Lavender House by Lev Rosen was the historical gay mystery of my dreams. Comped as a queer Knives Out, Lavender House takes the style of noir novels and perfectly adds the subtle queer history that makes this the PERFECT informational but enjoyable fiction novel.
The story itself was enjoyable, keeping you as the reader invested in the various aspects of the narrator's investigation (and personal struggles) as it progresses. The mystery keeps you intrigued and guessing throughout; at one point I was flipping back to the first 1/3 of the book to double check my original theory and gasping out-loud over something I had missed that ruined my guess! The characters themselves were unique and interesting, making you want to dive deeper into their individual stories but not wanting to risk getting too attached in case one of them happened to be the villain of the story.
I hope Rosen writes more in this style, because this was a MAJOR hit for me!
The story itself was enjoyable, keeping you as the reader invested in the various aspects of the narrator's investigation (and personal struggles) as it progresses. The mystery keeps you intrigued and guessing throughout; at one point I was flipping back to the first 1/3 of the book to double check my original theory and gasping out-loud over something I had missed that ruined my guess! The characters themselves were unique and interesting, making you want to dive deeper into their individual stories but not wanting to risk getting too attached in case one of them happened to be the villain of the story.
I hope Rosen writes more in this style, because this was a MAJOR hit for me!