This is the second book in the Evander Mills series so there will be slight spoilers for the first book, Lavender House. The series takes place in the early 1950s San Francisco and is centered mainly in the underground queer subculture. The main character is Evander “Andy” Mills, a disgraced former SFPD officer who was disgraced and fired when he was outed in a raid on a gay club. Andy now works as a private investigator for a community that often can’t go through official channels when they need help. There are only two books in the series so far, so getting caught up would be very easy.
When we catch up with Andy at the beginning of the book, his fledgling business above club Ruby is not exactly prospering. It turns out not a lot of queer folks trust a former cop, even if he personally never went on raids of gay clubs. He finally gets a potentially well paying job, but it comes in the form of his one-time lover from the Navy that disappeared without a word years ago. The man, James stayed in the military and has prospered but is now being blackmailed. Andy has misgivings but he’s in no position to turn down good money. With the assistance of Lee, a drag performer at the Ruby, Andy make his way through the gay clubs of San Francisco and his past collides with the present.
While the first book was accurately described as “a queer historical knives out,” this book is much more like a queer version of 1950’s detective noir. Andy must learn to navigate detective work without the resources that were available to him as a policy officer as well as avoid any of his former fellow officers, who would like nothing more than to see him on a slab. If you want the feeling of a mid-century detective novel without the rampant misogyny and racism, (though, unfortunately homophobia comes into play here) this is absolutely the detective series for you.