Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

Sunday, Mar. 17, 2024--San Antonio

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen was a finalist for the Lambda Award in the category of murder mysteries and was named a best book by Amazon, Buzzfeed, etc.  It takes place in San Francisco in the 1950s.  The protagonist is a cop who is gay and, therefore, leads a mostly closeted life.  He asks a friend in vice what bars they are raiding each evening that he wants to go out and makes sure he goes elsewhere.  But one night his friend is off duty and they raid where the protagonist is.  He is caught in a restroom stall with another man and with both having their pants down.  He is forced out of the police department and is considering suicide when a mysterious woman contacts him to work for her as a private investigator to solve a murder.  She doesn't want to go to the police or just any private investigator, because she lives a "hidden" life in a compound with other queer characters, and the woman who was murdered is her "wife."  The book emphasizes how dangerous it was to be gay at that time, how most gays lived a "hidden" life, how difficult it was to be out to anyone, etc.  The investigation takes the former cop to the compound where privately, everyone is a part of a chosen family while maintaining a public profile of being a regular family--mother, son, son's wife, son's private secretary, etc.  The book was very easy to read in two days.  The writing was simple, but the mystery was complex.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.