Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read - enough character development and intrigue to keep you engaged. Vera has to find Max after she disappears in LA. It is a great third book in the series.

Looking back through my 2022 list of books I read, I realized I never sent a review for this one. Although this is book 3 in the series, it was my first encounter with Vera, but it won't be the last. I enjoyed everything about this, especially the 1970s setting with its very realistic struggles of LGBTQ people simply trying to live their lives and be accepted for their true selves in a society that was not welcoming. It's clever and thought-provoking enough that I'm most definitely going back to the beginning of this series to "meet" Vera and see how it all began.

This was my first book by this author, and I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful cover, but even more by the description. An intelligent female ex-spy in the 70's, looking for her missing girlfriend? Let's go. Vera and her girlfriend Max are happily living in NYC when her girlfriend is called home California, and the family who cut her off. After arriving at her family's estate Max goes missing leading Vera on an exciting investigation to find and bring her girlfriend home.

If you haven't already read the first two books in this series this book is very easy to understand, although I now have the first two on my list. Something I really loved about the is the historical look at queer relationships in the 70's. Most queer books are based in the modern era, given that it is easier to place those characters there, but it is also important to remember the queer people who came before us and how they lived. Anyone who has recently watched the new A League of Their Own on Amazon would probably enjoy this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is the first in the Vera Kelly series I'd ever read. I do wish I'd gone back before reading this book and did try and catch up on some of the previous novels before I fully got into this one. The pacing is great - time flew as I followed Vera and she herself was a compelling protagonist. I have gone and purchased the first book in the series now so it was successful in that sense.

Number three in this set of historical detective novels. This one is set in the 70s in southern California. Vera and her girlfriend Max (Maxine) travel to CA so Max can try to reconnect with her wealthy parents. After their first dinner with family and friends and an argument, Vera and Max leave the house and go back to the cottage. When Vera wakes in the morning, Max is gone and Vera must find her. Along with the great detective story, the descriptions of 1970s southern California lifestyle and the attitudes of family, friends, and society toward a same-sex couple this is one I'll recommend wholeheartedly.

The cover on this book is splendid! To be honest, that is what made me request it in the first place. I wasn't aware that this book was part of a series until I was more than halfway through. Nevertheless, I'd say that reading it was damn fun and an enjoyable experience. This was the first time I read an LGBT X Mystery. I was apprehensive of how these varying genres would go together, but turns out it's a very tasteful combination! I'll be sure to get my hands on the prequels and sequels in this set whenever I have the chance.

I finally got around to reading Vera Kelly: Lost and Found, the story of Vera who goes on a hunt for her girlfriend Max after she mysteriously disappears from her family home. The two were on a visit to Max's estranged (rich, weird) family when Vera wakes up and Max is nowhere to be found.

As a full disclaimer, I'd never read any previous Vera Kelly books before, and in fact did not even realize this was a series until I had already gotten the eARC of the book. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I actually had the background necessary. That being said, I did feel like this worked as a standalone novel in that I was never confused by what was going on and the plot seemed strictly isolated. There was a beginning, middle, and end, and I was introduced to all of the characters as if I'd never met them before. Which is good, because I hadn't.

I knew that this book was historical fiction when I got it, but I don't think I was quite prepared for the level of historical fiction with respect to queerness that it was. Max was disowned by her family for being gay, and both Vera and Max had to downplay their own identities in order to survive. The entire plot was all about Vera trying to save Max from Max's family's homophobia. That was all just a little too much for me. I wanted them to be cute together, not to be closeted apart.

The positive aspects of this book were that Vera was a compelling protagonist who had interesting thoughts. I'm not normally a big cop novels person, preferring instead the random individual who gets drawn into solving the murder due to their own close involvement. This book was a mix of the two, seeing as how Vera is ex-CIA and the mystery she was solving was the disappearance of her own girlfriend. I felt that I could understand Vera, and I enjoyed following along as she solved the mystery.

I’ve eagerly consumed the two other Vera Kelly books, because even though I’m not usually a mystery/thriller kind of person, I LOVE the character of Vera and her spiky personality. This book felt a lot different from the other two, and with good reason - there is less of a mystery that Vera has to solve involving other people, and more one that Vera has to solve involving herself! The challenges and the situation she gets herself into are nail-biting and thrilling and also, really sweet? I also really enjoy historical books with queer characters, because the representation is needed (especially sapphic characters). Delighted by this series and would definitely read more if Vera continues her adventures!

Book Three Rating 4 Stars. Series Rating 4 Stars. Suggested Reading Advice: Skip Book 1. Who Is Vera Kelly and instead read Book 2. Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery and Book 3. Vera Kelly Lost and Found.

That might seem like some odd advice but I have been doing a lot off thinking on this series that I just recently finished. I’m not sure if the whole series is over, but it has ended on a place that feels like a good and satisfying ending, but I would read more if there was. I was getting messages asking about this series and I found that I kept recommending that people start with book 2 and I realized the reason isn’t just because it’s the better book I think people will enjoy more, it’s because of the way book 1 actually fits into the series and I’ll explain that more.

In this past week, when I have read book 2 and 3, I noticed they are very connected and they complement each other well in the areas of Vera’s life that are changing. Book two is about Vera starting her life as a private investigator and it has some good excitement in her work life. While that part of her life is exciting, it shows that her personal life was a mess being in a relationship with a woman that she’s not happy with but was it better just to not be alone? Whereas In book three, while there is a bit of a mystery, this time this book is much more about Vera’s real chance at love being in jeopardy, and also the people she loves having to deal with major family drama that could put people in danger.

I just wrote very quick summaries but what those books were about was Vera trying to find love, it was about family and acceptance, and some mystery, missing people, and some excitement, plus I really enjoyed getting to know Vera and going along on her life journey. What makes things a little odd is book one is nothing like the rest of the series.

I think the issue is that book one is actually a prequel but it’s not marked as one. I’m not giving any spoilers because the blurb talks about Vera being a spy for the CIA. She was a spy in book 1, so when she becomes a private investigator in book 2 and 3, you as a reader knows exactly why she has mad skills. I understand why the spy book is important, I totally do, I just wish it was labeled as a prequel and made clear that it could be read at any time, since it can, because book one has such a different feel than book 2 and 3, I’m worried it will put people off from continuing on with the series if they start with it. I personally did like book 1, but I have to be honest, the writing was stiff at times and I think Knecht, was trying too hard and pushing too hard at times. Book 2 and 3, she is in her writing groove and it feels like a different series. I don’t know if she was trying to write a more cerebral and serious spy story (book 1), when she just needed to write an exciting and emotional sapphic historic-fiction story (book 2&3) instead.

In conclusion, I would say a big yes to recommending book two Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery and this book three. If you and up enjoying them as much as I did, then I would say it is worth it to go back and read the prequel (book 1) and find out how Vera became a spy.

An ARC was given to me for a honest review.

VERA KELLY: LOST AND FOUND by Rosalie Knecht (Relief Map) is the third in the series (after Who is Vera Kelly? and Vera Kelly is not a Mystery) about a young lesbian in the mid-twentieth century. This book opens when Vera and her girlfriend Max travel to Bel-Air in Southern California where Max's affluent father is getting a divorce, plans to re-marry, and is changing his investments. Estranged from her family once she announced her sexual orientation, Max is again met with hostility and misunderstanding, ultimately being committed to family-owned institution. A former CIA agent who now works as a private detective, Vera manages to become a patient and strives to reunite with Max. Set in 1971 shortly after the Stonewall Riots, there is a sense of suspense and foreboding throughout this novel. VERA KELLY: LOST AND FOUND received starred reviews from Booklist ("gritty yet romantic") and Publishers Weekly ("filled with well-drawn, quirky characters"). And I love these covers!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I can fully admit that I should have read them sooner. This book was absolutely amazing and it has made me add every book that I can from the author to my to be read list! Bravo Rosalie for this amazing book of Vera Kelly

International woman of mystery turned private investigator turned romantic lead Vera Kelly returns in the third installment of this stylish Rosalie Knecht series.

And this time, it’s personal.

When her girlfriend, Max, goes missing during a calamitous visit to her family home, Vera takes matters into her own hands to ensure her safe return.

And Max’s estranged father is her prime suspect.

But her rescue mission becomes a race against the clock to overturn a heinous family betrayal that threatens to tear them apart forever.

This new Vera Kelly entry has all the suspense and intrigue I’ve come to expect of a Rosalie Knecht novel.

But with the added bonus of a beating heart at the core of the story.

I must admit that for a shorter work of #fiction, the pacing was somewhat sluggish, but the slown-burn was worth the effort for the explosive climax.

And Vera Kelly is a veritable queer icon, as far as I’m concerned.

I loved this book. The Vera Kelly series is one of my favorites, and the third installment might be my favorite of all.

Vera and Max together are so cute, when Vera was stuttering over her words about how she doesn’t think Max knows how much she loves her and Max just said she knew. I really cannot. Im obsessed with them. I’m glad Vera is finally getting to be happy.

The mystery aspect of this novel was different from the other two because it was more intertwined with Vera’s own life than the others had been. This was a great move, I was even more sucked into the plot that I had been the previous books. The journey to rescue Max was well written and as always, a nail biter.

I would absolutely recommend this book, I think everyone should read the Vera Kelly books.

This wasn't quite what I expected, and it wasn't as much about a murder mystery with Vera doing amateur sleuthing or the like as it was about her being a gay woman in the 70s and navigating her life as a gay woman with a relationship with another woman who had a harder time with her family and them accepting her and her way of life.
This was about Vera and Max going to visit Max's parents, where there was chaos with her parents and their marriage ending. It was about whether and how Vera and Max were going to reveal themselves and their relationship to her parents, etc. This was also about how it was easier for them to just say they were friends and hide their relationship and true nature around certain people and in certain situations. It was also interesting yet strange to see the similarities and differences in how women and gays/homosexuality was viewed back then versus how it is now.
And once again, this story led to a woman being taken against her will and admitted into a hospital or mental institution of some sort for 'sick people. I've now read 3 or 4 books this year relating to history and women being put in mental institutions because of reasons that are not related to them being sick and needing to be in a hospital the way the hospitals described it back then.
I was a bit disappointed in this story as I was expecting something fun and great, like other amateur sleuth stories I've read. It was a decent read with some interesting things and a good storyline, but I feel like it should have been identified differently, perhaps as a light mystery with more historical fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House for letting me read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was excited for this book, having loved the other Vera Kelly books. And I was not disappointed. To be critical, I felt this novel lacked any real conflict, everything was pretty easy for our protagonist to achieve. And there was very little of Vera and it was a book more about her girlfriend, Max. In fact, we got very little on Vera. AND YET. I still was profoundly interested and engaged. I'd read another book by Knecht, especially a Vera Kelly book, in a heartbeat.

This was a nail biter of an ending for the Vera Kelly trilogy. I found it to be immensely enjoyable and satisfying. This trilogy need to be read in order. To do otherwise would be to do a disservice to yourself and to the author.
Can’t wait to see what she does next.

I didn't realize this was the second book in a series, and that's completely on me. I think that it may have impacted my enjoyment of the book, but I did figure out what was going on, and I didn't feel lost. I just thought the story dragged quite often, and I found myself a bit bored. I thought this was going to be a bit faster-paced. I thought the characters were interesting, and I would maybe go back and find book 1 on audio to see if I enjoy it more.

This time it’s personal in Vera Kelly: Lost and Found.

Vera’s girlfriend Max is summoned back to her California family home. Max’s parents are divorcing, and a shady occultist may be stealing some of their ample funds. It’s 1971 and even in California being in love with another woman makes Max unpopular with her family. Then, Max disappears leaving Vera with the difficult job of finding her in the strange California environment.

Vera Kelly: Lost and Found is less a thriller or a mystery but rather a LGBT historical fiction tale. It is an interesting slice of life. However, I didn’t like it as much as the last book in the series, Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery. 3 stars.

Thanks to Tin House and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I'm a sucker for a good cover and this one is killer. Indeed, it was the covers on the Vera Kelly books that drew me to the series.

Book 1 was compelling. I was immediately drawn in by Vera and invested in her story. Her time with the CIA fascinated me. However, I felt the second book in this series was not as strong as the first. Book 2 felt transitional, existing only to bridge the gap between books 1 and 3. More important than the mystery Vera solves in book 2, it was meeting Maxine that was the book's biggest takeaway. And why? Because establishing the relationship between Vera and Maxine sets us up for book 3.

In book 3, Maxine is the mystery, and it's Vera's most important and most personal case to date.

Max grew up in a famously wealthy family who threw her out and cut her off at age 21 when she came out as a lesbian. Years later, Max learns her parents are on the brink of divorce. She doesn't know how she can help but she feels she must try. So she and Vera fly from their home in New York to Los Angeles for a week long trip. They stay in a guest cottage on Maxine's family estate. One morning Vera wakes up and Maxine is nowhere to be found. This book follows Vera through Southern California as she searches for her girlfriend, Max.

A few things struck me here:

(1) This book takes place in 1971. That means no cell service, no smartphones, no Maps app. I was already on the edge of my seat wondering if Vera would be able to track Max down, but a major part of my anxiety stemmed from the fact that I didn't know how Vera could find her. If all you have is a business name, if that business is unlisted, and if you're only reasonably sure that the business is in Southern California, how do you find it? Reading as Vera navigated things that are almost obsolete today - remember navigating by road atlas? remember phonebooks? remember dialing information? - was fascinating. And stressful.

(2) I'm not sure Vera uses the word regret, but she definitely doesn't remember her time in the CIA fondly. Yet the skills she learned in the CIA, including ease of subterfuge, are essential to her current occupation as private investigator and core to her search for Max. This book is an interesting comment on the idea of coming full circle and having the thing you want to distance yourself from the most be the thing that saves your life and the life of your partner in the end.

(3) We've seen stories about the unbecoming side of being wealthy before. I think what's interesting here is that seeing the dysfunction of the Comstock clan up close and in real time forces Vera to put her fraught relationship with her own mother into perspective. The discussion of why we want acceptance even as an adult from a parent who has over and over demonstrated that they will never accept us is interesting and, for me, relatable.

I think this book is a great way to round out the series. In many ways Vera comes full circle in this one. And it's interesting to think back as far as book 1 and reflect on Vera's journey from the person she was then to the person she is when book 3 ends. Highly recommend this one for fans of the series.

Vera didn't know the full extent of the wealth of Max's family- or how far they would go. Fans of Vera Kelly should know that this is different from the earlier books (and will be terrific as a standalone) but that it's equally gripping. Vera and Max have been happily living together when Max's sister calls and pleads with her to come home to California because the father who cut her off financially and emotionally is divorcing their mother- and he's moved his new girlfriend in. Her father hasn't changed his tune- if anything he's more hateful than ever about the fact that Max is a lesbian. And there's a grifter who is bilge money (not that the family isn't really rich). And then oe morning Max disappears and no one will tell Vera where she's gone, setting Vera off on a hunt for her that takes her the length of California and into a mental health facility. It's a compelling look at how some LGBTQ people were treated by their families and others but more importantly, it's a story about love and commitment. I love this series, love Vera, love Knecht's writing. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Great read and I'm very much looking forward to Vera and Max's next chapter.