Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Lavender House

I really thought that I just wasn't a fan of noir detective fiction in general, but turns out I'll read and enjoy just about anything if you make it gay enough. I flew through this book in two sittings over the course of an afternoon, I literally couldn't put it down. I'm not a huge mystery reader, so even though I figured it out by the end, it really had me guessing. I fell in love with the entire cast of characters, and I cannot wait to read more of this series!!

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oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So while this book isn’t what I’d call a historical queer “Knives Out,” it is many other wonderful things. Yes, the plot of this book theoretically focuses on the murder of a family matriarch and our protagonist who is a recently fired queer SFPD cop who is hired to investigate that murder, but it becomes so much more. This book is ultimately about coming to terms with who you truly are, family dynamics, and the complexity of love.
I really loved the storyline and the characters were very well developed with a nice level of depth. I really connected more to the characters than I expected to and there were simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking moments that surprised me.
I really enjoyed this one and learned that there are more books featuring the main character that I will definitely be picking up very soon!

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bethsiekierawalker's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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adearen's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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growintogardens's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I hadn't read a gay noir before, but it's interesting and I'll happily read more.

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kappafrog's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this. I read it very quickly because I wanted to find out the answer to the mystery. However, the main character had me in two minds. There were heart-wrenching aspects to his story, and there were times when it made me really smile seeing how much he was starting to accept himself. However, I did not find it enjoyable to read a character arc that consisted of "cop realises how bad the stuff he lets other cops get away with was." I'm glad he realised and learned and found a way to move forward in life, but I was with Judy on this one. It was hard to sympathzie with him, especially after

he remembered letting cops get away with raping lesbians. Jesus, that was bad, and just immediately brushed past.

I'm a little mixed on how the end played out as well. It seemed like Alice was way too obvious a candidate from the start, so I had fun thinking about which of the others it was going to be. But then when it turned out to be Alice and she was just a serial murderer, well, it was a little meh for me. The boldness of a story where almost all the characters are queer so one of them gets to be the villain without being the token queer villain got diluted by it being the only straight suspect who did it after all. A fair subversion, given the long history of queer and queer-coded villains, but less thought-provoking and innovative than it seemed at first. Also, we really just glossed over how Margo covered for her mother's murder for YEARS, and how Pearl killed a private investigator at the end of the book!

I really loved the way the setting of the house was described, with all the flowers and trees and the sense of seclusion. My favourite character was definitely Pat. I would have been happy to see more of his life! I liked the doctor-turned-bartender a lot too. Usually I gravitate towards queer women in books, especially historical ones, but it was harder to connect with the women in this book. I think it was just obvious that the author was writing what he knew with the queer men so their feelings and personalities shone through a lot more strongly than those of the women.

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barometz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

theochick's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Super gripping mystery— I heard this described as “queer 50s Knives Out” and that’s a pretty fair comparison

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