Review: Mirage City

It shouldn’t be a shock to any regular reader (hi, thank you for being here!), that I’ve really been in my historical mystery era. So when I got an email asking if I’d want to review Mirage City by Lev A.C. Rosen, I was intrigued. Since it’s book four in the Evander Mills series, I went back to the first, Lavender House, before I committed to the review copy. I was hooked. I quickly read the first three books on audio and eagerly awaited diving into Mirage City, which was released in early October. It was such a great addition to the series and I continue to be a huge fan of this series.

Here’s the book’s description:

Private Investigator Evander “Andy” Mills’ next case takes him out of his comfort zone in San Francisco—and much to his dismay, back home to Los Angeles. After a secretive queer rights organization called the Mattachine Society enlists Andy to find some missing members, he must dodge not only motorcycle gangs and mysterious forces, but his own mother, too.

Avoiding her proves to be a challenge when the case leads Andy to the psychological clinic she works at. Worlds collide, buried secrets are dug up, and Andy realizes he’s going to have to burn it all down this time if he wants to pull off a rescue. With secret societies, drugs, and doctors swirling around him, time is running out for Andy to locate the missing and get them to safety. And for him to make it back to San Francisco in one piece.

I’ve been loving this series for a lot of reasons and a lot of it has to do with the historical part of the story. I’ve said before that I’ve wanted to read more stories that take place outside of the war periods and this one fits that. It’s set in 1950s San Francisco, though in this story Andy travels back to his hometown of Los Angeles. Rosen sets the scene so well - I really feel like I’m back in time with Andy and the whole gang. He drops little tidbits here and there that show he’s done his research but it’s never overwhelming or an info dump.

The mystery in this one was, I think, a bit lacking for me. It didn’t quite grab me as the others have but it was by no means bad. I liked the big finale and the plans that needed to be put into place. But the original ask to find the missing persons was just a little odd, which Andy clocked as well. Even if it wasn’t such an in your face kind of mystery, I was still engaged and wanted to keep reading. The plot was moving and I was so happy to move with it.

In this fourth book in the series, we got to meet Andy’s mom and have him come to terms with some of the things he’d been keeping from her. It was more backstory that, at this point in the series, we needed and I’m glad Rosen gave it to us. Andy is keeping such a huge part of himself from his mom and the reasons are heartbreaking. I hope we get a little more of their relationship in the next book.

In addition to getting to see Andy’s personal life a little more, the other part of this book that was important, was the deeper dive into what it was like to be queer in 1950s California. The clinic was…disturbing. Hard to read but important to sit with and think about all the people, men especially, who were assaulted, tortured, killed, because who they were was somehow offensive to the people in charge.

I’m so glad Lev A.C. Rosen has given us the Evander Mills series and Mirage City was a great addition. If you’re a mystery reader, especially one who likes historical mysteries, you really need to check this one out. I think you’ll love it as much as I do.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*