What do you think?
Rate this book
Virginia Kelly Mystery #2
The Lavender House Murder
An intriguing, sexy mystery set in P-town, starring Black investigator Virginia Kelly.
202 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
6 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 13, 2021
The writing was really beautiful at times and it certainly made me laugh but all of the characters were sort of unlikable and that bummed me out.
November 4, 2015
A lot of my recent reading material has been murder mysteries, and I was hoping to mix up the usual formula with this one that promised to include women, lesbianism and racial discussions. Unfortunately, this book is TERRIBLE. It's 75% sexual/relationship drama, filled with boring or obnoxious characters who treat each other like crap and then wonder about the sad state of the world. The narrator drifts aimlessly between motivations and emotions and I never really cared for her at all. The murder mystery wasn't too bad but it wasn't too great either, and whenever these ladies decide to play gumshoe, they do so in the most idiotic way possible. And worst of all, the writing is just plain bad; I felt like I was reading something in a novel-writing class that needed revisionist comments like "Awkward" and "Is this necessary?". I would not have finished this book if I hadn't had some free time due to a sick day... and I'm still not sure it was worth it.
August 27, 2014
202 pages of relationship processing, with barely a five minute breather for the murder. Oh sweet heavens no.
April 18, 2022
I was excited about this novel at first, and I will admit that the plot is interesting, but ultimately quite predictable. I'm not sure I've ever read a novel where I've disliked the protagonist/sleuth, the sidekick, the villain, and the "victim" (if you read the book, you'll understand why I put the last word in quotation marks) equally. The mystery is exciting, but I had almost no attachment to the characters and thus felt apathetic at the end when the great "whodunit" was revealed and everyone could carry on with their lives.
December 31, 2024
I wanted this to be better than it was lol I didn’t really connect with the narrator or have any attachment to any of the characters. The murder did surprise me at the end but I thought it was kinda lame overall
April 18, 2022
This book is interesting on a sociological level
June 18, 2020
The second installment of the Virginia Kelly mystery series finds Ginny and her friend Naomi vacationing in Provincetown. Both are having girlfriend problems and simply need a break from their daily grind. But soon after they arrive, a famous lesbian journalist is killed in an alley. Seems that the woman was a gay rights advocate that believed that outing other LGBT folk—especially white-collar ones—was for their own good and the good of the cause. Now who would want to murder her? Well, the list is a long one.
The list should also be long for people who should read this book. Like In the Game, it has adventure, romance, and some of the best internal dialogue anywhere. Virginia Kelly, financial analyst by day and cruising lesbian by night, waxes poetic about her failing relationship with her lover Em. “There seems to be an irresistible force that causes all my relationships to self-destruct after a prescribed number of years. A kind of siren song that makes me want to hurl myself over the precipice into infidelities and deceit.” And “What I wanted was a woman as flexible as builder’s putty to fill in the empty spaces in my life. I wanted a woman as large as a circus tent to wrap around me and keep me safe . . . to make a home for me in the ugly world.” I can go on and on about Baker’s writing skills. Here’s a description of one of the suspects: “Her face had taken too much sun on its way to middle age, and her eye makeup was pastel blue. It was a school of beauty that had lost out in recent years to realism.” Ginny is sardonic, almost jaded—interesting but odd traits for a woman under 30. Through her introspection, The Lavender House Murders becomes not so much a question of finding a murderer, but of finding out about the world and solving questions in her own life.
While staying within Ginny’s point of view, the first half of the novel flashes back and forth between her and Naomi’s arrival in Provincetown, and Ginny’s discovery of the body a day or so later. It is tricky writing, but she pulls it off grandly. Baker’s cast of characters—all lesbians except for the obligatory gruff police officers—are varied and well-drawn, although a little clichéd at times. Ginny and Naomi are unique and thoroughly engaging, as is the lifestyle the author pictures with fine detail.
A similar book—one about a lesbian Bed & Breakfast in a coastal vacation spot—Death at Lavender Bay, was probably influenced by The Lavender House Murder. Even the titles are similar. This one is way better. In fact, this book was better than the excellent first novel in the series. I can’t wait to read the third.
Note: I read the second (1993) printing of this novel.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
The list should also be long for people who should read this book. Like In the Game, it has adventure, romance, and some of the best internal dialogue anywhere. Virginia Kelly, financial analyst by day and cruising lesbian by night, waxes poetic about her failing relationship with her lover Em. “There seems to be an irresistible force that causes all my relationships to self-destruct after a prescribed number of years. A kind of siren song that makes me want to hurl myself over the precipice into infidelities and deceit.” And “What I wanted was a woman as flexible as builder’s putty to fill in the empty spaces in my life. I wanted a woman as large as a circus tent to wrap around me and keep me safe . . . to make a home for me in the ugly world.” I can go on and on about Baker’s writing skills. Here’s a description of one of the suspects: “Her face had taken too much sun on its way to middle age, and her eye makeup was pastel blue. It was a school of beauty that had lost out in recent years to realism.” Ginny is sardonic, almost jaded—interesting but odd traits for a woman under 30. Through her introspection, The Lavender House Murders becomes not so much a question of finding a murderer, but of finding out about the world and solving questions in her own life.
While staying within Ginny’s point of view, the first half of the novel flashes back and forth between her and Naomi’s arrival in Provincetown, and Ginny’s discovery of the body a day or so later. It is tricky writing, but she pulls it off grandly. Baker’s cast of characters—all lesbians except for the obligatory gruff police officers—are varied and well-drawn, although a little clichéd at times. Ginny and Naomi are unique and thoroughly engaging, as is the lifestyle the author pictures with fine detail.
A similar book—one about a lesbian Bed & Breakfast in a coastal vacation spot—Death at Lavender Bay, was probably influenced by The Lavender House Murder. Even the titles are similar. This one is way better. In fact, this book was better than the excellent first novel in the series. I can’t wait to read the third.
Note: I read the second (1993) printing of this novel.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
May 25, 2009
The one thing I dont like about the rating system here is that 1 star is didnt like. In my rating system that is a 2 and a 1 is hated it so this makes it look to me worse than it was.
Now, there were some things I liked about this book. virginia kelly and her friend Naomi go to Provincetown for vacation to party it up. Only while out runnign one morning, she finds the body of one of the other guests in their B&B and cant let the crime go unsolved.
The victim, Joan, I found to be the most interesting character. lots of lovers and jealousy brewing. An activist who wrote a column "outing" people which made for lots of enemies. But a woman who truly beleived in what she did.
My problem with the book was really the sluttiness of it. it seemed like everyone was bed hopping a LOT in the book. Cheating on their partners. If it were men or straight women I would have hated that too. I couldnt tell if it was supposed to be tittilating or not. It just annoyed me and distracted me from the story. Even though some was relevant, by that point I didnt care. It was just too much. And too superficial. i really didnt like any of the characters as a result. It is hard to like a book where you dont like or have sympathy for the characters.
And the other thing I didnt like was Naomi. She was nasty to Virginia a lot and then tried to get her to obstruct the police investigation and tamper with evidence. And Virginia let her. Ugh.
The mystery had some fo the right elements and the motive and kilelr were believable. So maybe if the other things wouldnt bother you, someone else might like this a lot more than me.
Now, there were some things I liked about this book. virginia kelly and her friend Naomi go to Provincetown for vacation to party it up. Only while out runnign one morning, she finds the body of one of the other guests in their B&B and cant let the crime go unsolved.
The victim, Joan, I found to be the most interesting character. lots of lovers and jealousy brewing. An activist who wrote a column "outing" people which made for lots of enemies. But a woman who truly beleived in what she did.
My problem with the book was really the sluttiness of it. it seemed like everyone was bed hopping a LOT in the book. Cheating on their partners. If it were men or straight women I would have hated that too. I couldnt tell if it was supposed to be tittilating or not. It just annoyed me and distracted me from the story. Even though some was relevant, by that point I didnt care. It was just too much. And too superficial. i really didnt like any of the characters as a result. It is hard to like a book where you dont like or have sympathy for the characters.
And the other thing I didnt like was Naomi. She was nasty to Virginia a lot and then tried to get her to obstruct the police investigation and tamper with evidence. And Virginia let her. Ugh.
The mystery had some fo the right elements and the motive and kilelr were believable. So maybe if the other things wouldnt bother you, someone else might like this a lot more than me.
Read
October 26, 2022unread
August 14, 2010
P-Town, the ones of us in the know know-Provincetown, Massachusetts, where we all want to go for a vacation BUT without Murder and Mayhem.
Read how the story evolves around Ginny and Naomi.
Read how the story evolves around Ginny and Naomi.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews