#Pentecost and Parker

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Historical Mystery Series

Harlem Renaissance Mysteries by Nekesa Afia (1920s) The Nightingale Mysteries by Katharine Schellman (1920s) The Simon Sampson Mysteries by David C. Dawson (1930s) Pentecost and Parker by Stephen Spotswood (1940s) Evander Mills by Lev A.C. Rosen (1950s)

[caiternate]

what’s the exact right number of people i need to get to read Pentecost and Parker where someone will do a Leyendecker-style piece of Will and Lillian working in the study but there won’t be any discourse about. well anything really.

[kimabutch]

Finished Secrets Typed in Blood, the third Pentecost & Parker mystery book yesterday, and the whole series continues to be a delight. On the one hand, it's comfort food — it follows classic mystery tropes, and the writing style is funny, charming, and fast-paced. On the other hand, it's set in the late 1940s in New York, its protagonist is a white queer woman (and many of its secondary characters are Black, disabled, Jewish, queer, and/or otherwise marginalized), and it does a good job of balancing the light tone of the narrator with the depressing realities of life at that time for people who weren't white cishet men. You get hints of what the life of the protagonists and her friends are going to be like in the next 10 or 20 years and it kinda knocks me out every time, to be reminded of that.

There are aspects of the series that I'm less impressed with — namely, the recurring antagonist is a classic well-intentioned extremist and I'm pretty tired of that trope (and also I find it hard to swallow when the character's aims are portrayed as so sympathetic). But seeing as that character's only shown up a couple of times, I'm willing to see where the author goes with her.

[libraryofbaxobab]

April 3, 2024:

I've caught up, so no more Pentecost & Parker for me until the author writes more, but I'm a ride or die fan now. They got me. The sometimes-butch, sometimes-femme bisexual detective is in my bloodstream now.

I found this one a little annoying because of the important subplot being based on a pointless lie which always irks me, but I'll forgive it because the mystery part was so good.

[taurus-sun222]

Today I made myself coffee, meditated, and spent some time reading in my bay window 🩵

(Currently reading: Murder Crossed Her Mind/Stephen Spotswood. 4th of 4 in Pentecost and Parker series)

2024 Reading goal: 24 books (status (0/24).

[thesharktist]

I'm a bit insane about them, you see.

They are quite literally the world's best P.I. duo, you can't convince me otherwise

Thank you, Spotswood, for killing me with wonderful characters and a horrifying (/pos) 4th book.

[lakecountylibrary]

Series Rec: The Pentecost and Parker Mysteries by Stephen Spotswood

I adore this series! Will Parker is fast-talking gal, well-versed in the seedier side of 1940s NYC, when she makes a chance encounter with Ms. Lillian Pentecost, a shrewd private investigator who recognizes ability when she sees it.

Pictured: Book 3 in the series, Secrets Typed in Blood

The cases they take on are intricate and well-plotted and I love the diversity and uniqueness of these strong, admirable women.

Start with Fortune Favors the Dead to understand how their relationship begins then sit back and enjoy some humor on wry with a side of snark as this oddly capable duo brings justice to criminals of all sorts.

See more of Chris' recs

Check out the Pentecost & Parker Mysteries

[pilgrimjim]

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize: Following Jesus in the Worst of Times

In such a country, such a world, such a time, what is a disciple to do? We must figure it out as we go, the way the saints of old did amid crumbling empires, or as Dietrich Bonhoeffer did in 1930s Germany, or as Martin Luther King did in a Birmingham jail

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew (1599-1600) Any number of things can happen when we encounter Jesus. We might be comforted—or we might be uncomfortable. We might be healed—or we might be wounded. We might be instructed—or we might be turned upside down. Jesus is a difference maker. For better or worse, he comes to interrupt—and disrupt—our lives.  Sometimes Jesus speaks to our heart.…

[dwuerch-blog]

The Best Gift

My “bonus” grandson, Parker, pictured here, just graduated high school. On Pentecost Sunday at his church, he was asked to share what the greatest gift was that he had ever received. A crowd of eager young faces had been called to the front of the congregation to hear wise words. We were there to witness it. Parker revealed in his talk — not a flashy gadget but his Bible that is the gem he’s…

[ralexsol]

Honestly Pentecost & Parker might be one of my favorite book series ever. Bisexual female detective sidekick protagonist. Female detective with multiple sclerosis as her boss. Every book Will (protag) gets a sideplot small romance with someone important in the case and she's actually bisexual about it (does it ever work out for her? Uh). 3rd book had positive rep of a polycule. The mysteries are rly interesting and the characters are so well-written. I have been thoroughly enraptured every book I've read so far (literally just finished 3, I need to go to the library for 4 NOW). READ THIS SERIES ITS QUEER FEMALE DETECTIVES IN 1940S NYC ITS SO FUCKING GOOD

[rockislandadultreads]

Disability Pride Month: Genre Fiction Recommendations

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt...natural, and that's putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was "wrong". But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong.

Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the "reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist" and the "saga of the wicked woman and mad man" unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn't so predictable. Expect the unaccepted.

Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood

It's 1942 and Willowjean "Will" Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of New York's best, and most unorthodox, private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. When the dapper detective summons Will a few days later, she doesn't expect to be offered a life-changing proposition: Lillian's multiple sclerosis means she can't keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman. In return, Will is to receive a salary, room and board, and training in Lillian's very particular art of investigation.

Three years later, Will and Lillian are on the Collins case: Abigail Collins was found bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball following a big, boozy Halloween party at her home—her body slumped in the same chair where her steel magnate husband shot himself the year before. With rumors flying that Abigail was bumped off by the vengeful spirit of her husband (who else could have gotten inside the locked room?), the family has tasked the detectives with finding answers where the police have failed.

But that's easier said than done in a case that involves messages from the dead, a seductive spiritualist, and Becca Collins—the beautiful daughter of the deceased, who Will quickly starts falling for. When Will and Becca's relationship dances beyond the professional, Will finds herself in dangerous territory, and discovers she may have become the murderer's next target.

This is the first volume of the “Pentecost and Parker” series.

Borderline by Mishell Baker

A year ago, Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she’s sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.

For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him, she’ll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble’s disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets, but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.

No pressure.

This is the first volume of the “Arcadia Project” series.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

This is the first volume of the “Kiss Quotient” series.

[noreligionisgood]

In 2022, a coalition of right-wing writers and leaders published a document called “National Conservatism: A Statement of Principles.” Its section on God and public religion states: “Where a Christian majority exists, public life should be rooted in Christianity and its moral vision, which should be honored by the state and other institutions both public and private.” That’s an extraordinary — and ominous — ideological statement, one that would immediately relegate non-Christians to second-class status. It’s utterly contrary to the First Amendment and would impose a form of compelled deference to Christianity on both religious minorities and the nonreligious.

But Christian nationalism isn’t just rooted in ideology; it’s also deeply rooted in identity, the belief that Christians should rule. This is the heart of the Seven Mountain Mandate, a dominionist movement emerging from American Pentecostalism that is, put bluntly, Christian identity politics on steroids. Paula White, Donald Trump’s closest spiritual adviser, is an adherent, and so is the chief justice of Alabama, Tom Parker, who wrote a concurring opinion in the court’s recent I.V.F. decision. The movement holds that Christians are called to rule seven key societal institutions: the family, the church, education, the media, the arts, business and the government.

One doesn’t have to go all the way into Seven Mountain theology, though, to find examples of Christian identity politics. The use of Christianity as an unofficial but necessary qualification for office is a routine part of politics in the most churchgoing parts of America. Moreover, one of the common red-America arguments for Trump is that he might not be devout himself but he’ll place lots of Christians in government.

But what is Christian identity politics but another form of Christian supremacy? How does Christian identity alone make any person a better candidate for office? After all, many of the worst actors in American politics are professed believers. Scandal and corruption are so pervasive in the church that when people say, “I’m a Christian,” it tells me almost nothing about their wisdom or virtue.

Finally, we can’t forget the intense emotion of Christian nationalism. Most believers don’t follow ideological and theological arguments particularly closely. In the words of the historian Thomas Kidd, “Actual Christian nationalism is more a visceral reaction than a rationally chosen stance.” It is tied, in other words, to a visceral sense that the fate of the church is closely tied to the outcome of any given political race.

That fervor can make believers gullible and potentially even dangerous. Its good-versus-evil dynamic can make Christians believe that their political opponents are capable of anything, including stealing an election. It artificially raises the stakes of elections to the point where a loss becomes an unthinkable catastrophe, with the fates of both church and state hanging in the balance. As we saw on Jan. 6, 2021, this belief invites violent action.

Committed Christian nationalists represent only 10 percent of the population, according to a 2023 PRRI/Brookings Christian Nationalism Survey. But even members of a minority that small can gain outsize power when they fold themselves into the larger Christian electorate, casting themselves as “just like you.” That’s why we cannot conflate Christian activism with Christian nationalism. One can welcome Christian participation in the public square while resisting domination, from any faith or creed

[libraryofbaxobab]

April 2, 2024:

I'm eating these by the handful like Skittles, and for this reason I don't think it's right to review each of them. All you have to know is they're fun and I love every accent the audiobook narrator does.

8.5/10 #WhatsKenyaReading

[lgbtqreads]

Hello again! Do you know any good queer books that like mystery or something?

Sure do! Kristen Lepionka's Roxane Weary series is a fave PI series, and I love Lev AC Rosen's historical mystery Lavender House, whose sequel comes out in October. Cozy mysteries have had a fun little boom in queer lit lately - enjoyed A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette and Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp, and am very much looking forward to Board to Death by CJ Connor and still need to read Devil's Chew Toy by Rob Osler. I haven't yet read Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia, Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman, or Stephen Spotswood's Pentecost & Parker series, which are all Sapphic historical mysteries, but those look great too!

If you're a YA fan, I love Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig, Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan, People Like Us by Dana Mele, Far From You by Tess Sharpe, and my personal holy grail, Sadie by Courtney Summers.

[thesharktist]

Book art!!!

Please please please go read this series it's soooooo good