When I saw this was murder mystery set in the 50s I was immediately intrigued because I love murder mysteries. When I saw it was queer murder mystery, it was like the author knew exactly what I liked and decided to give it to me. I really enjoyed all the investigation, the narrator did an amazing job, and I loved how every piece came together to solve the mystery. We were taken in one road, then it twisted, it changed so that in the end, even if the murderer could be thought as predictable, you didn't guess it because of all the twists and turns.
It was a really good listen for this spooky month.

This book was enjoyable - the premise was creative and the characters well developed. The writing was good though I will admit that it took me a while to get through this. Overall, I am excited to see what is in store for this author and would read more by them.

I liked this story! It was an interesting insight into queer culture and struggle back when it was not ok to be yourself. I liked the narrator but some of the voices seemed a bit hokey. But overall a really great story with a bit of mystery and “finding yourself” involved. I’d be interested in a follow up to see where the main character goes next!

"Men are terrible creatures. I feel so sorry for you...being attracted to them."

Lavender House by brilliant storyteller Lev AC Rosen is a delight for any lover of 50s film noir with a twist. It has a first person protagonist who is self deprecating, wisecracking and very sexy as described in the declaration, "I like being the heat that melts ice!"

It's 1952 and soap dynasty matriarch Irene LaMontaine is found dead at the bottom of the stairs at the Lavender House mansion. The police rule it an accident but her wife believes it was murder and hires recently fired police detective Andy Mills.
Andy is literally caught with his pants down during a raid at a gay club and beaten so badly by his fellow officers that his body looks like, "a water color painting."

He realizes that someone in the mansion is a killer but he may never want to leave because this place is a safe haven for anyone who is queer.

The magnificent narrator Vikas Adam is just perfect as the conflicting, often self loathing Andy and brings the writer's pristine Raymond Chandler style prose to life. Andy's torment of hiding who he is for a job he loves is heartbreaking. I hope this is the start of a Detective Mills series.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from MacMillan Audio via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

A gay whodunit in 1952 San Francisco. A time where people had to hide who they were in order to survive and protect their identities. This is an intriguing and well written mystery, with an unforgettable set of characters. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy.

Lavender House was a refreshing read after a bunch of horror books. I loved the 1950’s gothic setting and the narrator of the did a great job bringing the story to life.

Andy Mills was fired from his job as a police officer after being found in a questionable position during a raid at a gay bar. Disgraced and desperate for work he accepts the offer of an older woman named Pearl. Pearl invites Andy to her home, affectionately dubbed Lavender House to solve to investigate the death of her wife, beloved actress Irene Lamontaine. Before long Andy talks to the residents of Lavender House and discovers its a refuge for Queer people, a family. Who would have it in for Irene and why?

Lavender House is available now.

Thank you to netgalley and macmillanaudio for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

When Andy Mills meets Pearl Velez in a bar that’s just on the edge of seedy, they need each other – just not in any of the ways that one might expect at the opening of this dark, very noir-ish historical mystery.

Andy needs a purpose, and Pearl needs to give him one. Pearl needs an experienced detective that she can trust to investigate the recent death of her wife. And she knows that Andy is both experienced and trustworthy because he just got fired from the SFPD for being caught with his pants down, literally, in a police raid on a gay bar. His career is over. His life feels like it’s over, because all he’s been doing for the past 10 years is living his job and doing his best to keep his secrets. Now he has no secrets, no job, no apartment, no friends and nothing to fall back on.

He’s planning to throw himself off the Golden Gate Bridge once it gets dark enough – and once he gets drunk enough. At least that’s the plan until Pearl steps into his life with something that looks like it might BE purpose. And might give him the opportunity to help someone one more time.

Or hurt them worse than he ever imagined – depending on whether the case Pearl wants him to investigate turns out to really be a case. And depending, of course, on whodunnit.

So Pearl whisks Andy off to Lavender House, the beautiful home that the late soap magnate Irene Lamontaine and her wife Pearl created for themselves and their entirely queer family. A place where all of them can safely be themselves – as long as no one reveals their secret to the outside world.

Irene’s death might have been an accident. She might have lost her balance and fallen over the railing she was found under. But the fall wasn’t that far and Irene was healthy and energetic in spite of her years. The fall shouldn’t have killed her.

Between her family’s secrets and her family’s money there are plenty of motives for murder. It’s up to Andy to navigate the family’s murky relationships while not letting himself be seduced by living in the first place he’s ever known where he can finally be his authentic self.

Because Lavender House is a kind of paradise, and it’s up to Andy to find the snake in the garden.

Escape Rating A+: There are so many ways to approach this story, and all of them work. Frankly, the story just works. It had me from that opening scene in the bar and didn’t let go until the bittersweet end. To the point where, as much as I LOVED the audiobook, I read the last third as text because I simply had to find out how it ALL worked out.

I was pretty certain I knew whodunnit – and I did – but that wasn’t the most important part of the story. Still, I was glad to be vindicated.

But I did absolutely adore the narrator, Vikas Adam, whose performance definitely added the plus in that A+ Rating. I’ve fallen under his spell before, as he is one of the primary readers for Jenn Lyons’ Chorus of Dragons series, and he’s every bit as good here. To the point where I had to triple-check the credits for the audio. I expected him to do a terrific job with voicing Andy – and he certainly does – but he managed to not sound like himself AT ALL while voicing most of the female characters. I did that triple check because I kept thinking there was a female narrator working with him. But it was all him and it was fantastic.

The story is both a mystery and a heartbreaker, and the hard parts were that much harder to listen to because the narration was just so good.

Lavender House is being promoted as a gay Knives Out – and it certainly is that from the mystery perspective. (The comparison works even better now that it’s been revealed that private investigator Benoit Blanc is also gay.) At least on the surface, it seems as if the Lamontaine family is every bit as wealthy as the Thrombeys, and just as dysfunctional and eccentric. It’s just that the causes of some of the dysfunction at Lavender House can be laid directly at the feet of the 1950s and the circumstances they are forced to live under.

The mystery in Lavender House is fascinating, but it feels like the bleeding heart – sometimes literally – of this story is Andy’s journey. And in some ways the two parallel each other more than I expected.

At the heart of the murder – and at the heart of Andy’s journey, is a story about finding a purpose for one’s life. Andy begins at his lowest ebb because he’s just lost his and doesn’t know how to replace it. He’s lived for his job and now it’s turned on him because of an innate part of his being. Investigating Irene’s death gives him that purpose – even as it forces him to confront all the ways that he stifled himself in order to hang onto that job.

At the same time, all of the tensions at Lavender House, along with most of the motives and dysfunction, also have to do with purpose. For the staff, it’s a VERY safe place to work. But for the family it can sometimes be a gilded cage. Not because they can’t actually leave, but because they have to hide their real selves from the world when they do. And if they have no purpose within the house, as is true for two members of that family, they also have no way of making one outside it.

In the end, the solution to the mystery of Irene Lamontaine’s death was a catharsis but not a surprise. The case does come together just a bit suddenly at the end after a lot of often fruitless digging into scant clues and overabundant motives. But the investigation does hold the reader’s interest well, even when it delves into the angst in Andy’s head as much as it does the death that kicked things off.

But Andy’s journey from pretending to be ‘one of the boys’ at the cop shop through closed doors and literal beatings from his former colleagues to the realization that even if he can’t remain in the paradise of Lavender House that he can have a good and fulfilling life – if not always a totally free or completely safe one – as a gay man in 1950s San Francisco, with all the potential for pain and heartbreak and joy, is one that will haunt me for a long time.

Reviewer’s Note: Also that cover is just really, really cool. It’s almost like that damn dress that was either blue and black or white and gold. The more I look at it the more I see. Not just that it’s a silhouette, but there’s a face. And the rabbits. And eyes. So many facets – just like the story it represents.

I kept seeing this book advertised as a queer version of Knives Out. Well, I never read Knives Out, but that descriptor intrigued me, so I went for it! I read this book as an audiobook, and thought that the narrator was perfect. The voices matched well with the characters as I imagined them. The historical aspects of queer persecution in the 1950s was just as interesting to read about as the actual murder mystery. This was well worth a read for all mystery readers, all historical fiction readers, and also anyone looking for more queer representation in adult literature.

Andy is a former cop, who's been removed from his duties for being caught as a gay man in gay clubs in the 1950s. However, when Pearl approaches him to solve the murder of Irene Lamontaine, the name on the infamous Lamontaine soap, how can he refuse? When he arrives at Lavender House, he finds more than he bargains for. Lavender House is a haven for queer people, a place where it's safe to be who they are. However, the more time Andy spends at Lavender House, the more he's convinced someone in the family is the murderer.

I had a hard time with this book. I didn't find any of the characters likeable. Andy was sympathetic at times, but I can't say I particularly liked him. The mystery was okay, but it didn't wow me like other mysteries. Also, this is supposedly set in the 1950s, but the way the characters talked just seemed a bit off to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Vikas Adam was a fine narrator with a super deep voice!

This book was so good! I enjoyed the realness that the author put into it. I think people can relate to all the emotions that the characters have, even without ever having been in their situation.

I wasn't thrilled with some of the repetition of themes in the beginning, but the reason for it is explained later in the book. It makes sense within the context of the story.

I loved the combination of historical fiction and mystery. I thought both were really well done. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and trying to figure out what happened. The setting and time period fit perfectly.

This is the first book I've read by Rosen and I look forward to reading more of his work. There is potential for this to become a series at the end and I would LOVE that.

I listened to the audio version narrated by Vikas Adam. I initially didn't love the narration because there were a couple parts where it didn't fit. For example, a woman described as having a "deep, sharp voice" and I was surprised to hear her represented with a high-pitched female voice. There was also a line where a man was described as pleading and the sentence he spoke sounded aggressively angry. So, early on I thought the narration would be awful. However, those seemed to be the only issues. Mr. Adam was was able to give all of the characters different voices and personality without ever mixing them up. I always knew who was talking based on the variations. As the book progressed, I was won over and impressed by the narration. I am happy to to be able to recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review Lavender House.

Author: Lev AC Rosen
Published: 10/18/22
Narrator: Vikas Adam
Genre: Historical Fiction

This was a surprise plot, yet solid read. The cover color is what caught my eye. The story flowed seamlessly and the writing was beautiful. I was knocked sideways by the queer content. And will state this was written with class.

Based in San Francisco in 1952, gay people were seriously harmed if their sexual orientation was known. Lavender House showcases how people survived and the lengths they went to for happiness and survival.

This story centers around a gay murder. All the hiding and energy necessary to maintain relationships is subsequently shared with a private detective employed with his own personal cruel story.

The injustices that transpired were ghastly and I surmised still happen today.

My review does not do the book justice. There were times I felt like I was watching news clips and other times listening to history recounts. This is positively a solid read.

3.5

It feels weird saying that this was a fun book because it is a murder mystery and it deals with some very heavy themes, but I did really enjoy it.

Lavender House is a queer historical murder mystery, set in 1952 San Francisco following Evander Mills who until recently had been a detective with the SFPD but was fired and evicted when he was caught in a raid on a gay bar and outed.

Personally, I found the mystery aspect of this novel to be fairly middle of the road. It is a fairly slow narrative and I didn't find the resolution to be that shockin; however, I loved all of these characters. Andy was such an interesting character to follow and I loved his journey throughout this book. From where he starts to his reaction upon learning about the family in Lavender House to where he ends up, it was such an evolution and the ending sort of sets up for potential sequels and I would love to see more of him and some potential cameos of characters from this book.

I also really loved the thematic unpacking of queerness in this book. Throughout the book we see Andy grappling with how to move on from his traumatic outing and we see how the residents of Lavender House feel about their situations (living openly queer at home but still needing to hide outside) and we see how Andy reacts to their lives. This story does not shy away from the homophobia and violence of the time period and it asks some interesting questions about queernesss in that era and I really hope we get to see more of it.

I also loved the audio narration. Vikas Adam is one of my favorite narrators and I thought he really brought to life the gritty noir detective feeling without being too over the top.

After seeing so many people raving about this one, I was intrigued. This is said to be like "Knives Out" with a queer, historical twist. Unfortunately I really wasn't a fan of this one on audiobook. Maybe if I would've read it, I would've liked it more. The narrator read this with just too much emotion…trying too hard, If that makes sense! This is a little bit out of norm from what I normally read, but it sounded fun. It just never really captured my attention enough to really be invested. The murder mystery of it just wasn't that compelling for me. I would still recommend it to people, but might recommend they try the book version.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own!!

This book was different than probably any other book I’ve ever read, but in a good way. It was perfectly spooky.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

After reading the description for this book, I thought the premise sounded very interesting, so I requested it. I listed to this audiobook in a day. It kept me guessing until the end and the story was really well written.

The premise is that in 1950's San Francisco Pearl meets Andy Mills and comes to request his help in looking into the death of the owner of the Lamontaine soap empire. After being hired by Pearl, Andy discovers that there are many secrets hidden in the family.

I really enjoyed this one. I will definitely be recommending it to people who like a good mystery. The narrator did a fantastic job as well.

I have loved every one of Lev A.C. Rosen’s books, largely because of their casts of unapologetically queer characters! Lavender House was an auto-buy book for me, because of how much I have loved their other works, and it was one of my five-star reads this month! I adored the cast of characters and the classic “whodunit” mystery style, especially when set within the fabulous Lamontaine family home. My favorite character was definitely Pearl, though there were so many delightful queer characters that I really struggled to choose one!

The audiobook version of Lavender House was so easy to listen to! I found that the narration made the mystery even more suspenseful. The narrator’s voice had the perfect amount of grit to it, without being difficult to understand. In my mind, Andy’s character requires a gruff voice, which the narrator, Vikas Adam, captured perfectly!

My Recommendation-
I’ve seen this book compared to the movie Knives Out, which works for me on so many levels! If you loved the mansion-mystery family dynamic of Knives Out, and want a book to tide you over until the next movie comes out, you should grab a copy of Lavender House!

Content Warning: Murder, homophobic violence (hate crime), animal death, death, violence on-page

Well wasn’t this such a fantastic book?! The synopsis of the book really drew me in and when I listened, it delivered. I flew through this audio! I always enjoy the mystery genre and the fact that this story had a different spin on it with queer characters made me all the more intrigued. I think the narrator really added just the right touch of perfection to the storytelling. The voice was what you would imagine a stereotypical detective/inspector would sound like in the 1950s - gruff, overworked and matter-of-fact. It was a well-done and suspenseful novel and I enjoyed the journey. I will post a more detailed review to my Instagram page soon.

LAVENDER HOUSE is an original book, a genre mashup unlike most other books I've read.

It's set in 1952; Andy has just been fired from the San Francisco PD after being found in a gay bar during a police raid. His job was his identity (if he got close to people, they might find him out) and now he's seriously questioning what there is to live for. It's in this headspace that he's sought out as a PI.

The case? Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire, was found dead a few weeks ago. Her widow wants answers, but doesn't want to bring the cops to Lavender House -- where most everyone is queer.

I'd call this a queer historical mystery, but one that felt more like a character study of a found family than a page-turning whodunit. It has a locked-room vibe as much of it takes place within the gates of Lavender House. Brace yourself for heartbreaking homophobia on display, but trust there'll be an ultimately hopeful ending.

I thought the narration by Vikas Adam was well done.

DNF @ 42%

this sounded interesting when I read the description and the cover was pretty but it was too slow for me and I couldn't really get attached to the characters but it was mostly the sheer amount of casual homophobia. I understand it's chalked up to 'a product of the time' however it was seemingly gratuitous and made it really hard to push through, especially for almost 6 more hours.

CW/TW:
Graphic - Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality
Moderate - Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty
Minor - Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief

I absolutely adored the concept of Lavender House. In 1952, the family estate of recently deceased Irene Lamontaine, comes under question. Was her death truly an accident or is there more to the story? Irene Lamontaine was the head of a famous soap empire. Her lavender scents and recipes are kept under lock and key. But her home also offers a refuge for members of the queer community to live safely. So did someone who she helped protect, ultimately end her life?

There were so many positives to Lavender House. Reading this book feels like staying on the estate. Simultaneously, the tension is constantly palpable. Hearing about the couples back stories and seeing the characters develop was a constant slow unravel, which I so appreciated. Also a special shoutout to main character Evander Mills- I adored him.

But to be honest, the formatting of the audiobook was tough. The narrator had a wide cast of characters to tackle and I’m not sure it was successful. I had to constantly pause and rewind to see who was speaking. I am curious if I would have had this struggle had I had a physical copy of the book.

Regardless, I think this book will be a winner with readers as it is such a fresh perspective on the typical “whodunit” mystery. My advice- grab a physical copy and enjoy the slow burn!