Member Reviews

Lavender House is a story of Evander "Andy: Mills who was with the police until they found about about his queer habits. Hired by Pearl to investigate the death of her wife Irene he's thrown into a house of people who are just like him.

This was a pretty solid story. I enjoyed the characters and their quirks. The plot itself was very basic. I somewhat guessed the twist about 20% of the way through which didn't lower the rating but the twist afterwards was lackluster. The ending was a little too dramatic for me dialog wise but it was still decent. I enjoyed the rep and would recommend.

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I really enjoyed Lavender House. Seeing a murder mystery interspersed with life as a gay detective in post-WW2 America. It made the story even more compelling, especially when it came to Evander and the rest of the characters we meet.

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What more could you ask for in a queer historical fiction novel? I loved every moment of this read and was captivated from start to finish.

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Andy Mills is fired from the San Francisco police department when he was caught in a raid at a gay bar that he had spent so many years trying to avoid. When he feels that all has been lost, he is invited to investigate the murder of Irene Lamontaine, the matriarch of a soap empire. Andy moves in to Lavender House to determine if Irene was murdered, and who among her found family could have done it.

Lavender House was really great as queer historical fiction. Andy's past life is contrasted well with the members of Lavender House, who maintain publicly straight lives while they are allowed to be open with each other within the safety of the house. I enjoyed Andy's discussions and explorations of the lives of the household. The central mystery was good, and had a satisfying ending, even if the book does not make it exceptionally complex. Rosen does a great job building out the world on 1950s San Francisco and how the various members of Lavender House feel trapped by the oppressive outside world. Lavender House is great if you want a queer mystery full of queer characters or a different kind of work of historical fiction.

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Set in the San Francisco area in the early 1950s, LAVENDER HOUSE is a bit of a locked room mystery where almost everyone is queer and hiding something. Most of the plot is slow paced and unfurls like a retired P.I. is telling you about one of their cases they could never forget over cups of coffee late at night at a 24-hours diner. And that's part of the beauty of Rosen's novel, that it's a quiet mystery focusing more on the true nature of people both in how they react to queer people existing and how queer people survive within the society that shuns them.

The murder mystery itself was interesting and while it wasn't a shocking reveal, it makes sense and overall there is a satisfying ending. Some of the characters are a little flat, but the others make up for it. At the end, I genuinely wanted to know what happened next to everyone and if Lavender House itself would be ok.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Forge Booksin exchange for an honest review.

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Taking place in 1952, Lavender House, home of the Lamontaine Soap Company there is a death. Covered up by the "family" that lives there, a private investigator, like them, is hired to solve the mystery of who the killer was.

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Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this. I didn't find the mystery particularly intriguing, and none of the characters felt developed or well-rounded, which meant that the red herrings before the final reveal weren't that interesting to me. I also didn't love the way that policing and police brutality were explored, especially in the beginning, and it threw the whole book off for me.

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I was interested in reading this book because of the cover, the title and it being tagged a LGBTQIA+ book. I went into reading it without knowing it's a murder mystery. The book moves very quickly and kept me engaged the whole time. That being said there are a few plot holes that bother me. I think the ending was also rushed, it could have used a few more pages.

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When I read a Lev AC Rosen book I know I’m getting a queer ensemble cast of characters, and I really appreciate that!

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San Francisco wasn’t our San Francisco in 1952. Then, gays and lesbians knew their choice was the closet or catastrophe. Evander “Andy” Mills knows firsthand: Fired as a San Francisco police inspector two days ago after being caught en flagrante delicto, he’s saved from his planned suicide when he’s hired to privately investigate a murder. The victim is the lesbian matriarch of the Lamontaine soap empire — closeted, of course.

Irene Lamontaine lived behind iron gates and her family’s money with her wife Pearl Velez. But that wasn’t enough to keep Irene alive. Now it’s up to Andy to discover who infiltrated Lavender House and killed Irene — or whether it was Irene’s own family, which Pearl doesn’t want to believe. Author Lev A.C. Rosen’s meticulously researched glimpse into the precarious life of gay and lesbian people before Stonewall shores up a cleverly plotted murder mystery. Rosen ends the novel with the promise of a series featuring Andy Mills, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Forge Books in exchange for an honest review.

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It’s 1952, and the heir of the Lamontaine Soap Empire has died under suspicious circumstances, and it is up to fired police officer Evander Milles to find the murderer. The only problem is that the suspect could be any of the numerous residents of the Lamontaine Estate. The residents are very good at keeping secrets; you see, it is an estate that has become a safe haven for gay individuals who have been persecuted in a society unaccepting of who they are…something Evander know all too well.
I found this novel a light read with an interesting plot that, at times, seemed a bit plodding. I found the author a bit too taken with explaining the actions and motivations of individuals rather than letting the readers come to these conclusions themselves. All in all, a quick whodunnit for those who love mysteries.

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Irene Lamontaine of the Lamontaine soap empire is dead. Her scents were always her secrets. But behind the gated home lies more secrets. Irene's widow, Pearl, hired Andy. He accepts the offer and comes to Lavender House. He finds it to be an accepting place and learns that most of the inhabitants are gay as well.

As he begins his investigation, he learns that people seldom enter the home so the killer must be one of the occupants. But who would want to harm, Irene? What could the motive be? Lavender House does not disappoint. This is a layered whodunit taking places in a unique living arrangement. The book is full of secrets and has a few twists.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw this book was described as “Knives Out with a queer historical twist”, I jumped on it. Knives Out? Outstanding movie. Make it gay? Yes, please!

While the vibe was less humorous than Knives Out (a lack of Daniel Craig will do that), the parallels were there. The mystery itself was a good one, with some small twists here and there, but nothing too mind blowing. And the ending sets things up nicely for potential sequels, if the author wishes to return to these characters, which I certainly would not mind, as I grew to love them all.

One note of warning though, for some readers: if (unfortunately historically accurate) homophobia is one of your triggers, please proceed with caution.

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This book is fantastic. The setting is accurate and compelling. The characters were of the time and so well drawn. Plus the book had a fantastic plot and ending. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read.

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There was a lot I liked about this and a lot that I wasn’t a fan of.

I really loved the queer representation and the queer relationships that were portrayed. A real strength of the book is the portrayal of the high stakes of being gay in the 1950s and the difficult choices people had to make to protect themselves. It added a layer of depth to the mystery that wouldn’t exist without it. I liked watching Andy grow and realize that he can be his true self. There were also a few twists that I really liked!

However, comparing this book to “Knives Out” is completely wrong. This book is much more of a “cozy mystery”. There’s more focus on the characters of Lavender House and Andy’s growth than there is on the mystery! And that’s great! But Lavender House lacks the specific high stakes, wit, charm, and eccentric detective that define “Knives Out”. The characters are not truly full of secrets and slander - they are just people who struggle to relate to one another. I went into this expecting it so much more, so it fell a bit flat for me.

Overall, I think this is a decent cozy mystery with a lot of good queer representation.


Thank you to NetGalley and Forge Books for an ARC of this book!

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I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

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What a wild ride! I was not expecting this to be quite as much of a who-done-it but was swept off my feet by the glamorous intrigue contrasting the trauma of living queer. Nancy Drew doesn’t hold a candle to Andy as he struggles to survive after being outed as gay and thrown off the police force. Then comes along Pearl- a widow who hosts a safe haven for people like him. Suddenly, he must come to terms with claiming his own identity and the pain people like him live with while also solving the mysterious death of Pearl’s late wife.


I loved the character development and twists and turns, the future set up for Andy was well done, but the book did not flow as well as it could have.

I look forward to seeing how this series progresses.

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Set in 1950s San Francisco, “Lavender House” is a thrillingly queer murder mystery. Andy Mills, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being arrested in a gay bar, is hired by a woman to investigate the suspicious murder of her wife. At the titular Lavender House, Andy meets the suspects - the victim's family - all of whom have something to hide. This is a thoroughly enjoyable whodunnit with gorgeous writing and fantastic characters. This could easily be the first volume in a series - and I really hope it is - as readers will want to revisit these characters over and over again.

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TW: Period-typical homophobia and slurs, on-screen gay bashing, violent death, suicidal ideation.

Lavender House is described as a queer Knives Out, and I can see the comparison -- a complicated family history thrown into disarray by a murder. It's also got more than a little noir as well, being set in 1952. Evander "Andy" Mills was a cop right up until he got found in a gay bar with another man during one of the raids, his little system of finding out where the police were going to hit gone awry. The life he's known over, he's got nothing ahead of him -- until the secretary of a soap company hires him to investigate the owner's death. Except that she's not the owner's secretary: she was, secretly, her wife, and her entire household has been staffed with fellow queer people in the hopes of making a safe space just for them. Andy has to find out who did it -- someone inside the household? Someone outside? -- while wrestling with his own complicated feelings of being in a queer community instead of outside it. One that probably has a murderer in it.

It's a really great murder mystery, frankly. It kept the whodunnit up in the air just long enough, sending multiple possible motives your way, but still giving you enough clues to figure it out yourselves. The characters are interesting and appealing, and you find yourself rooting for most of them. I found it a very exciting read.

I also especially appreciated Rosen's refusal to ignore the fact that there's no such thing as a good cop in a bad system; Andy might have meant well, and he might have genuinely become a cop to help people, but he turned a blind eye to the bad cops to keep the heat off himself. This isn't ignored, or excused, but it is something that the narration allows to be understood.

Really good read. A bit of a heavy one -- as you can imagine! -- but beautifully-written, well-explored, and thrilling.

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A queer Knives Out set in the 1950s? SIGN ME UP. The story follows Evander Mills, a investigator who was recently fired from the force when it was uncovered that he was gay. One day while he is at a bar he is offered a job from the mysterious Pearl, the widow to the recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Pearl wants Evander “Andy” to investigate Irene’s death and figure out whether it was a natural cause like some believe or if there was foul play involved as Pearl believes. Pearl specifically wants to hire Andy because she knows his secret... and he would be the perfect person to investigate Lavender House... home to a family of queer individuals who have all been living in freedom and safety from the world outside. Andy is getting to chance to experience the lavish wealth that Lavender house has to offer as well as the complicated family dynamics, secrets, and the fact that one of these individuals might be a killer. Despite how polished and clean they all seem.... something is definitely going on and it’ll be up to Andy to figure it out before its too late. This was a fantastic mystery read, I loved the way you get to see Andy navigate this difficult time and see him come more into himself and find freedom in his queerness. I also enjoyed the family dynamic in Lavender house, all the characters were fun to get to know, especially Elsie and Margo. The way the book ends makes me hope that there might be a full series set in this world kind of like Knives Out. It truly was a fun read and I definitely would recommend it for mystery lovers!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

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