What do you think?
Rate this book
Hidden Gotham #1
The Double Vice
It wasn’t how gay speakeasy owner Dash Parker’s birthday was supposed to go. But this was New York City at the height of Prohibition, and everything—and everyone—can turn on a dime.
When one of Dash’s club patrons is murdered, Dash and his friends must discover the killer while also outwitting a devious blackmailer. Together, they navigate the shadowy world of drag queens, cabaret performers, gangsters, mob molls, lesbian lawyers, and a mysterious but dangerous “Baroness of Business.” Men and women who have everything to lose—and some of whom will do anything to keep their secrets hidden.
A trail of clues leads them from Greenwich Village to Harlem and back again. But time is running out, and a ruthless killer’s next victim might very well be Dash himself…
"It's one of the best I've read all year! I can't recommend it highly enough." -- Queer Writers of Crime
When one of Dash’s club patrons is murdered, Dash and his friends must discover the killer while also outwitting a devious blackmailer. Together, they navigate the shadowy world of drag queens, cabaret performers, gangsters, mob molls, lesbian lawyers, and a mysterious but dangerous “Baroness of Business.” Men and women who have everything to lose—and some of whom will do anything to keep their secrets hidden.
A trail of clues leads them from Greenwich Village to Harlem and back again. But time is running out, and a ruthless killer’s next victim might very well be Dash himself…
"It's one of the best I've read all year! I can't recommend it highly enough." -- Queer Writers of Crime
362 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2021
50 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Chris Holcombe
8 books24 followersChris Holcombe is the author of the Hidden Gotham series, which is LGBTQIA+ historical crime fiction set in New York City in the 1920s.
His first novel "The Double Vice" was released to great acclaim in 2021, with Queer Writers of Crime calling it "One of the best books I've read all year!" The followup, "The Blind Tiger" was released in 2022 and "The Devil Card" in 2023.
He lives with his husband in New York, where he is hard at work on the next Hidden Gotham novel.
His first novel "The Double Vice" was released to great acclaim in 2021, with Queer Writers of Crime calling it "One of the best books I've read all year!" The followup, "The Blind Tiger" was released in 2022 and "The Devil Card" in 2023.
He lives with his husband in New York, where he is hard at work on the next Hidden Gotham novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Read
November 3, 2023Source of book: KU
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
*******************************************
One of the things I never know how to deal with is when someone decides to tell me—in some form or another—that they basically expected my book to be shit but were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t. I mean, there is seriously no good answer to that apart from a “thank you” that, in context, is going to come across as sarcastic. So it’s with some apprehension that I admit (although in review space not author-face space) that I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting from this book and I, err, ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I should also stress that a lot of my uncertainties were to do with me, not with the book itself. I’m not a big mystery reader and I picked it up with zero prior knowledge, because it was in KU, and because, err, basically it gay. Like I will give most things the benefit of the doubt on the basis of it gay. There are way worse ways to live.
So, The Double Vice is a noir-ish mystery set in prohibition-era NYC. The hero, Dash Parker runs a queer Speakeasy disguised as a tailor’s shop. When a visitor to his club is murdered, he’s blackmailed by that visitor’s brother into finding the killer, a task that—as is traditional for a mystery novel—proves far more complicated than Dash anticipates and sends him on a whistle-stop-tour through the city’s underworld.
To get the ‘ehhhhh’ out of the way first, there are times—and this is, of course, a subjective take, I’m not trying to make objective statements about what constitutes good, bad or indifferent writing—when the book comes across as utilitarian rather than polished. Given that the book is deliberately evoking a pulpy aesthetic, this is, of course, to some degree intentional. The pleasure of pulp writing is its efficiency and directness: it is here to deliver you story, not show off or fuck you about. I appreciate that. But, for me personally, there were times when the balance swung too far towards “get the idea across” at the cost of depth and nuance. For example, there are at least two occasions when a character undergoes an emotional shift in the middle of a high stakes confrontation, at which point their voice is described as “becoming [adjective] and mean”. And while there’s nothing wrong with that per se, on each occasion it nevertheless struck me rather too bluntly as the quickest narrative route from a to b, almost like I was getting a glimpse of the author’s notes. You know, like you’re sitting there thinking to yourself “I want to communicate to the reader that this person’s mood has shifted from conciliatory to sharp and mean, and probably I should do that in a way the POV character would be able to directly experience, like an action, or maybe their voice” and then, wanting to focus on other things like the dialogue and the overall direction of the scene, you write down “[character’s] voice became sharp and mean” and forget to go back.
Similarly, I occasionally crashed into things like this:
Once again, let me emphasise that I’m not here to make arbitrary proclamations about what is good/bad, right/wrong and, once again once again, I can recognise a pulpish flavour to this over-stuffed sentence. But, for me, it simply doesn’t work. It feels chaotic in an unintentional way, the descriptive pile up in the middle ultimately detrimental to the overall idea being communicated i.e. that Dash is unable to convey a warning to a stranger, in which context such a string of physical details about the stranger in question in simply in the way. And I feel like a bit of a dick picking at sentences like this. I think I just found these moments noticeably jarring because, in general, I really enjoyed the writing. It’s got a briskness that feels genre appropriate, and a note of noirish cynicism that’s entertaining, engaging and atmospheric:
Where the book genuinely excels is in its sense of time and place, along with a mystery that I found genuinely quite, err, mysterious and full of twists and turns? It’s actually an interesting blend of what I understand to be the more English-style of Christie-esque cosies with red herrings and clues the attentive reader can identify, and the American noir of Dashiell Hammett and the other guy I’m not as into where you can sort of piece together what happened but it’s too governed by the complexity and randomness of human affairs to be much more than speculation. I’ve probably expressed that in an unnecessary labyrinthine way. What I’m trying to say is that the mystery in The Double Blind kept me guessing but was sufficiently well-constructed that I felt I could have figured some of it out if I’d been a better mystery reader, but—as was appropriate to the setting—its conclusion felt less “and now order is restored and everything is right with the world again” than the traditional English cosy. This is probably my mystery inexperience speaking, but I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that blended the two approaches so successfully and cohesively, despite their apparently oppositional nature. Which is to say, the story offers a satisfying conclusion but human nature remains … messy, sometimes unsolveably, sometimes tragically.
Where I found The Double Vice slightly less successful was around characterisation, particularly of the central characters. Our hero, Dash (Dashiell, I assume named in homage to Hammett?), for example is a bit of a blank? He’s from a rich family, who have disowned him due to his homosexuality, and now he runs a queer Speakeasy while pretending to be a tailor (his former lover, the man who actually owned the tailor’s shop originally, having returned to his own country). There’s no denying that Dash is a charming character to spend time with. He’s clever but not impossibly so, open-minded and principled, brave when he has to be without crossing the line into excessively heroic, and capable of some delightful zingers:
“Next thing you know, they’ll write about how the rich have two yachts.”
Dash feigned reverence. “Of course they will, Emmett. You can’t expect the idle rich to remain mono-nautical.”
It’s just also he also came across as … not shallow exactly? But functional more than he was interesting, I think is probably the fairest way to put it. I mean, he’s a mystery protagonist, a character who—above all else—needs to be able to move convincingly through a variety of social spheres and act as the reader’s guide to them. Certainly, Dash fulfils this function effectively. But, while I felt for his Sad Family Background TM, a large part of the reason Dash has the freedom to be a useful protagonist in this context is because he’s a posh white guy who can afford to run a Speakeasy out of a barely functioning tailor’s shop and surrounded by people whose place in the world—because of race, gender, class or poverty—is even more precarious than his. Clearly this is a deliberate choice but it also felt like one the book didn’t have time to fully grapple with while spinning its page-turning yarn. But it’s also worth remembering that The Double Vice is positioned as the first book in a series—which means there’s plenty of future scope to develop its themes and allow the reader to get to know Dash better.
There’s also a touch of romance thrown in here, between Dash and his Irish bartender/investigation buddy, and while I initially appreciated it for its matter-of-factness (the two have had a low investment, maybe-maybe-not thing going on since before the opens) I wasn’t as convinced by what felt an attempt at emotional escalation by the time they’re what’s meant to be a feelsingsy on-page bang. And don’t get me wrong, I am definitely NOT saying what this book needed or owed me was more explicit fuckery but it’s difficult for me to approach fictional fuckery with anything other than a romance reader hat on and this fictional fuckery had a kind of flinching evasiveness (again, not about literal details, I don’t care what goes where) that belied its thematic resonance as a moment of freedom and self-expression for two people whose identity is otherwise something to be shamed, rejected, suppressed, hidden away and even occasionally threatened.
I don’t think it helps that Dash has more on-page chemistry with Nicholas Fife the dodgy gangster guy he is obliged to make a dubious deal with for “protection.” Clearly Fife is the baddest of bad news but … err. I was here for him? And whatever dangerous game he’s playing with Dash. God I have terrible taste in men.
ANYWAY, my mild indifference towards Dash aside, I actually really enjoyed a lot of the secondary cast. There’s a lot of them, and they’re all recognisable and memorable, and—especially in the case of characters like the lesbian lawyer and the denizens of Harlem—give a strong impression of having their own lives going on beyond their brief encounters with Dash. I suspect part of the reason the secondary characters worked better for me than Dash and the main cast was because they were required to do less emotional heavy-lifting and therefore benefited from the book’s brisk, bold style. In any case, they’re definitely part of what makes Holcombe’s depiction of prohibition-era queer New York come across so vividly.
Mild aside before I wrap up: in a brief foreword, the author is very open about the choices he made in portraying a world where ideas about gender and sexuality are different to the ones we hold today. Obviously I’m not here to judge someone else’s creative decisions, especially as regards how they approach a time that is not now. While I grew a little weary of period slurs, Holcombe’s approach generally worked for me. It felt like a careful compromise had been struck between doing justice to the period and balancing perspectives that would be deeply hurtful to modern readers. That said, there are definitely characters in the book we would probably consider trans or nonbinary today who are not recognised as such on page because that wasn’t how such things were thought about or expressed at the time. If that’s something that would make you personally uncomfortable, then it’s something to be aware of.
For me though, I thoroughly enjoyed my jaunt to queer New York. I know I’ve said I’m not a big mystery reader about eighty million times now. The thing is, though, it genuinely does take a bit of magic to get me involved in a genre that isn’t a natural fit for me, and this book just happened to have that bit of magic. I know I’ve picked at it because picking at books is my love language, but I found The Double Vice a really engaging and well-constructed mystery, set in a fascinating world, delivered with knowledge, enthusiasm and care. If it’s your kind of thing, I heartily recommend it. Or, given my own experiences, perhaps even if it’s not.
Also it gay.
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
*******************************************
One of the things I never know how to deal with is when someone decides to tell me—in some form or another—that they basically expected my book to be shit but were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t. I mean, there is seriously no good answer to that apart from a “thank you” that, in context, is going to come across as sarcastic. So it’s with some apprehension that I admit (although in review space not author-face space) that I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting from this book and I, err, ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I should also stress that a lot of my uncertainties were to do with me, not with the book itself. I’m not a big mystery reader and I picked it up with zero prior knowledge, because it was in KU, and because, err, basically it gay. Like I will give most things the benefit of the doubt on the basis of it gay. There are way worse ways to live.
So, The Double Vice is a noir-ish mystery set in prohibition-era NYC. The hero, Dash Parker runs a queer Speakeasy disguised as a tailor’s shop. When a visitor to his club is murdered, he’s blackmailed by that visitor’s brother into finding the killer, a task that—as is traditional for a mystery novel—proves far more complicated than Dash anticipates and sends him on a whistle-stop-tour through the city’s underworld.
To get the ‘ehhhhh’ out of the way first, there are times—and this is, of course, a subjective take, I’m not trying to make objective statements about what constitutes good, bad or indifferent writing—when the book comes across as utilitarian rather than polished. Given that the book is deliberately evoking a pulpy aesthetic, this is, of course, to some degree intentional. The pleasure of pulp writing is its efficiency and directness: it is here to deliver you story, not show off or fuck you about. I appreciate that. But, for me personally, there were times when the balance swung too far towards “get the idea across” at the cost of depth and nuance. For example, there are at least two occasions when a character undergoes an emotional shift in the middle of a high stakes confrontation, at which point their voice is described as “becoming [adjective] and mean”. And while there’s nothing wrong with that per se, on each occasion it nevertheless struck me rather too bluntly as the quickest narrative route from a to b, almost like I was getting a glimpse of the author’s notes. You know, like you’re sitting there thinking to yourself “I want to communicate to the reader that this person’s mood has shifted from conciliatory to sharp and mean, and probably I should do that in a way the POV character would be able to directly experience, like an action, or maybe their voice” and then, wanting to focus on other things like the dialogue and the overall direction of the scene, you write down “[character’s] voice became sharp and mean” and forget to go back.
Similarly, I occasionally crashed into things like this:
For the life of him, Dash couldn’t get the words out fast enough to warn this “wisp of a lad” with short black hair, a smooth oval face, an impish upturned nose, and a pointed dimpled chin that an outsider had broken into Pinstripes.
Once again, let me emphasise that I’m not here to make arbitrary proclamations about what is good/bad, right/wrong and, once again once again, I can recognise a pulpish flavour to this over-stuffed sentence. But, for me, it simply doesn’t work. It feels chaotic in an unintentional way, the descriptive pile up in the middle ultimately detrimental to the overall idea being communicated i.e. that Dash is unable to convey a warning to a stranger, in which context such a string of physical details about the stranger in question in simply in the way. And I feel like a bit of a dick picking at sentences like this. I think I just found these moments noticeably jarring because, in general, I really enjoyed the writing. It’s got a briskness that feels genre appropriate, and a note of noirish cynicism that’s entertaining, engaging and atmospheric:
They were greeted by the smell of spilled gin, pungent but sweet, reminding Dash of early morning kisses from last night’s passions.
Where the book genuinely excels is in its sense of time and place, along with a mystery that I found genuinely quite, err, mysterious and full of twists and turns? It’s actually an interesting blend of what I understand to be the more English-style of Christie-esque cosies with red herrings and clues the attentive reader can identify, and the American noir of Dashiell Hammett and the other guy I’m not as into where you can sort of piece together what happened but it’s too governed by the complexity and randomness of human affairs to be much more than speculation. I’ve probably expressed that in an unnecessary labyrinthine way. What I’m trying to say is that the mystery in The Double Blind kept me guessing but was sufficiently well-constructed that I felt I could have figured some of it out if I’d been a better mystery reader, but—as was appropriate to the setting—its conclusion felt less “and now order is restored and everything is right with the world again” than the traditional English cosy. This is probably my mystery inexperience speaking, but I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that blended the two approaches so successfully and cohesively, despite their apparently oppositional nature. Which is to say, the story offers a satisfying conclusion but human nature remains … messy, sometimes unsolveably, sometimes tragically.
Where I found The Double Vice slightly less successful was around characterisation, particularly of the central characters. Our hero, Dash (Dashiell, I assume named in homage to Hammett?), for example is a bit of a blank? He’s from a rich family, who have disowned him due to his homosexuality, and now he runs a queer Speakeasy while pretending to be a tailor (his former lover, the man who actually owned the tailor’s shop originally, having returned to his own country). There’s no denying that Dash is a charming character to spend time with. He’s clever but not impossibly so, open-minded and principled, brave when he has to be without crossing the line into excessively heroic, and capable of some delightful zingers:
“Next thing you know, they’ll write about how the rich have two yachts.”
Dash feigned reverence. “Of course they will, Emmett. You can’t expect the idle rich to remain mono-nautical.”
It’s just also he also came across as … not shallow exactly? But functional more than he was interesting, I think is probably the fairest way to put it. I mean, he’s a mystery protagonist, a character who—above all else—needs to be able to move convincingly through a variety of social spheres and act as the reader’s guide to them. Certainly, Dash fulfils this function effectively. But, while I felt for his Sad Family Background TM, a large part of the reason Dash has the freedom to be a useful protagonist in this context is because he’s a posh white guy who can afford to run a Speakeasy out of a barely functioning tailor’s shop and surrounded by people whose place in the world—because of race, gender, class or poverty—is even more precarious than his. Clearly this is a deliberate choice but it also felt like one the book didn’t have time to fully grapple with while spinning its page-turning yarn. But it’s also worth remembering that The Double Vice is positioned as the first book in a series—which means there’s plenty of future scope to develop its themes and allow the reader to get to know Dash better.
There’s also a touch of romance thrown in here, between Dash and his Irish bartender/investigation buddy, and while I initially appreciated it for its matter-of-factness (the two have had a low investment, maybe-maybe-not thing going on since before the opens) I wasn’t as convinced by what felt an attempt at emotional escalation by the time they’re what’s meant to be a feelsingsy on-page bang. And don’t get me wrong, I am definitely NOT saying what this book needed or owed me was more explicit fuckery but it’s difficult for me to approach fictional fuckery with anything other than a romance reader hat on and this fictional fuckery had a kind of flinching evasiveness (again, not about literal details, I don’t care what goes where) that belied its thematic resonance as a moment of freedom and self-expression for two people whose identity is otherwise something to be shamed, rejected, suppressed, hidden away and even occasionally threatened.
I don’t think it helps that Dash has more on-page chemistry with Nicholas Fife the dodgy gangster guy he is obliged to make a dubious deal with for “protection.” Clearly Fife is the baddest of bad news but … err. I was here for him? And whatever dangerous game he’s playing with Dash. God I have terrible taste in men.
ANYWAY, my mild indifference towards Dash aside, I actually really enjoyed a lot of the secondary cast. There’s a lot of them, and they’re all recognisable and memorable, and—especially in the case of characters like the lesbian lawyer and the denizens of Harlem—give a strong impression of having their own lives going on beyond their brief encounters with Dash. I suspect part of the reason the secondary characters worked better for me than Dash and the main cast was because they were required to do less emotional heavy-lifting and therefore benefited from the book’s brisk, bold style. In any case, they’re definitely part of what makes Holcombe’s depiction of prohibition-era queer New York come across so vividly.
Mild aside before I wrap up: in a brief foreword, the author is very open about the choices he made in portraying a world where ideas about gender and sexuality are different to the ones we hold today. Obviously I’m not here to judge someone else’s creative decisions, especially as regards how they approach a time that is not now. While I grew a little weary of period slurs, Holcombe’s approach generally worked for me. It felt like a careful compromise had been struck between doing justice to the period and balancing perspectives that would be deeply hurtful to modern readers. That said, there are definitely characters in the book we would probably consider trans or nonbinary today who are not recognised as such on page because that wasn’t how such things were thought about or expressed at the time. If that’s something that would make you personally uncomfortable, then it’s something to be aware of.
For me though, I thoroughly enjoyed my jaunt to queer New York. I know I’ve said I’m not a big mystery reader about eighty million times now. The thing is, though, it genuinely does take a bit of magic to get me involved in a genre that isn’t a natural fit for me, and this book just happened to have that bit of magic. I know I’ve picked at it because picking at books is my love language, but I found The Double Vice a really engaging and well-constructed mystery, set in a fascinating world, delivered with knowledge, enthusiasm and care. If it’s your kind of thing, I heartily recommend it. Or, given my own experiences, perhaps even if it’s not.
Also it gay.
November 24, 2021
I really liked this book. Enjoyed the mystery and the way in which 20s' New York come alive in the story. IT's quite obvious that the author has done his research when it comes to LGBT's subcultures of the time, and although sometimes the slang was a bit too thick, I still enjoyed it.
I also liked the characters. Dash, yes, of course. But El Train? She's awesome! And so is Pru.
The plot is really good. I was going from suspect to suspect and never surmised who really was behind Karl's murder.
Fife... now here is a character that I think will cause a lot of troubles to our hero. But, for now at least, they are safe and sound, which is a lot in those times.
I hope there will be a second book in this series soon.
I also liked the characters. Dash, yes, of course. But El Train? She's awesome! And so is Pru.
The plot is really good. I was going from suspect to suspect and never surmised who really was behind Karl's murder.
Fife... now here is a character that I think will cause a lot of troubles to our hero. But, for now at least, they are safe and sound, which is a lot in those times.
I hope there will be a second book in this series soon.
October 22, 2021
I met the author at a recent writer's conference and purchased this novel since the subject matter seemed intriguing. After reading it, I am on the fence. Clearly, the author has done his research, however oftentimes that research comes off as info-dumping and a bit redundant. For instance, telling the reader that "sugar" means money, but then mentioning the word "money' directly afterward (this may not be an exact example, but several of these types of over-explanations occurred) pulls the reader out of the story. Several times I listened to characters use slang when they ordinarily would not have, which had me hearing the author's direct explanation much too clearly. Once or twice is fine, for context. After that it comes off like a word glossary. Dialogue was also unrealistic and overused at times.
Story wise, I really wanted to connect with some of the characters, especially Dash. I did not, though. Knowing more about Dash's back story, as well as seeing his faults, would have really helped, I think. He was born to money, owned a club, and seemingly got bailed out of every jam without sacrificing anything. Affluent characters do exist, but to seem real they always have faults. Dash had none that I observed, and frankly, that made me not care what happened to him. It made him a bit two-dimensional and arrogant to me, but more importantly, it made him unrelatable. Just my opinion.
The plot was interesting, and I really enjoyed the historical aspect. Reading about speakeasies and their 'fronts' was very intriguing, as I love visiting those types of bars in various cities. It was a fun look at how they really operated. The author obviously wanted to showcase the alternative lifestyle that also existed back then, as well as the prejudices that were, and still are in some aspects, very real. Good job showing that.
My main criticism would be the central "mystery" of one of the character's disappearance and alleged murder didn't create any suspense or real mystery to me. No physical proof of his body is ever shown. Why not? I was waiting for him to jump out from behind a corner the whole book, since everyone simply stated that he was dead, and a twist of some kind was assumed to come up. As a constructive bit of commentary, I would suggest showing the reader the body during a whodunit. Otherwise they will continue reading with the notion that the person may not really be dead.
Overall, a good effort with a difficult historical/murder mystery theme. I thought the first couple of chapters were the book's strongest, but it lost me after that. Not sure if a professional editor was used, and if not, I strongly recommend it during subsequent books. Many of these issues would be caught and fixed. Aside from that, more concentration on character development and cleaning up the dialogue would make for a better reading experience.
On a side note to the author, it was very nice meeting you, and I look forward to catching back up with you at next year's conference if you make it. I recently had an interaction with someone I didn't previously know who saw this book I was reading. They mentioned knowing of you and what you stand for, so obviously you are well-known and respected in that community. Good luck with the rest of this series. It's a very interesting topic that no one seems to write about.
Story wise, I really wanted to connect with some of the characters, especially Dash. I did not, though. Knowing more about Dash's back story, as well as seeing his faults, would have really helped, I think. He was born to money, owned a club, and seemingly got bailed out of every jam without sacrificing anything. Affluent characters do exist, but to seem real they always have faults. Dash had none that I observed, and frankly, that made me not care what happened to him. It made him a bit two-dimensional and arrogant to me, but more importantly, it made him unrelatable. Just my opinion.
The plot was interesting, and I really enjoyed the historical aspect. Reading about speakeasies and their 'fronts' was very intriguing, as I love visiting those types of bars in various cities. It was a fun look at how they really operated. The author obviously wanted to showcase the alternative lifestyle that also existed back then, as well as the prejudices that were, and still are in some aspects, very real. Good job showing that.
My main criticism would be the central "mystery" of one of the character's disappearance and alleged murder didn't create any suspense or real mystery to me. No physical proof of his body is ever shown. Why not? I was waiting for him to jump out from behind a corner the whole book, since everyone simply stated that he was dead, and a twist of some kind was assumed to come up. As a constructive bit of commentary, I would suggest showing the reader the body during a whodunit. Otherwise they will continue reading with the notion that the person may not really be dead.
Overall, a good effort with a difficult historical/murder mystery theme. I thought the first couple of chapters were the book's strongest, but it lost me after that. Not sure if a professional editor was used, and if not, I strongly recommend it during subsequent books. Many of these issues would be caught and fixed. Aside from that, more concentration on character development and cleaning up the dialogue would make for a better reading experience.
On a side note to the author, it was very nice meeting you, and I look forward to catching back up with you at next year's conference if you make it. I recently had an interaction with someone I didn't previously know who saw this book I was reading. They mentioned knowing of you and what you stand for, so obviously you are well-known and respected in that community. Good luck with the rest of this series. It's a very interesting topic that no one seems to write about.
January 11, 2022
I was totally immersed into the 1920s 'vice' world as presented by this first-time author ... great characters, good murder mystery, cracking pace and no on-page M-M action! Highly promising start to a new series - 4.5 stars.
September 20, 2023
The Double Vice (Hidden Gotham 1)
By Chris Holcombe
Published by Books Like Us, 2021
Five stars
The year is 1926, and Dash Parker has opened a speakeasy in Greenwich Village that caters to people like him. Estranged from his wealthy upper-east-side family, Dash is proud of what he and his two partners, Finn and Joe, have accomplished, hiding their hot jazz and illegal booze behind a tailor shop. He’s throwing a birthday party for himself, and feeling good.
And then things start to go wrong.
What ensues is a detective thriller in which the main protagonist is learning as he goes. Dash pursues the truth up and down Manhattan, swallowing his fear in order to do what he believes is right. Unlike most of the characters in the book, Dash is not only out for himself. His big heart and upper-class innocence don’t always serve him well, but his innate good nature goes a long way to opening doors.
Chris Holcombe gets the tone and the lingo of Manhattan at the height of the jazz age just right, and gives it to us through the eyes of a society boy who has exiled himself in order to be himself. He tenderly paints the settings that his players inhabit, and gives us characters as vivid as any F. Scott Fitzgerald dished up. He moves from the mostly-white bohemian enclave of the Village to the mostly-black nightlife of Harlem, and does it with both respect and affection. The lingo and the dialogue feel just right. The author takes great pains to make that happen, and it works.
Dash is naïve and romantic enough to believe that he can flaut the Volkstead act (aka Prohibition) without running afoul of New York’s criminal elements (including its policemen). He doesn’t know it, but he’s a brave young man, turning his back on his privileged birthright in order to feel free, and to provide that same kind of freedom to men and women of his stripe.
As Dash realizes that it’s all gotten too complicated and that there’s no turning back, he confronts murder, blackmail, corruption and personal danger to hold onto his modest dream. He still believes in justice in an unjust world, and he believes that he and his kind deserve love.
I’ve bought the rest of the books in this series. This is worth reading.
By Chris Holcombe
Published by Books Like Us, 2021
Five stars
The year is 1926, and Dash Parker has opened a speakeasy in Greenwich Village that caters to people like him. Estranged from his wealthy upper-east-side family, Dash is proud of what he and his two partners, Finn and Joe, have accomplished, hiding their hot jazz and illegal booze behind a tailor shop. He’s throwing a birthday party for himself, and feeling good.
And then things start to go wrong.
What ensues is a detective thriller in which the main protagonist is learning as he goes. Dash pursues the truth up and down Manhattan, swallowing his fear in order to do what he believes is right. Unlike most of the characters in the book, Dash is not only out for himself. His big heart and upper-class innocence don’t always serve him well, but his innate good nature goes a long way to opening doors.
Chris Holcombe gets the tone and the lingo of Manhattan at the height of the jazz age just right, and gives it to us through the eyes of a society boy who has exiled himself in order to be himself. He tenderly paints the settings that his players inhabit, and gives us characters as vivid as any F. Scott Fitzgerald dished up. He moves from the mostly-white bohemian enclave of the Village to the mostly-black nightlife of Harlem, and does it with both respect and affection. The lingo and the dialogue feel just right. The author takes great pains to make that happen, and it works.
Dash is naïve and romantic enough to believe that he can flaut the Volkstead act (aka Prohibition) without running afoul of New York’s criminal elements (including its policemen). He doesn’t know it, but he’s a brave young man, turning his back on his privileged birthright in order to feel free, and to provide that same kind of freedom to men and women of his stripe.
As Dash realizes that it’s all gotten too complicated and that there’s no turning back, he confronts murder, blackmail, corruption and personal danger to hold onto his modest dream. He still believes in justice in an unjust world, and he believes that he and his kind deserve love.
I’ve bought the rest of the books in this series. This is worth reading.
August 24, 2025
I found this book to be a solid and fascinating mystery set in a period of queer history that isn't often featured in historical novels. But along with a few other authors, Holcombe is helping illuminate a period that I find fascinating.
While it does feature queer characters, the book is not a romance, though it does depict relationships of the time. It's more of a noir type of mystery as Dash Parker, speakeasy owner, finds himself in the middle of several disturbing situations at once, including the murder of a patron that had been in his nightclub. At the same time, Parker is squeezed by one of the mob bosses in the area, Nicholas Fife.
I found the mystery to be constructed well, with just the right amount of red herrings and clues in the plot - I definitely enjoyed Dash's amateur sleuthing attempts that tended to go wrong a fair number of times. Together with his friends, however, Parker manages to solve the mystery, even though his ego takes somewhat of a beating. There's obviously a lot of research here and for the most part it adds a lot of needed perspective to the plot, even though I felt at times that there was a bit of info dumping going on, particularly towards the beginning. However, as the book went along, I didn't feel that it was as much of an issue, and found myself compelled by Parker's quest.
Parker's character was a bit of a cipher for me, however, and as such I didn't find myself quite as emotionally invested in parts of the book as I felt I should have been. Part of it may have been that gay men in that time period didn't have the luxury of forming relationships in a lot of instances, and when it did happen there were a lot of societal pressures weighing on those assignations, which were furtive due to necessity. I'm curious to see where the author takes Parker in the next book to see if he opens up a bit more. There are some scenes with Parker's bartender/occasional lover that hint at a relationship that could be more, and Parker's encounters with Fife are quite intriguing.
It's a solid novel with a compelling story, one that I'm looking forward to continuing in the next book. If you're looking to read more on this compelling period of history, I'd recommend it highly.
While it does feature queer characters, the book is not a romance, though it does depict relationships of the time. It's more of a noir type of mystery as Dash Parker, speakeasy owner, finds himself in the middle of several disturbing situations at once, including the murder of a patron that had been in his nightclub. At the same time, Parker is squeezed by one of the mob bosses in the area, Nicholas Fife.
I found the mystery to be constructed well, with just the right amount of red herrings and clues in the plot - I definitely enjoyed Dash's amateur sleuthing attempts that tended to go wrong a fair number of times. Together with his friends, however, Parker manages to solve the mystery, even though his ego takes somewhat of a beating. There's obviously a lot of research here and for the most part it adds a lot of needed perspective to the plot, even though I felt at times that there was a bit of info dumping going on, particularly towards the beginning. However, as the book went along, I didn't feel that it was as much of an issue, and found myself compelled by Parker's quest.
Parker's character was a bit of a cipher for me, however, and as such I didn't find myself quite as emotionally invested in parts of the book as I felt I should have been. Part of it may have been that gay men in that time period didn't have the luxury of forming relationships in a lot of instances, and when it did happen there were a lot of societal pressures weighing on those assignations, which were furtive due to necessity. I'm curious to see where the author takes Parker in the next book to see if he opens up a bit more. There are some scenes with Parker's bartender/occasional lover that hint at a relationship that could be more, and Parker's encounters with Fife are quite intriguing.
It's a solid novel with a compelling story, one that I'm looking forward to continuing in the next book. If you're looking to read more on this compelling period of history, I'd recommend it highly.
September 22, 2021
The mystery and the historical setting were enjoyable, though the writing isn't very polished. The POV often zooms in and out without much segue, sometimes close, sometimes distant. The author has clearly done his research on 1920s New York, and on the gay subcultures there, which often pulls you into the setting very nicely; but sometimes that research is a bit too obvious, not really background. For example, the period slang seems a bit overused at times--instead of flavoring the dialogue, it feels kind of forced, maybe even pedantic at times. It booted me out of the story a few times, made me have to think about what the slang meant, rather than keeping me immersed in the story world.
The characters and their conflicts are interesting, and keep you wanting to find out what happens. But on a few occasions I wanted to shake Dash for making stupid decisions (more the irritating kind than the kind of mistakes that all flawed protagonists have to make). For example, after Dash is coerced into a "protection" arrangement with a powerful gangster, he still paid out protection money to a dirty cop, unnecessarily. That was a real head-scratcher--why did he do that, instead of relying on his new protector to keep the cops at bay? It made no sense, and there are a few times he does things like that.
Overall a pretty good story, and I enjoyed it for the most part, though I don't think enough to continue with the series.
The characters and their conflicts are interesting, and keep you wanting to find out what happens. But on a few occasions I wanted to shake Dash for making stupid decisions (more the irritating kind than the kind of mistakes that all flawed protagonists have to make). For example, after Dash is coerced into a "protection" arrangement with a powerful gangster, he still paid out protection money to a dirty cop, unnecessarily. That was a real head-scratcher--why did he do that, instead of relying on his new protector to keep the cops at bay? It made no sense, and there are a few times he does things like that.
Overall a pretty good story, and I enjoyed it for the most part, though I don't think enough to continue with the series.
September 23, 2025
TW: homophobia
I like the idea of this story, and the execution of the mystery elements are fantastic. But this is a very hard book to read (both emotionally and mentally), and honestly takes all of your attention.
This book centers on a murder connected to a gay, speakeasy in the 1920’s. So you can imagine the hard language, and discrimination you will get in this book. We follow Dash who is the clubs owner, as he is blackmailed into figuring out what happened. So we watch him try to skirt the line of trying to figure out what happened, while dealing with a lot of VERY homophonic language.
I will admit that I am not the most versed in the time period. But based on the author’s note at the beginning, and the overall vibe of the book, the author did his research to get things as historically accurate as he could. Because of that, it is hard to follow along at times with all the slang that is being used. It oddly took me out of the story because I had to focus on trying to figure out what was being said.
I like the idea of this story, and the execution of the mystery elements are fantastic. But this is a very hard book to read (both emotionally and mentally), and honestly takes all of your attention.
This book centers on a murder connected to a gay, speakeasy in the 1920’s. So you can imagine the hard language, and discrimination you will get in this book. We follow Dash who is the clubs owner, as he is blackmailed into figuring out what happened. So we watch him try to skirt the line of trying to figure out what happened, while dealing with a lot of VERY homophonic language.
I will admit that I am not the most versed in the time period. But based on the author’s note at the beginning, and the overall vibe of the book, the author did his research to get things as historically accurate as he could. Because of that, it is hard to follow along at times with all the slang that is being used. It oddly took me out of the story because I had to focus on trying to figure out what was being said.
November 28, 2023
This pushed a lot of good buttons for me; mystery/noir, roaring 20s New York, queer culture of the period, significant Black rep and I was intrigued all the way through. Our hero Dash manages to survive a number of very scary encounters with very many villains. We get more back story on some of the villains and secondary characters than we do on Dash, but there are 2 more books in the series so perhaps his story will be more fleshed out then. This is the author's fiction debut and it's very well done.
January 11, 2024
Holcombe has clearly done a ton of research, but rather than present that in awkward expository history dumps, he’s fully integrated it into the lives of his characters, so it’s part of the texture, from how they dress to how they talk, which is terrifically compelling. All that rich detail is, in fact, the best part of the novel, but it’s a solid, well-constructed mystery, with an endearingly reluctant protagonist.
2024 Popsugar Reading Challenge
10. A book by a self-published author.
2024 Popsugar Reading Challenge
10. A book by a self-published author.
December 27, 2021
This story was compelling, eye-opening, and a wonderful mystery to uncover.
With exquisite world-building and character development, I felt fully immersed in the adventures of Dash and his friends. I could almost smell the grimy heat, the sweating bodies, and feel the grit and desperation portrayed.
I look forward to reading book 2 shortly.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
With exquisite world-building and character development, I felt fully immersed in the adventures of Dash and his friends. I could almost smell the grimy heat, the sweating bodies, and feel the grit and desperation portrayed.
I look forward to reading book 2 shortly.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
January 16, 2023
A good gay read
The Double Vice is a smart detective novel. Holcombe has done his research and fills his novel with historically drawn characters and settings that fully evoke the roaring 20s of gay clubs and Harlem speakeasys--as well as the threats to both from the police and straight white society. What is particularly satisfying is the portrayal of strong women--and powerful black queer women in particular. I will definitely move on to the next book in the series.
The Double Vice is a smart detective novel. Holcombe has done his research and fills his novel with historically drawn characters and settings that fully evoke the roaring 20s of gay clubs and Harlem speakeasys--as well as the threats to both from the police and straight white society. What is particularly satisfying is the portrayal of strong women--and powerful black queer women in particular. I will definitely move on to the next book in the series.
November 27, 2021
We enter the gritty world of speakeasy clubs, gangsters, jazz and blues, and illegal booze. The story is well paced and the characters intriguing and often dangerous. I felt it was a little uneasy at times, not sure if it was the language or a conscious decision by the author to make the story feel edgy.
March 11, 2024
It's obvious that the author put a ton of time and thought into researching and portraying the setting and time period. This was a lush, immersive book that was absolutely dripping with historical details. The characters were super fun, especially Finn, and I can't wait to see what they get up to next!
March 29, 2021
A well-researched fun amateur detective story set in the underground Queer world of 1920s New York. Goes down quick, like a gay Murder She Wrote among the vintage speakeasy set. Looking forward to more in the series!
March 1, 2024
2.5 it was okay.
No real character development; everything was kind of flat. Decent tension in summer places, but I still didn't know who Mrs. Grundy is. I think I know but that tells me insufficient editing.
I went bother with the others because I didn't care about the characters. Oh, well.
No real character development; everything was kind of flat. Decent tension in summer places, but I still didn't know who Mrs. Grundy is. I think I know but that tells me insufficient editing.
I went bother with the others because I didn't care about the characters. Oh, well.
December 5, 2021
Really interesting reading about the 1920’s with a mystery thrown in, always wondering if they’ll be caught!
January 31, 2022
Engaging period murder mystery about a much neglected population. Action packed from start to finish.
July 27, 2022
While I definitely appreciate all the research that went into this book, I definitely don’t need to see all of it on the page in such a determined way.
April 28, 2024
Gay mystery fiction set in 1920s New York. The gay owner of a speakeasy bar that caters to LGBT community must solve a murder and a blackmail plot. Well written and researched.
December 28, 2024
Loved the theme, characters, history and mystery. Definitely kept me guessing and had unexpected twists and turns
April 3, 2025
This book is fantastic! The characters are fun, the dialogue is so well written, and story is killer. Can’t wait to read the rest!
June 25, 2025
I did not like this at all. It picked up a bit in the last quarter of the book, but too little too late. It's a hard no from me.
May 15, 2022
The Double Vice by Chris Holcombe caught my attention because it is set in the 1920s like my Medicine For The Blues trilogy. Holcombe’s detective story hooks you from the first line,“He is not one of us.” Mysteries and questions abound surrounding a procession of engaging characters with a tangle of relationships that link them to more than one murder. Everyone has a secret and something to hide—besides the fact that most of them are queer in 1920s New York. Holcombe has done his research into the era and setting. There is sassy, snappy dialogue worthy of Raymond Chandler. And there are enough twists and surprises to keep you turning the pages to unravel a plot worthy of Dashiell Hammett—the main character’ name, Dash Parker, is unmistakably a reference. A rollicking roller coaster ride through a fascinating milieu.
June 11, 2025
There is absolutely no other way to describe this book than amazing. I was drawn into the storyline right away. I totally felt I was right there the whole time. I finished this book in the wee hours of the morning and immediately went onto book two "The Blind Tiger". Chris Holcombe is a new to me author and has moved right io being a top favorite author.
🙋🏼♂️ ❤ 📖 📚
🙋🏼♂️ ❤ 📖 📚
January 23, 2023
A well written enjoyable murder mystery, set in a 1920's gay speakeasy.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews