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Amateur City
Amateur City | Katherine V. Forrest
2 posts | 2 read | 5 to read
When revolutionary lesbian author Katherine V. Forrest's Amateur City was published in 1984, introducing LAPD detective Kate Delafield, it not only marked the beginning of one of mystery fiction's most successful series, it also created one of the most lucrative genres in gay publishing: the lesbian mystery. In the first, Amateur City, Kate and her partner, Ed Taylor, investigate the murder of a highly placed executive, whose body was found by a co-worker, a woman who begins to break down Kate's defences.
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
Amateur City | Katherine V. Forrest
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Although I wasn't sure about this book at first, I ended up really liking as well as admiring it. It's a groundbreaking mystery with a lesbian detective protagonist, published and set in 1984. It feels like a slice of 80s L.A. life. Virulent corporate racism and sexism are front and centre in the investigation. Forrest's characterization is sharp as a knife and deeply uninterested in flat or stock characters. I've already started the second book!

KathyWheeler I read some of the Kate Delafield books a long time ago and really liked them. I‘ll have to pick up this one. 2y
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
Amateur City | Katherine V. Forrest
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Some of the datedness of this (published 1984) has been hard to get over (the over the top racism of one character, my god -- he's clearly condemned by the text but did it have to be so explicit, couldn't you cut down on the racial slurs??) but I am otherwise finding this very interesting. It's a slice of 80s culture that makes me grateful to have only spent my first five years in that decade.
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