The heroine of ‘Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery’ is trying to solve a different kind of puzzle | Book review
Rosalie Knecht's heroine, a midcentury lesbian, returns for a second novel.
Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery
By Rosalie Knecht
Tin House. 256 pp. $15.95
Reviewed by Chris Hewitt
Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery is not a mystery. Rosalie Knecht’s follow-up to Who Is Vera Kelly? continues in its vein: A midcentury lesbian navigates being a midcentury lesbian while also maybe getting to the bottom of a crime. Early in the novel, the recently dumped private investigator is approached by a mysterious couple from the Dominican Republic, seeking the return of their son. Kelly tracks him to a home for juvenile delinquents, where she discovers his story involves government upheaval and skulduggery.
Knecht handles the Graham Greene-esque elements briskly, but the biggest pleasure is how she evokes a not-so-distant time with specific, slightly outdated language (Kelly stores bullets in an empty "cold cream jar") and period details (Kelly lives in pre-Stonewall Greenwich Village, so her local pub is subject to frequent police raids and her chums get fired because of whom they love).
Kelly narrates Mystery in a sharp, sardonic voice and Knecht is able to help us see why, frustratingly, Kelly keeps making the same mistakes. As a result, we understand that the real puzzle our heroine must solve is who, exactly, does she want to be?
From the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune.