REVIEW: Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen
Set in atmospheric 1950s San Francisco, Rough Pages asks who is allowed to tell their own stories, and how far would you go to seek out the truth.
Private Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has been drawn back to the Lavender House estate for a missing person case. Pat, the family butler, has been volunteering for a book service, one that specializes in mailing queer books to a carefully guarded list of subscribers. With bookseller Howard Salzberger gone suspiciously missing along with his address book, everyone on that list, including some of Andy’s closest friends, is now in danger.
A search of Howard’s bookstore reveals that someone wanted to stop him and his co-owner, Dorothea Lamb, from sending out their next book. The evidence points not just to the Feds, but to the Mafia, who would be happy to use the subscriber list for blackmail.
Andy has to maneuver through both the government and the criminal world, all while dealing with a nosy reporter who remembers him from his days as a police detective and wants to know why he’s no longer a cop. With his own secrets closing in on him, can Andy find the list before all the lives on it are at risk?
CW – homophobia, racism
Dear Mr. Rosen,
I read the first book in this series but missed the second. I don’t think that affects my feelings for this one as “Rough Pages” relates back to so many of the characters of “Lavender House.” Once again, former cop and now PI Evander “Andy” Mills has to solve a murder among his newly acknowledged community – queer (term used in the book) 1950s San Francisco – while trying to keep safe from the cops who would now beat him up or worse just for being gay. Only this time Andy has much more on his shoulders as his community could be targeted from many different directions.
I have similar issues with this book as I did with “Lavender House.” The background is taut, coming alive as Andy and his friends and new found family try to keep their heads down and survive in a world that views them as perverts at best and deserving of persecution or death at worst. Andy is still making his way and earning the trust of the community that he’s been a part of for years but which he didn’t always protect when he was a cop. As a PI, now he’s seeking some form of justice for queers who have usually not even sought it from officials, knowing that they wouldn’t get it. He and one of the singers at the club where he now lives also have a side hustle in queer matchmaking of lesbians with gays in order to divert families, friends, and coworkers from figuring out that someone they know is queer.
The background of what Andy is now investigating was a real danger in the 1950s when there were laws in the US against sending obscene material through the USPS. A local bookstore has a mailing list for their queer clientele and lots of people Andy knows are on it. One of the bookstore owners is missing along with the list. If the feds have it, or worse the Mob, then anyone on it is at risk of persecution or blackmail. But there are other dangers here as a persistent reporter is now dogging Andy’s footsteps and Andy knows that Rose will write the truth regardless of who might be endangered. Andy has also still not quite learned that his new boyfriend doesn’t need Andy to treat him like a damsel in distress either.
There are times when I want to snap my fingers in front of Andy’s face and say, “Clue, pay attention!” Andy can be a little slow at putting some things together but then smart as a whip at others. I’ll give credit where it’s due and admit that I went back and forth over who the killer is as there are many possible suspects with good reasons. The end is believable and also a bit sad but then many if not most books written for queers at that time were. B-
~Jayne
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Hmm, I’m hoping my library gets this one. I’ve read both the other books and don’t mind continuing although I liked Lavender House better than The Bell in the Fog. The cover on this one is really odd to me though.
@Misti: I’ve heard some things about The Bell in the Fog that make me less interested in reading it. I think this cover points to the fact that a bookstore plays a prominent role in the story.