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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. Irenes recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secretbut 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.
Irenes 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 accepthis 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 jealousyand Irenes death is only the beginning.
When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House cant lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.
Dive into the full Evander Mills series:
Lavender House
The Bell in the Fog
Rough Pages