Rough Trade : A Novel

By Katrina Carrasco

Alma Rosales is back and trouble is hot on her heels in this sexy queer historical thriller from the critically acclaimed author of The Best Bad Things.

After destroying all evidence of their opium-smuggling operation in Port Townsend, Alma Rosales and Delphine Beaumond have set up shop in Tacoma, where the risk is high but the profits are higher. Now living full-time as Jack Camp, Alma and her new crew manage the flow of opium down the West Coast.

Then two local men end up dead, with all signs pointing to the opium trade, and a botched effort to disappear the bodies draws lawmen to town. Alma scrambles to keep them away from her operation but is distracted by the surprise appearance of Bess Spencer—an ex-Pinkerton's agent and Alma's first love—after years of silence. A handsome young stranger comes to town too, and falls into an affair with one of Alma's crewmen. When he starts asking questions about opium, Alma is forced to consider whether she's welcomed a spy into her inner circle, and how far she'll go to protect her trade.

Katrina Carrasco plunges readers back into the vivid, rough-and-tumble world of The Best Bad Things in this searing, genre- and gender-blurring sequel. A heady feast for the senses, Rough Trade is a rich, lively follow-up to Carrasco's critically acclaimed debut, exploring reimagined queer communities, the turbulent early days of modern media and medicine, and the pleasures—and price—of satisfying desire.