Mirage City

Mirage City (2025) Lev Ac Rosen (Evander Mills #4)

Set in San Francisco in 1953

It’s been a year since Andy began working above the Ruby.

I’ve been here over a year now, the matchmaking business, pairing up queer people in heterosexual-looking relationships to appease work or family, and crafting stories for them: how they met, how they ended it. It’s half my business at this point. I like it, it’s easy and helps people out. But it’s not especially interesting these days.

The story revolves around two things: the Mattachine Society and the early fight for queer rights, and conversion therapy.

The second part of that was horrible, but not nearly as awful as it could have been, considering what historical medical “treatments” could consist of for the past couple centuries.

Things start with a missing persons case: a woman wants to find members who have not come to recent meetings.

“You want me to drive to LA and ask them if they’re kidnapping members in San Francisco?”

“Well…” She looks down. It’s exactly what she wanted. But out loud, it sounds absurd.

Except, it’s a secret society so she has nothing but first names and descriptions. But it’s what Andy does, so he heads down to LA–where he grew up and his mother still lives–to see what he can learn.

In addition to the Mattachine Society we also get to learn about gay biker gangs and Hollywood fixers.

Most of my business is setting up fake relationships for folks to keep their jobs or fool their parents.”

“That’s what I do, too!” Leo says, thrilled. He sits on the arm of the chair I’m in and leans down. “Isn’t it fun?”

“You make up relationships, too?” I ask.

“I work for a studio. Mum’s the word on which. But creating lavender couples for tabloids is my raison d’être!”

Past stories have given us a little about Andy’s time in the navy during WWII. Here we have vets from the war that came after.

We all served. Me, Tommy, and Stan in Korea. Russ and Will were in the Ninth Army. All of us kept our motorcycles.

Be warned, there are some awful bits here, mostly related to conversion therapy but also a good deal of homophobia, as you’d expect from the time period.

“What about swishy men, or men who dress as women?” asks a man in his forties after the lecture is over.

“Or the women who wear suits?” asks a woman next to him.

“That’s a different pathology entirely,” Dr. Bryner says. “Though interlinked with homosexuality in some cases, it speaks to a deeper deviance. One that should be treated.”

Everyone smiles, relieved.

Here, as with the previous books, nothing is black and white, and bad actions can end up seeing far more forgivable than “good” actions.

Sadly for me, this is the last published book in the series, and I don’t see a new book listed, so I’m sad about not having another Evander Mills book to read.

Characters: Evander Mills, Gene Manalo, Lee, Elsie Gold, Mary Mills, Daphne, Edward, Hank, Ava, Myrtle Bolton, Dr. North, Samuel Blanchard, Leo, Marie, Ethel, Vera, Vera, Mannix, Mattie, Russell Klein, Javi, Russ, Stan, George Quaintance, Henry Nolton, Marge, Will, Marianne Nolton, Virginia Nolton, Helen, Pat, Pearl, Shelly, Dr. Bryner

Cover illustration by Colin Verdi

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Rating: 8.5/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• « « Murder by Lamplight