3.5! An enjoyable read, but pretty slow-moving for a mystery compared to Knives Out. However, I loved the depictions of found family and acceptance of queer identity in a historical novel. The experience was depicted with familiarity and tenderness, and it was very touching. I would have liked a little more action or a faster pace, but I'm looking forward to checking out more from this author in the future.

LAVENDER HOUSE has a lot going for it. It's soapy. It's sexy. It's surreal. It's got glitz and glam and a mystery to solve. And while this lives more closely in cozy/Whodunit territory than thriller land, it's a pointed and poignant story about the way that the queer community had to live in hiding. I loved the pacing of this story -- it never got too spinachy or confusing. I loved the broad representation accounted for on its pages. I want to spend more time with this motley and mischievous crew. And I want a heck of a lot more Lavender soap in my life.

The blurb for this book was really quite interesting. I enjoyed the characters for the most part and the story was decent. It did move rather slowly and the end was kind of a let down. There was no shock value for me.

I was so excited by the description of this book, but I found that the description was super inaccurate and this was nothing like a queer Knives Out. Knives Out is funny and compelling and has twists and turns. Lavender House I felt like nothing happened and I was very uninterested in the plot and all the characters. I think the concept had so much promise, I just don’t think it was executed very well. Maybe I would have been more interested if I didn’t do the audio, but who knows.

My thoughts:

When I first started this book I didn’t think I would be able to finish as it had a slow start. So I took a break and restarted it a few weeks later and I ended up really enjoying this story. I did call the killer, but the motive caught me by surprise. I loved the theme of found family and how they looked out and protected each other in this story.

What can I say about Andy? His character really grew on me and I loved his character growth throughout the story. He did a lot of self reflection which isn’t always easy, but I’m glad he did. Since I did end up enjoying the story, Dennis will hold this over my head for the rest of my life. Pray for me y’all.

Triggers: Homophobia, Police Brutality.

Fantastic queer period mystery with strong cast & compelling lead investigator set in 1950s San Francisco

It took me a little while to get into this book but once I was hooked, I was hooked. We have our typical noir, but instead of a hard boiled PI and a femme fatale, we have a gay ex-cop and a lesbian soap maven. This book depicts homophobia and hate very well which is to say brutally. However, I love the big house at the center, the found family and the social scene of the 50s. I had to skip through some of the violent scenes, but by the end I loved this book. If I had one criticism, it would be that the narrator forces a gravelly voice that reminds me of Lego Batman.

I’m not one for murder mysteries but this one proved me wrong! I also avoid any books about police like the plague but turns out if you make it gay, and really good, I can be convinced.

This was a legitimately twisty and turny book that perfectly melded history and mystery. The Knives out comparison is spot on. I appreciated how developed even the smallest characters were and how they each carried their own secrets and threads through the book. It was great to see a good balance of creating real, emotionally layered characters while still acknowledging their flaws.

Definitely worth a read!

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review,

Ahhh I think there was nothing wrong with this book but I am just so not a police/detective investigation kind of girl. I didn’t love the narrator and just knew instantly I wasn’t going to make it to the end of this one.

I can 100% understand why people like this book and that in this case it’s not the book, it’s me!

This was a unique and interesting story.
I think this is a good book to open yourself to reading LGBTQ novels if that genre is not something you have ventured into yet. This was subtle while still being a large plot factor of the story and part of the character motivation. At it's core, this is a murder mystery. How did the female head of this Lavender House family die unexpectedly? While a gay detective comes to help solve this mystery, he also learns a lot about the other members of the house and himself. I really liked this story and was pleasantly surprised by it as it wasn't my normal type of read.

𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦!

Omg, I went into this story completely blind and with no expectations, and wow, what a captivating story. It touches so many topics blended in this fantastic Historical Queer Murder Mystery. Riveting, unique and wonderful. Loved it.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this complimentary audiobook.

𝗟𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 by Lev AC Rosen, author released October 18, 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Lavender House
Lev AC Rosen

I came across this book because a Goodreads friend enjoyed it and not only was I looking for a good mystery but I also have been neglecting the entire Historical Fiction Genre, so I picked this one up.

The book, Lavender House is a Historial Fiction Mystery set in 1952, about Lavender House and Evander "Andy" Mills. Andy is a weary ex-police officer out to find his place in the world.

One day Andy is approached by Pearl to look into the death of her partner Irene. Pearl lives at the LAVENDER HOUSE, where Andy will be in part investigating the mystery.

This book is as much about the mystery of Irene's death as it is about what goes on beyond the doors of the Lavender House.

There is a lot in this book about hiding. Hiding who you are and hiding secrets and guarding other people's secrets. There is an element of the discovery of truth to everyone and everything. Everyone has secrets even inanimate objects have secrets. I appreciated that mostly but there was not enough left unsaid.

It was a little overdone.

However, I liked the rhythm and carriage of the story. It followed the natural trajectory of a mystery. I liked the use of the time period and setting as an influence on the characters.

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copies.

LAVENDER HOUSE...⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.25

Thank you to MacMillan and Netgalley for an ALC of this book.

Set in the '50's, ex-cop Andy gets a private detective job investigating the death of a woman after he is fired from his job when his homosexuality is discovered. His new job takes him to Lavender House and he discovers a world where queer people are able to exist happily with each other--if only in secret.

This was a page turner! I'm not usually a big fan of historical fiction and it can be really hard especially when it is set in such a homophobic era, but this was really good and had me gripped from the start. It is about queerness but it is NOT a romance at all. It's a murder mystery and it is so so good. This is gripping and chilling and definitely worth the read if you are looking for some suspense!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Police brutality, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Animal death

The perfect cozy mystery. I felt like I was listening to a game of 'Clue' with a queer twist. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and am still thinking about it.
The narrator's voice had a deep, timeless timber which I loved.

Side note: I love the cover. There need to be more purple books.

Lavender House was described as Knives Out with a queer twist and I was sold! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job. I was pulled in right away and it had a great mix of intriguing characters. I was especially drawn to Andy and his character arc. The story was heartbreaking yet humorous and I enjoyed the way the mystery unfolded. The plot was clever and I certainly did not predict the ending. I cannot recommend this one enough if you enjoy historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

I loved the way queerness (and how 1950s society viewed queerness) never stopped being relevant. Every single moment with our almost entirely queer cast is suffused with that balance of performance and authenticity. The mystery was solid and well-developed.

So why only 3 stars? It was fine. Enjoyable. But the writing itself didn’t feel special. There were really only 2 interesting characters in the whole cast (and neither was our MC). I think it could have been so much more than it was if we’d gotten a bit more time with all of the characters.

Also the audiobook narrator (who I usually like) felt like he was trying too hard to make his voice deep and extra “conventionally masculine” which made him sound very stiff. When he was doing the voices of the other characters, it was fine, but the base narration was wooden.

I loved this book! The narrator was excellent and the story was really well written and read. I do wish the mystery was a little more complicated, as it turned out to be sort of an easy answer. But I so fell in love with the main character, Andy (and the voice actor!), and I hope this turns into a series.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publishers for this Title.
This was an easy 3 star for me. The story intrigued me but admittedly never pulled me in. The main character surely was a good flawed human and we love that. All the characters though left me wanting more information and so I ended up feeling a little underwhelmed. The soap making aspect mattered little and I feel from the very beginning we know who did it, not too much mystery but gee did I love the characters and their moments of joy so much so like our MC forgot there was a nefarious mystery at hand

Set in 1952, this book focuses on the recent death (murder?) of the head of the famous Lamontaine soap dynasty and matriarch of the Lavender House, Irene Lamontaine. The residence (family) of Lavender House are not what one would describe as typical. This is a chosen family of same-sex couples. Quite scandalous in the early 1950s, this group of people lived together in loving relationships without having to worry about outsider's judgment.

Evander Mills, a disgraced San Francisco police officer, understands the lifestyle of the residence and is willing to take on the challenge of discovering what happened to Ms. Lamontaine. This is a wonderful story of acceptance and suspense and will be enjoyed by those who are open-minded about the meaning of love and family.

I don't care about MCs plight. He's so woe is me sad and its like, bug. We know. Move on. Also the Knives Out, gothic descriptions are wrong. Way more noir. Quite slow and whiny