4.5

This is the third book in a series, so I wouldn't recommend picking it up on its own because while the mysteries are contained within each book the character growth adds so much more to the story in my opinion. I highly recommend the series, starting with Lavender House. Set in 1950s San Francisco, this series highlights what it was like to be queer in that era. Our main character, Andy Mills was a closeted police officer who was fired when he was caught in a raid at a gay bar. Now working as a sort of private investigator (he's not able to get an official PI license because he'd need a recommendation from his former employer), Andy is doing his best to protect those in his community. In this installment, we see him investigate the case of a missing bookseller which highlights the terrors of the Comstock Act and feels like a love letter to books/rage against book banning. Honestly reading this book now with the rise of book banning and discrimination against marginalized communities was so cathartic for me. As a story, I think this was the weakest of the three so far but as a thematic exploration it hit so hard. I always anticipate a new installment in the series and I highly recommend the audiobooks, narrated by one of my favorites, Vikas Adam. I love the extra layer of noir feeling that he brings to these stories and cannot imagine the books without him narrating for me.

I am obsessed with this book and series. I love it so much. The books are very atmospheric. I love all the characters, even the baddies. I love the flawed MC. I love the narrator. I love it so much. A++ published 100 in this series.

I read books 1 & 2 to prepare for this ARC and am glad I did. There was a ton of backstory that you really need to understand Book 3. These books were rage-inducing and so hard to read due to the bias, violence, and hatred of LGBTQ+ back in the 60's & 70's. With that being said, I really enjoyed watching Andy come into his own as he accepted himself as a gay man and made a place for himself among friends.

This was my 1st foray into Lev AC Rosen's books but it will not be my last! I have added all his books to my TBR!

I just adore this entire series, and this third installment is no different. It was so nice to be back in Andy Mills' world with all his found family - it gave me the same feeling of contentment and intrigue I got from reading Lavender House for the first time. The mystery really hooked me, and I enjoyed learning more about the 1950s-era queer lifestyles and hardships. I'm hopeful for more books in the series, because I'm not ready to be done with Andy yet.

For the audiobook narration, Vikas Adam killed it as usual. I love how he brings the different characters to life with a variety of voices and accents, and I can't imagine anyone else voicing the series. He's perfect.

The third installment in Lev A.C. Rosen's terrific 50s noir detective series takes on a favorite topic for readers... books!

It seems as though queer detective Evander Mills can't stay out of trouble. For the third novel to feature him The disgraced cop-turned PI returns to where it all started, Lavender House, where his chosen family (all queer folks living in secret) realizes that their identities might be public. For Mills, his friends, and his community, being outed might have fatal consequences. There's a queer bookstore nearby that has been mailing out fiction for voracious readers. But the bookstore owner has gone missing. As has copies of his salacious new book. As has his list of all his contacts. In order for Mills to keep his queer community safe, he has to find the owner, find out who knows about his contacts, and figure out which nefarious forces know too much...

I don't read too many serialized detective series, but I put Mills up on the same level as Marple and Poirot for me - if there's a Mills story, I'm reading it. Lev A.C. Rosen's detective series is not only highly entertaining, but rooted in rich queer history and constantly expanding. This third novel gives us the broadest suspect pool and the most real estate to make the story go off track - luckily, it never does. The introduction of a new foil (or friend?) in Rita is a great addition to the mix of well-plotted, multidimensional characters who are often caught between a rock and a hard place in this series. This is a formidable addition to an already strong series that you should be reading!

Review: Rough Pages 📚

By: Lev AC Rosen
Published: October 1, 2024

Private Detective Evander “Andy” Mills is called back to Lavender House by Pat, the family butler, for a missing person’s case. Howard Salzberger, the bookseller Pat works for, has gone missing, along with his address book. This is a big problem because the books they distribute are queer books and anyone in that address book is now in danger, including some of Andy’s closest friends. A search of Howard’s bookstore reveals that someone wanted to shut down their book distribution. It could be the Feds or it could be the Mafia, looking to blackmail anyone in that address book. So, Andy has to maneuver through the government and criminal world, all while having to dodge a nosy reporter who recognizes him from days on the force.

For the last three years, we’ve been graced with a new entry in the Evander Mills series and this might be my favorite one yet!

The book gives us what we’ve come to expect of Andy—his gruff exterior and soft interior towards the people he cares for. I really like Andy because he does so much for the people he loves, yet is sometimes incapable of asking for help when he needs it.

The story centers around a bookstore that has a book subscription for queer books, which is needed because, at the time, books with queer content are illegal and anyone receiving them would be outed and shunned by society. Reading this felt so visceral because I picked this up days after the election and felt the reality of our political situation closing in on me. It felt ominous to read this, given the book bans happening all over the US currently.

I truly hope this series never ends! it feels like a portal into the past and I love the added layer of the mafia in this one. Rosen really does a phenomenal job bringing so many distinct characters to life in these books and gives us these slivers of the queer community from the past that feel so special.

Verdict: Really Loved 🥰

So much potential, if only Rosen would trust the story to make his points for him instead of inserting little homilies about the oppression of queer people and the importance and danger of books, and if only Vikas Adam didn't (a) sound so melodramatic whenever anyone had an emotion; (b) pitch Rose and DeeDee's* voices so irritatingly high. I remember him as doing a good job with KJ Charles's "Unfit to Print," so what went wrong?

I figured out who Howard's killer was so early on that when Andy mused that he had no idea what that person's motive could possibly be, I LOL'd. The final plot twist wasn't a big surprise either.

I listened compulsively despite all that, so 2-1/2 stars rounded up instead of down. Thanks to NetGalley and Forge for the audio ARC.


*Apologies if "DeeDee" is spelled otherwise: drawbacks of audio.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audio of Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen.
I absolutely love this series, and Rough Pages might be the best one yet. Evander is a great main character, but the supporting cast is just as important to the story. The plot of a bookstore with a mail book service for gay books, possibility of feds looking into it, then the mob, and maybe just scared members of the community - was smart, entertaining, and a good mystery.
Just as the characters in this book know, books are important and representation matters. A love letter to diverse reads.

3.5 stars

The narrator on this series is great, and I enjoyed the narration again. This time there was a character whose voice I couldn't stand, I do think it matched the character but I still found it grating. I think this was an instance where I just picked up this book at the wrong time. I really like the returning characters, but I was so stressed reading this one! The series is definitely not cozy, it's often stressful or depressing, but this time I found it overwhelmingly so. I think there was just less hopefulness in this book? There were so many things going wrong or threatening to go wrong in so many aspects of the case and the detective's life and it just ramped up my anxiety. Also, the topic of book censorship is so relevant to today that it stressed me out even more. I think with things in the world as they are I just wasn't ready for this level of stress in my fictional forays. I do think this series is great and if you're open to a more nail biting read it's definitely worth picking this one up. I just wished for a little more comfort for the characters I care about.

Private Detective Andy Mills continues his work as a detective for the gay community in 1950s San Francisco when a friend reports someone missing. Howard Salzberger is a bookseller who secretly runs a book club mailing queer books out to subscribers. With Howard missing and the list gone, Andy needs to figure out who wanted to stop Howard's work before the mailing list gets into the wrong hands. Andy's investigation pulls him closer to the mob, his former police department, and a reporter who is all too interested in Andy.

Lev A.C. Rosen has written another great queer historical mystery in Rough Pages. With more books in this series Rosen is slowly building out the world of his San Francisco. The characters are well-rounded and make the mystery a lot more fun to watch Andy solve. The book also gives a lot of insight into the power of gay books and the underground community that spread them to allow people to see themselves reflected in fiction. It balances the central mystery well with a broader perspective of the historical state of LGBTQ people in the 1950s. Rough Pages has a lot of characters that feel right out of a noir, especially Rose Rainmeyer as the over-eager reporter. I look forward to Andy Mills next appearance and mystery he has to solve. The audiobook was produced excellently and the narrator continues to do an excellent job bringing Rosen's character's to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forge Books for a copy of Rough Pages in exchange for an honest review.

What an amazing addition to this series. I loved getting to check back in with old characters as well as meet new ones. And the mystery had me guessing till the end

(4.25/5 stars)

Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen is a another great entry into the Evander Mills queer historical mystery series.

Set in 1950s San Francisco--when LGBTQ+ individuals had to hide their true natures--private detective Andy Mills attempts to right whatever wrongs he is able to. In this installment, Andy looks into the disappearance and potential murder of a man who co-ran a bookstore with a monthly queer book-by-mail subscription.

This is honestly my favorite queer historical mystery series that is presently being written. I really enjoy Rosen's prose and the audiobook narrator Vikas Adam does a very good job. I'm so excited for what's to come, thanks to something that happens at the very end of this book. But I'm not going into any details here because spoilers!

I really like this series, and Rough Pages feels very timely in light of all the book banning taking place.

Set in 1950's San Francisco, these follow a gay ex-cop turned Private Investigator serving the queer community. This was a time when they really had to hide and it was scary for anyone trying to just live their life. In Rough Pages, Andy Mills takes on a case involving a missing bookstore owner who ran a covert gay books by mail program. Because if that mailing list has been found by the feds it would put a lot of people in danger.

As a mystery, I think this is decent. But what I really like is the ongoing story following Andy and his found family, and unpacking elements of being a queer person in this time and place. If you like the series, I do recommend it! The audio narration is great with those noir vibes, similar to past books. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I love this series and Rough Pages was no exception. Vikas Adam narrates a nail biter I couldn't wait to keep listening to. Andy Mills is the underdog you can't help rooting for, and I didn't see the ending coming. I will continue to read this series (and listen to the audio if possible!) for as long as it's released.

Thanks NetGalley! Detective Andy and his friends at the Lavender bring their passion and chaos to a story that at times jumps off the page with witty banter and a complicated mystery. These are memorable characters!

The case that Andy has to solve in Rough Pages begins by circling back to the events of the first book in the series, Lavender House. In that first book, Andy Mills found a purpose, became part of a found family, and solved a murder, all while keeping the police – of which he used to be a part – from learning the truth about the residents of Lavender House.

That every single member of the family, and the staff, were queer. He managed to keep their secrets in spite of his own already being common knowledge – at least among his former ‘brothers in blue’ in the San Francisco Police Department.

So Rough Pages begins by taking Andy back to Lavender House, because they need his detective skills again – even if they don’t know it yet.

The Lamontaine family at Lavender House has adopted a baby. Or nearly so. The paperwork and the inspections and the questions have not quite run their course. It would still be much too easy for social services to take the baby back. If the family’s secret comes out – they certainly will.

At first, the case doesn’t seem like much. A friend of the family, the owner of a queer bookstore, is missing. Nearly all of the family have bought books from the shop. The butler/majordomo, Pat, volunteers there on his days off.

But it’s not just the owner that’s missing. Because he kept a list of all the subscribers to his book service, a kind of book club for queer books, mailed to subscribers all over the state of California – and even beyond. It’s not just that he’s missing – his list is missing too. A list that includes every single member of the Lamontaine family old enough to read.

Mailing ‘dirty’ books through the mail was illegal and ALL books with a hint of queer contents were considered ‘dirty’ automatically. If that list is in the wrong hands, they’re all in trouble and they’ll lose the baby.

So there’s the obvious possibility that Howard and his business partner DeeDee, who is also missing, might have been arrested by the feds, and that the feds have the list.

But it could be worse, because Howard may have gotten himself in trouble with the mob, either because his boyfriend is a mobster’s nephew or because he planned to publish the memoirs of a gay mobster – anonymously, of course. Either of those circumstances is more than enough to land him in big trouble with some very shady characters.

The feds will just ruin everyone’s lives and send as many as possible to jail. But the mob? Blackmail is the most likely outcome. Or, they might send somebody to ‘feed the fishes’. Unless they already have.

Escape Rating A+: I am absolutely hooked on this series, and Rough Pages was a totally worthy successor to the first two books, Lavender House and The Bell in the Fog. And it’s even better and more utterly absorbing in Vikas Adam’s narration, which I’ve had the pleasure of listening to for all three books so far. And OMG but I hope there are more.

I fell into this book so deeply that I had to let it process for a couple of days before I could write anything coherent. With a book this good it takes a while for the ‘SQUEE!” to settle down. I’m not exactly certain that it has even now, but I’ll certainly try.

This is a book that can be read – or listened to – from multiple perspectives with multiple hooks, all of which ‘hook’ the reader rather firmly.

Mystery readers, particularly readers who love noir detective fiction will feel right at home in the foggy streets of Andy’s San Francisco. Andy Mills is exactly the type of hardboiled detective featured in the work of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain – or he would be if Andy wasn’t queer.

At the same time, this series is historical fiction, set in the early 1950s, among San Francisco’s gay community. Also, it’s set at the point in U.S. postwar history where everyone was trying to repair and/or return to a ‘normalcy’ fractured by war. The tolerance of the war period was over and McCarthyism was on the rise, searching for liberals, queers and communists in every closet, under every bed, and any place where anyone who stood up or stood out might ask questions, persecuting and prosecuting them unmercifully in both the courts and the press, driving them out of jobs, homes and even the whole country.

The fear that Andy, his friends, his found family, and the community he serves, live under every day is as palpable as Andy’s personal fear that his former ‘buddies’ in the SFPD will find him and beat him again and again – and that they might not stop when he’s merely ‘near‘ death the next time.

And in this particular case, Andy’s job and his life intersect with an issue that, while it never goes away, has reared its ugly head as high in our present day as it did during the 1950s setting of the story. And that’s censorship and the repression of thought and speech that is always its ultimate goal.

The combination of themes gives this story a resonance from past to present while also telling a terrific story, putting the reader squarely at Andy’s side during a compelling investigation, and feeling right along with him as he does his best to protect the people he has come to hold dear – in a life that he never expected to have.

Some readers will be here for the mystery, some for the history, some for the portrait of gay life in a time and place where everything had to be hidden – and the cost of that attempt at hiding one’s truest self on every action and reaction. And anyone who believes in the power of words and thoughts and books and reading to change lives and form communities – and just how much some parts of society will attempt to suppress those same words and thoughts and even lives, will find Rough Pages to be a story that sticks long after the final page is turned.

This was an interesting book, I enjoyed the story and the characters. The pacing was good. I don't think this book was for me, it was a little more Sam Spade then I was expecting, but it was still good and a good read. I'd read more from the series, I just don't know I'm who it was written for. It also had a lot of important historical perspective you don't often see in a book like this. I kept getting confused on era, but that's on me, not the book. :)

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants Raymond Chandler, but updated for the modern era (so a lot less misogyny and from LGBTQ+ perspectives.)

CW: homophobia, racism

*slight spoilers for earlier books in the series*

I loved this book! My favourite in the series thus far.

In this installment we have Andy tracking down a missing bookseller, so may have gotten into trouble for selling and sending obscene materials through the mail. I don't know if this is super accurate with the post office (I assume it is?), but now, you can send whatever you want in the mail, as long as it's in an envelope; if the post office doesn't know what it is, it's none of their business.

I really loved how Andy continued to evolve as an out (or at least not actively hiding), queer man, as well as how his relationship with Gene is developing. I really appreciated Gene putting Andy in his place about his hero complex; not everyone needs to be saved by Andy Mills, despite him thinking they do.

I was also so happy to have the family from Lavender House back in this book. They felt like such an important catalyst to Andy's introduction to the queer community (in book one) and I had hoped that they would be in book two more than they were. It was great to catch up with them again and see how Andy can fit into their little family.

But, but, what I really loved about this book, is that it's a book about books. There are so many times that they are discussing the importance of books, especially queer books, and what they were saying is still SO relevant today (70+ years later). How it's important to see yourself in books, how you can learn about yourself from reading books, how books make you more empathetic towards others whose background you don't share, etc. This quote in particular is just so, SO good:

Pat laughs. “No, no, Andy. Books are dangerous.” I turn to him, surprised. “What?” “It’s just about who they’re dangerous to she was wrong about. She meant her, Howard maybe. If people are afraid of you reading a thing—a reporter, the mob, the government—that means they’re afraid of reading it too. Afraid of knowing what’s in the book, whether it be some personal secret, or just some story of love that could make someone feel less alone. Books are just as dangerous to the people who don’t want us to read them as they are to us. Because they make us less alone. They make us see ourselves. They make us realize what we deserve. And sometimes they make people who aren’t like us realize it, too. That’s why they’re dangerous. And that’s why we all have to live dangerously—so we keep reading them.”

I do have to say that the homophobia was especially difficult to read in this, even though I'm sure it's historically accurate. It's also a big part of the plot, so it kind of has to be there, but it was still super uncomfortable to read. Even though I really disliked reading it, I did really appreciate how Rosen wrote it, which probably sounds weird! He didn't write any slurs (Andy called himself a fag, once) and one side character referred to an unnamed queer person as a fairy, but I think that if the language had been historically accurate, it would have likely been a lot worse. The same goes for the racism in the book; yes, folks in the early 50s were super racist, but no slurs were used.

I absolutely devoured this book, I actually read it almost in one sitting, which I haven't done for quite some time. Even though this one isn't out until October, I'm already hoping for a fourth book!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a free advanced listener’s copy. I received this copy in exchange for my honest review.

The third installment of the Evander Mills series was another wonderful addition to this noir mystery collection. The feeling of all the series parts before this and the newest installment is this wonderful chemistry between classic noir detective stories and queer history. Lev A.C. Rosen does it again with a story of a missing bookstore owner with a connection to the original Lavender House family through a queer book subscription service that could put the family in danger just as they approach the finish line to adopt their newest member.

These books always feel like an experience where i’m along for the ride with our trusty, gruff, and a bit awkward Detective Mills but the mystery is also so full of suspects and clues that you can really feel like you’re figuring things out with Evander and not like you’re a step ahead or behind him. I also love all the world building around Evander’s life at the ruby, his status with Gene (his boyfriend) and the family he’s slowly building around himself in this corner of the queer community in San Francisco.

Once again, Vikas Adams does a great job as the voice of Evander and the book’s narrator. He juggles the gritty tones well with Evander’s genre defying vulnerability and discomfort very well, the series wouldn’t be the same without him. This entire series is just so fun and the quality stays consistent and enjoyable; a perfect series to pick up for fall!

"Dirty books... that's illegal?"
"Books aren't above the law."

"With a book I might have felt seen...safe."

It is because of writers like the immensely clever Lev AC Rosen that I love books, that I learn from fiction, and I believe he's one of the most important authors of our time.

Rough Pages, the 3rd installment of his Evander Mills historical mystery series, is just brilliant. The title is perfect for the story. The noir atmosphere is filled with intrigue, unease and nostalgia.

Former detective, now private investigator, Evander "Andy" Mills is back helping his queer friends at the Lavender House estate. Pat, the butler, needs his help finding bookstore owners Howard and Dorothea. He's worried they've been arrested for selling books, in their store and through the mail, about and for queer people. It's the 1950s and homosexuality is illegal in persons, literature and art. If their mailing list, their clientele, is made public, the readers are endanger of arrest and their lives ruined forever.

With his usual writing flair, the author creates an unsettling atmosphere as Andy avoids a reporter after the truth. He's also trying to protect his friends and himself from the government and the mob; who may be involved in the disappearance case.

Voice actor @Vikas Adam is Andy. From the first self depreciating line in Book 1, Lavender House, and the swaggering sexiness in Book 2, The Bell in The Fog, to his emotional vulnerability in Rough Pages, this actor gives Andy his depth, his likability and his soul.

The mystery of the missing persons is twisty. The resolution is surprising but it's Andy's world, his trials and tribulations, that makes this a smooth story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair & honest review. All opinions are my own.