings.

TW: MOMMY ISSUES

hmmm I wouldn't normally have picked up a noir-ish mystery novel on my own but I'd enjoyed Rosen's YA books and I was intrigued by the 50s queer San Francisco setting. (In the afterword Rosen notes that he'd turned in his first draft of this before [b:Last Night at the Telegraph Club 35224992 Last Night at the Telegraph Club Malinda Lo https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593457992l/35224992.SY75.jpg 56568979] came out but appreciated the similar settings, though they are wildly different. Anyway I think my love of Last Night at the Telegraph Club also drew me to the Lavender House, but again, they are very different books aside from the setting.)Anyway sooo I enjoyed the historical detail but this wasn't reallly my cup of tea. I also see why Knives Out would be a comp, based on the family dynasty mystery aspect of it, but Knives Out is FUNNY, and Rosen's other books are FUNNY, and this book is PRETTY SERIOUS. And that's a totally valid thing for a mystery novel to be but I just prefer...not that. I wish there were either more development to actually flesh out all the characters who live in the Lavender House, or more jokes to distract me from the pretty flat characters. Readers who enjoy murder mysteries in general will probably like this more than I did. But I still liked the historical setting and the Lavender House itself, just overall not my fav.

Interesting story and I would like to see what other mysteries the main character gets involved in.

Pros: interesting characters, intriguing family drama, good mystery

Cons: historically accurate slurs

Fired from the police after being found during a raid on a gay bar Andy Mills is prepared to end it all. He’s offered a detective job, to determine if Irene Lamontaine was murdered or if she died in an accidental fall. Lavender House, the family estate, is a haven for the family, all of whom have reasons to love and hate the victim. As the case progresses, Andy is forced to consider his life and choices, and what makes a family.

The book is set in San Francisco during the 1950, when gay acts were criminalized, and makes use of historically accurate slurs and derogatory language, which may be distressing to some readers. It also includes a beating by cops and thoughts of suicide.

The book evokes a lot of strong emotions and there are several affecting scenes. I’m not familiar with the historical period, but the author did an excellent job of making it come to life.

The interpersonal drama of the family was interesting and complex enough to keep me intrigued about the case. It had a satisfying ending.

While not for everyone, this is an interesting historical mystery. I’m hoping it’s the start of a series.