Blackmail, My Love
Josie O’Connor arrives in 1950s San Francisco after her brother, Jimmy, fails to phone her as expected. A former policeman, Jimmy had been fired from the San Francisco police force and subsequently worked as a private eye before he vanished. Josie’s quest leads her to the famous Black Cat Cafe, the Fillmore district, and the Tenderloin, to a world filled with danger and blackmail for those frequenting it who are unlucky enough to be identified by the police, or others unsympathetic to “the life.”
After her initial inquiries prove futile, Josie adopts male dress, finding freedom in it. She meets gentle Mr. Dodson, enigmatic Lily Wu, and many others, all of them living in the shadows, afraid to let their secrets out. As Josie follows up on her brother’s blackmail investigation, she travels further and further into the homosexual underground, and a criminal world of corruption and police brutality.
Katie Gilmartin has a PhD in cultural studies with an emphasis in Queer History. Her knowledge brings history to life in this neo-noir mystery novel, nicely illustrated with Gilmartin’s own prints. This book evokes a period and a lifestyle unfamiliar to many readers, and is grounded in historical events, notably the California Supreme Court ruling of 1951 that challenged the police bar raids common in that era. Curious readers will enjoy and learn from Gilmartin’s recreation of this lamentable chapter in American history.
