‘Missing in Soho’ and Other Story Matters

Out this month is Missing in Soho by Holly Stars, a hoot of a mystery sequel to her hilarious Murder in the Dressing Room. Misty Divine is a hostess at Lady’s Bar when a detective is found stabbed in the club. This isn’t the first death that has happened here, nor the first involving Misty. Wearing towering stilettos and boas, this drag queen is determined to solve not only her drag mother’s unsolved death but save Lady’s Bar before another murder happens. Stars delivers another dragcentric delight.

‘The Marilyn Monroe Century’

Bruno Bernard, shooting as Bernard of Hollywood, was an American photographer known for his glamorous pinups. He had a giant studio on Sunset Boulevard for decades. I interviewed his daughter Susan because he photographed many burlesque stars I featured in my film and book Behind the Burly Q. Bernard had a close relationship with legendary dancer Lili St. Cyr, the subject of my second book and the woman Marilyn Monroe often emulated. In fact, the photographer is best remembered for his decades long relationship shooting Marilyn. Now his grandson Joshua John Miller, along with Mark A. Fortin, have published a coffee table book – The Marilyn Monroe Century – and it is an absolutely gorgeous book. Photos capture a young Norma Jeane as she is newly discovered and transformed into an international icon. There are many never-before-seen photos. This one is truly gift worthy. If not for someone else, buy it for yourself. 

‘The Disaster Gay Detective Agency’

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by award-winning author Lev AC Rosen is a sassy mystery that starts with an impulsive one-night stand involving Brandon – a hopeless romantic working at a Manhattan hotel – and a handsome guest. When the rendezvous leads Brandon to witness the closing moments of a homicide, he and his queer pals set out to solve the murder. Snappy dialogue, messy, fun situations; If you are looking for escape, this is your ticket.

‘Where the False Gods Dwell’

Author and Santa Barbara Literary Festival panelist Denny S. Bryce has a new work of historical fiction out, Where the False Gods Dwell, inspired by legendary Black dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham’s research trip to the Caribbean on a postgrad academic fellowship. In the novel, three women – each escaping trouble and from different walks of life – converge on Jamacia in 1935. Bryce weaves together history and multiple narratives like the expert storyteller she is, using Dunham’s trip as backdrop to three women who, in tumultuous circumstances, find sisterhood in order to survive.

‘Hungered’

Hungered is an extraordinary debut by Amanda Rizkalla. Twelve-year-old Sofia calls a beat-up old car home. She dreams of one day having her own bedroom which she’ll decorate from the ideas she finds in magazines and books at the local library. Living with Sofia in the cramped space is her mother and young brother, each struggling in their own way with their nomadic, precarious circumstances. This is a profound and moving story of dreams and Home, and the very real struggles involved with housing insecurity that many in our own community are experiencing. According to a local government website approximately 13% of students in Santa Barbara County are homeless. A very sobering statistic.

‘Heather’

Caitlin Mullen’s thriller Heather hooked me from page one. When the new Chief of Police of a small city in New Jersey must arrest her own mother for drunk driving, dragging her into the police station near Jersey Pines, the Chief uncovers an age-old cold-case: a dead baby her mother discovered by the side of the road decades earlier. As Chief Callie Hauser sets out to solve the crime, her mother disappears, she’s still dealing with an influx of ODs, and someone is leaving dead animals in her mailbox. This thriller is unsettling, profound, and mournful, examining how young girls are abandoned to their own devices long before they are mature enough to meet the challenge.