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Lavender House

by Lev AC Rosen

ISBN13: 9781250834225
ISBN10: 1250834228

All Product Details

$26.99

New Hardcover

Ships in 1 to 3 days

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10	Burnside
1	Cedar Hills
2	Hawthorne
20	Local Warehouse

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen's Lavender House is Knives Out with a queer historical twist.

Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene's recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret — but it's not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they've needed to keep others out. And now they're worried they're keeping a murderer in.

Irene's widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept — his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand.

Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He's seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn't extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy — and Irene's death is only the beginning.

When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can't lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.

Review

“Rosen's deftly clued, noir-tinged plot successfully walks the line between hope and heartbreak, all while thoughtfully exploring the role of family in our lives.” Library Journal (Starred Review)

Review

“Lev AC Rosen's lushly rendered mystery, Lavender House, sets the detective novel on its head. There's the dishonored policeman sitting on a barstool in 1950's San Francisco and the elegant woman who slides in next to him with a job. But this femme's wife has been murdered, and the day-drinking cop has been brutally ousted from his job for being gay. Rosen's smart, bittersweet tale plays with the oldest truth of all: the price we pay for our identity in America.” Walter Mosley

About the Author

Lev AC Rosen writes books for people of all ages, including Camp, which was a best book of the year from Forbes, Elle, and The Today Show, among others, and is a Lambda finalist and ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. He lives in NYC with his husband and a very small cat. You can find him online at his website and on social media.

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Average customer rating 4.5 (6 comments)

`	bostieslovebooks , January 09, 2023 (view all comments by bostieslovebooks) After being fired from his job as a police officer for being caught in a gay bar raid, Andy is offered employment investigating the death of the head of a famous soap empire. Andy finds himself staying at Lavender House, home of a queer family where no one hides who they are within the house but all fear what will become of them if the outside world finds out their secrets. As he works to uncover if there’s a murderer among them, Andy contemplates if the freedom of Lavender House is truly free. I greatly enjoyed LAVENDER HOUSE. The story sucked me in from the first pages with an immediate feeling like I was in a film noir. The setting of 1950s San Francisco was fantastic. I loved the queer representation amongst all the characters. There’s a lot of social commentary and thought-provoking moments which I found to make the book very engaging. The plot moved at a great pace. I didn’t have the murderer figured out right away which is always a plus. The ending was satisfying and also open-ended enough that it could smoothly lead into a sequel if the author does so. I would happily read a second book if this became a series. If my home responsibilities had not been in the way, this is a book that I easily would have read in one sitting as it kept me turning pages. LAVENDER HOUSE was a great queer historical fiction mystery that I’d highly recommend.
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`	Bigreader342 , January 06, 2023 (view all comments by Bigreader342) First off, awesome cover with the color and rabbits, innocent looking at first, until you spot the dead one. Makes for a very intriguing book. The story was interesting too. Not quite up to the Knives Out caliber that it touts from the blurb, but still a good read. Not only do you get a good look into how hard it was to be different back then, but you get to see how resilient people can be and how havens were created for them to be themselves. And then there is murder most foul. Always a good choice to spice up a story. Pearl finds Andy, a recently fired detective to see if he can solve the mystery of Irene Lamontaine's death. Secrets abound with the rest of the family and much is revealed by the end of the story that makes this a good book to read. I also liked reading about the bits of soap making and what Irene did to keep the company running on new scents. So a fun book and I bet the next book will be good, with Andy on the case!
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`	lurkykitty , November 14, 2022 (view all comments by lurkykitty) It is 1950s San Francisco and detective Evander "Andy" Mills has just been thrown off the police force after being caught in a compromising position in a raid on a gay nightclub. While getting drunk and contemplating suicide, he is approached by a mysterious older woman called Pearl with a proposition for him to investigate the suspicious accidental death of her wife Irene, several weeks ago. Irene was the owner of one of the country's biggest soap companies. Pearl wonders if Irene's death from a fall could have been murder. Andy accepts the job and to investigate, moves into Lavender House, a luxurious Marin County estate inhabited by a found family of queer people: Pearl, Irene's son, his lesbian wife who he married for appearances and her partner; even the staff are queer. They live freely as themselves away from the danger of the 1950s' homophobic society. Lavender House is essentially a well-written "whodunnit" with social commentary about how scary it was to be queer in the 50s. The book described the discrimination, hate and pain faced by queer people, including violent incidents of gay bashing. The issues explored in this book are unfortunately relevant given the recent assaults on LGBTQ+ rights. Lavender house is a tightly plotted atmospheric mystery with complex characters involved in complicated relationships. I really liked Andy and hope to see him in future books.
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Product Details

ISBN:: 9781250834225
Binding:: Hardcover
Publication date:: 10/18/2022
Publisher:: FORGE BOOKS
Pages:: 288
Author:: Lev AC Rosen

$26.99

New Hardcover

Ships in 1 to 3 days

Qty	Store
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1	Cedar Hills
2	Hawthorne
20	Local Warehouse

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`	Thelibrarywasbooked , July 15, 2022 (view all comments by Thelibrarywasbooked ) Lavender House is the story of ex-detective Evander “Andy” Mills investigating a death at a wealthy estate, tucked away from the busy life of San Francisco. Andy was recently kicked off of the force for being gay in 1950s SF. When he is invited to Lavender House to investigate, he finds himself immersed in a world where other people like him are able to live freely within its gates. From the beginning, I really loved this book. The writing was superb and the characters were strong. I’ve read a lot of LGBTQ+ lately that’s just been meh, Lavender House really brought out important themes and character development often lacking in the genre. Though the ending was predictable I still really enjoyed the story. The plot was more character driven and less focused on action but this actually played well into the atmosphere. Lastly I’ll say that this reminded me so much of Agatha Christie blended with Knives Out and really made me appreciate the mystery genre once again.
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`	Mallory , October 18, 2022 (view all comments by Mallory) I loved this book so much and hope to read more like it from this author in the future. I will say it wasn’t the most exciting mystery I’ve ever read, but I feel it was equal parts mystery and brutally honest historical fiction and that emotion punch needed space too. This story takes place in the 1950’s and most of the cast of characters are queer in a time where it is very unsafe to be queer. Andy was a police officer until he was caught in a raid of a club and kicked off the force and out of his apartment. He’s approached by Pearl to figure out who murdered her wife Irene which brings him to Lavender House, where a mismatched family of queer people can have at least some openness in their relationships in their home. It doesn’t take long for him to realize that Irene was in fact murdered and his investigation into that murder was interesting. I didn’t think it was super twisty, but it was a satisfying ending and a truly well written book.
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`	alliep , October 18, 2022 (view all comments by alliep) While this is a fantastic book, I would say that it isn't quite what I expected. It's not a thriller, which I've seen it tagged as; I think it would be best described as a cozy, historical mystery (though, with some less than cozy themes). It's also a slower-paced sort of story, which didn't bother me at all.
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