Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

 

Synopsis From The Dust Jacket:

Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the Lamontaine soap empire. 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 about keeping a murderer in. 

Irene's widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police department after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept - his 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 jealousy - and Irene's death is only the beginning. 

The gates of Lavender House can't lock out the real world forever, and running a soap empire can be a dirty business. 

When I was in high school—in the early 1990s, for anyone interested—I would go to the public library in Skiatook, OK, and search for every single book I could find that featured a gay male character. At the time, I was desperate to read anything about who I might become as a gay man. I needed to know what my life could look like. You have to remember, we weren't on TV, and most movies with gay characters portrayed stereotypes of the worst kind. That’s not to say books were perfect in that regard. A lot of what I read was filled with self-hate and unhappy endings—and this was coming from gay authors. For the record, most classic gay lit is depressing. I'm glad I read those books, but for the most part, they aren’t ones I’d ever want to revisit.

The exceptions were the mystery books. In them, I found characters who were comfortable in their own skin and relatively well-adjusted. In Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter, Michael Nava’s Henry Rios, Richard Stevenson’s Donald Strachey, and the more "cozy" sleuths created by Mark Richard Zubro, I found characters who made me realize my future wasn’t all doom and gloom—a future where I could be happy.

The first time I dove into the world of Andy Mills, I knew I’d found another character who would have affected me the exact same way. But unlike the others, Andy is navigating a world where being gay could get you fired, committed to an asylum, or killed without anyone caring. He’s a character who has hit rock bottom and is struggling to recover—so when he finds Lavender House, he grabs on with both hands.

At Lavender House, he finds a group of people who can truly be themselves behind the gates of the estate, even if they play roles for the general public. Lavender House is a sanctuary, but like all insulated havens, a festering evil has started to blossom within its walls. Andy's job is to find and root out who planted the evil that ended in bloodshed.

I love an author who can craft a well-balanced mystery alongside characters that feel real and grounded. Andy has to be one of the most authentic characters I’ve come across in any genre. I absolutely adore this series, and it’s one I hope never ends. I want Andy to continue growing into his own skin and within the gay community. I want him to find happiness and fulfillment in life. I want to watch him fall in love and grow old. In the meantime, I’ll gladly read every twisty mystery he finds himself entangled in.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Patrick Jane

 

I'm nothing if not predictable. When it comes to TV shows, with a few exceptions, I stick to two broad genres: the supernatural and the mysterious. I can sit here and name dozens of TV shows—and even more characters—that I've fallen in love with over the years, getting lost in their stories as they play out on the silver screen.

Over the years, I've featured some heavyweight television sleuths like Jessica Fletcher, Perry Mason, and Thomas Magnum. All three are characters who helped shape my young mind as I was developing my interest in mysteries. As an adult, I've continued to devour mystery shows like the last of my Halloween candy.

Today, I'm going to (re)introduce you to Patrick Jane, the ex-psychic con man from The Mentalist. When we're first introduced to Patrick, his wife and daughter had been killed by a ruthless serial killer, and he's now using his skills while working with the CBI—the California Bureau of Investigation. He's a deeply damaged man who feels that his arrogance is the reason why his family was brutally murdered. 

Through the seasons, he learns to forgive himself and to put the blame where it belongs—on Red John. He never quite loses his obsession with vengeance, but he softens—though I'm not sure that's the right word. It's more like he becomes less rigidly fragile. He reaches a point where he no longer seems like he's going to break.

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that I’d match his observational skills against those of Sherlock Holmes—or even Sherlock Hemlock—any damn day of the week. If it weren't for the way Patrick has learned to manipulate his marks, I might have called such a challenge a tie. Instead, I’d have to give the edge to him. I think he's one of the smartest characters ever created, but more than that, he's one of the most compelx characters to ever grave a TV screen, and I absolutely adore every second spent with him.

Sing Out, Louise! - Favorite Musical Tournament on the Facebook Page

Hello, Everyone! I just wanted to invite everyone to participate in the Sing Out, Louise! tournament over on the Facebook page. This tournament is all about our favorite stage and screen musicals, and we will eventually crown our favorite musical of all time. 

If you are interested in voting, or just watching the action, click this link. Hope to see you there!

The Old Dark House (1932)

 

Synopsis From Rotten Tomatoes:

Driving through a brutal thunderstorm in Wales, three travelers take refuge in an eerie house owned by the Femm family. Reluctantly admitted by Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), the three sit down to a strange dinner. Horace is neurotic; mute butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) is an alcoholic; and Horace's sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore), raves about chastity. When the storm brings in an industrialist and chorus girl Gladys DuCane Perkins (Lilian Bond), Morgan's lust and Rebecca's ire are ignited.

Do you have those movies that, no matter how many times you watch them, you keep coming back to? I hope you do—because returning to old favorites should feel like coming home, even if they're dark, gothic masterpieces directed by the great James Whale.

I've been a huge fan of Frankenstein—Whale's 1931 classic—for a long time. So when I first heard about The Old Dark House, I knew I had to see it. I actually bought it without ever watching it first. It had just been re-released on Blu-ray, so I ordered it from Barnes & Noble, and a few hours after bringing it home, I had it in the player. Within fifteen minutes, I was completely hooked on this weird little gothic gem.

The acting is peak 1930s camp, and I love every second of it. Karloff is perfect, obviously. Gloria Stuart—decades before Titanic—is stunning and sharp. Eva Moore? She should’ve played every witch in every movie, ever. And then there’s Melvyn Douglas, who just so happens to be one of my favorite forgotten actors. Honestly, how is he not mentioned in the same breath as Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart? I’ve never seen him in a role I didn’t halfway fall in love with.

This movie is a total blast. It all takes place during one stormy night in a creepy old manor, and it’s packed with bizarre characters, buried secrets, and more atmosphere than the Titanic could handle. I’ve watched it at least fifteen times, and I’m sure I’ll be back at the Femm House a dozen more.

Murder Under Construction by Alex Henry

 

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Under the flight path, more than one secret is about to emerge…

On the brink of closing a high-profile terrorism investigation, DI Leon Peterson and his team are pulled off to investigate a cold case, a body found on a site for a new airport hotel. He knows this is political posturing, but it doesn’t make it easier to accept watching another DI muscle in on his team’s work.

For Leon, though, the decades-old cold case turns out to be closer to home in more than one way. His DS, Jasmine Todd, can’t understand his interest in the dead man, and Leon is not sure he wants to talk about his past. One thing he fears is that he may have a very personal connection to the deceased. Will the body finally give him the answers he’s waited for nearly forty years?

Even as some shocking revelations come to light, Leon can’t help being distracted by the terrorism case. He’s convinced the new DI in charge is chasing the wrong lead, and his conscience won’t let him leave it alone. No matter if it risks his career—and his life.

If you couldn’t tell from what I said about my reading habits over the last few years in my review of How to Solve Your Own Murder, I’ve been reading a lot of books that could be classified as romance—despite the vehicle the author chose to develop the romance. It could be a locked-room mystery, a tale of vampires or shifters, a story set on a ranch or at a rodeo, or, in the case of Murder Under Construction, a police procedural.

What I thoroughly enjoyed was how little the romance was the focus of the story. Instead, the author chose to center the mystery itself and Leon’s internal personal life to propel the narrative forward. I relished every second I spent with Leon as a character—getting to know his conflicted relationship with his family, right down to his grudging love of the two cats sharing his space. I enjoyed the way his mind works as he puzzles out the targets of the bombings or why there’s a decades-old dead body in a condemned pub.

It’s in Leon that this book truly shines, and why I’ll continue the series. The mysteries themselves are simple without being boring. I just wish there were a little more complexity involved, but I understand that with two separate investigations, neither was able to be fleshed out as much as I would have preferred. I plan on seeing how the second book goes before I start getting too picky about how the author handles the mystery element.

As for the romance itself, it doesn’t even begin until the last few pages. While I’m curious to see if it develops further, it won’t be what keeps me turning the next page. It feels like the romance will remain in the background, which I’m more than okay with. I’ll wait to see whether it unfolds more in the vein of the Dave Brandstetter or Evander Mills books, or if Leon’s love life will chart its own course forward.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Lance Sweets

 

When I started this feature back in July of 2009, I didn’t think I would still be writing a Favorite Fictional Character post in 2025. Granted, I’ve taken some years off, but I assumed I would eventually run out of characters to show some love to. I was absolutely wrong. I love reading. I love movies and TV shows. How could I ever run out of characters to highlight when I enjoy so much of what they appear in? For anyone interested, the first Favorite Fictional Character post was on Vanyel Ashkevron—my first true literary crush.

I recently binged Bones from start to finish, mainly because it was one of those shows I stopped watching during my years-long break from TV. I couldn’t even tell you why I stopped watching, but I did—so now I have a lot of shows I started back then but never finished. So far, I’ve binged every season of Grimm, Bones, and Supernatural, and I’m just getting started on The Mentalist. They’re all great shows with some dynamic characters, so be on the lookout for many of them in the future.

Today, it's all about Dr. Lance Sweets from one of the greatest mystery shows of all time: Bones. Most people would start with either Seeley Booth or Temperance "Bones" Brennan—the two main characters of the show—but I'm going to start with who I think was the emotional heart of the series: Dr. Lance Sweets. Sweets, a psychologist (or "shrink," as he was most often called), made his first appearance in Season 3. And his impact was instant. He got to the root of Booth and Temperance's relationship within a few short minutes—although nothing would happen between them for a few more seasons. He was compassionate, empathetic, and seemed to truly understand what made the Jeffersonian team work.

As the seasons progressed, both his personal and professional relationships with the team grew, making him integral to their lives. As his role expanded, so did his character. We learned he was a talented musician and had a deep, abiding love for his girlfriend. His self-doubts and insecurities were exposed for us all to see—yet he rarely allowed them to affect either aspect of his life. He was strong and insecure. He was compassionate but had a firm sense of morality. He loved deeply and had an intellect to rival most others.

I will die on the hill that he was the most complex character on the show, and the series suffered after his departure. He’s a character I would love to get a drink with and discuss any damn subject that came up. He’s a character I truly enjoyed spending time with.

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

 

Synopsis From The Dust Jacket:

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder.

A small part of the reason I was interested in starting up this blog again was to get myself out of my current reading pattern. My first reading love was mysteries, and that started at a young age. I devoured every Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown book I could as a kid. By the time I was in the 5th grade, I was reading Agatha Christie books and anything else I could get my adolescent hands on. As I've gotten older, I've found myself slipping into other reading obsessions over the years, but I've always gone back to devouring every twisted murder mystery I could get my hands on. For the past few years, the only mysteries I've read are those marketed in the romance genre. Now, don't get me wrong—there are some fabulous authors in the field writing mysteries within the romance genre, and I've loved several books and series—but I feel myself getting stuck in a rut, and I want out of it.

I didn't have any particular reasoning in selecting How to Solve Your Own Murder as my first foray back into the "traditional" mystery experience. In reality, I simply picked a random one off my shelves. No matter how this book landed in my hands, I'm so ridiculously glad I started here. From almost the first page, I felt the same thrill I experienced with the first Agatha Christie novel I picked up, The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. It's this buzz that settles beneath my skin, burrowing its way into every brain synapse, demanding I get lost within the puzzle unfolding on the page. I last felt this with Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, and I'm so relieved to feel this way again.

Frances and Annie are two characters I simply enjoyed spending time with. Their voices are uniquely their own, but I could tell that these were two women who would have immensely enjoyed each other's company. In Frances, I found someone I need to know more about—I want to know how her brain works. In Annie, I found someone I want to spend more time with. I found her to be engaging in a way that kept me from wanting to put this book down. I can't wait to see more of both of them.

The mystery itself is as twisty as they come, and I loved every damn word of it. It was challenging enough that it kept me from figuring it out until the conclusion played out on the page, but as I look back at it, it's a fair mystery—I do think there are enough clues sprinkled about for some readers to figure it out on their own. Would it be hard? Absolutely. But I don't enjoy books that make it too easy. Unless it's a revisit with my favorite childhood detectives.