Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen

 

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

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 in danger of being exposed. 

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 to not just 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?

Growing up as a gay kid who moved a ridiculous number of times, including a three-year stint traveling with a carnival, I always felt isolated. I never learned how to build friendships with kids my own age because I was never around long enough. That feeling of never quite fitting in led me to understand the power of books very early. At first, they were an escape, an easy way to step out of my own life and into places and people I’d never meet in real life. As I got older, they became something even more important: proof that I wasn’t alone. Proof that I could have a happy life as a gay man. Proof that I didn’t have to listen to the news media, religious leaders, or politicians who demonized people like me. Growing up gay in the ’80s and ’90s, those books were already hard enough to find—I can’t imagine what that search must have felt like in the ’50s.

Rough Pages, more than anything, felt like a story about the power of books to create community. Yes, it’s wrapped up in the mystery of a missing bookseller, and I’m sure y’all can guess the poor guy doesn’t get a happy ending, but the way the author builds the story never lets you forget how deeply books can change a life for the better.

As always, the mystery itself is brilliantly crafted. My jaw was on the floor when Andy finally pieced it all together. Like in Lavender House and The Bell in the Fog, the solution isn’t clean or comforting. It’s messy, human, and heartbreaking—leaving me mourning the loss of life on both sides of the violence. It’s the kind of solution that will linger in my mind for years to come.

Andy, in only three books, has completely stolen my heart and cemented himself in my top five favorite detectives of all time. He’s grown so much within himself that, and while I know this sounds silly, I honestly feel proud of the man he’s becoming. I need Andy to comtinue that growths, so I need this author to continue the series for the rest of my life.

At the end of the day, Rough Pages reminded me exactly why stories have mattered so much throughout my life. They carried me through some of the hardest years, and this one felt like a reminder of the hope that can still be found in your found community. If you haven’t started this series yet, I truly hope you will. Andy, and the author, deserves more readers.