The Distance Between US

In a town where most people have something to hide, the distance between trust and treachery is razor-thin, which makes for the perfect Provincetown mystery. Celia-Jane Strongue’s death in the studio of world-famous artist, Mavis Chandry, would seem more than enough, but when The HomePort Colony’s chatelene, Helena Handbasket, is designated a prime suspect, treachery goes into overdrive.

As Helena delves into the tangled web of secrets, betrayals, and long-buried histories, she uses her impersonation and wardrobe skills to unravel the truth before the real culprit destroys everything she holds dear. Helena is no ordinary suspect. Drag queen, budding sailor and pilot, devoted community guardian, and when circumstances demand it, amateur detective, she finds herself at the center of a murder case as strange as the Cape has ever seen. With stolen paintings, vandalized artwork, uncooperative police, and mounting tragedies threatening everything she loves, Helena goes underground to untangle a conspiracy that reaches into the deepest corners of Provincetown’s multi-layered society.

As tensions between townies and washashores simmer beneath the surface, and long-buried secrets surface, Helena must use every resource at her disposal, including her wardrobe, to unravel the truth before the real culprit destroys everything she and her chosen family have built.

Provincetown itself is as much a character as any of the people who inhabit it. Perched at the very tip of Cape Cod, it is a place apart, a haven for artists, outsiders, and reinvention, where the boundaries between performance and reality blur as naturally as the tides. Burch renders this world with an insider’s eye, capturing the tensions between old-timers and newcomers, the wealthy and the broke, the famous and the forgotten, and the complex web of loyalties that holds such a community together even as it threatens to pull it apart.

The cast of The Distance Between Us is robust and deliberately so. From Helena’s devoted spouse Butch to the eccentric group of Provincetown regulars who populate the galleries, dunes, and dinner parties of this singular place, every character is drawn with care and wit. Readers of LGBTQ fiction will find themselves immersed in stakeouts, art exhibitions, covert meetings, and canapes with friends, following Helena as she navigates a conspiracy that implicates nearly everyone she loves.

At its heart, The Distance Between Us is a story about what we owe each other, what we hide from each other, and what it costs to protect the communities we choose. It is a Provincetown mystery in a classic sense, with a body, a detective, and a satisfying resolution, but it is also something rarer: a portrait of a place and a people that feels genuinely lived in and genuinely loved.

From drag performances and gallery openings to covert stakeouts and canapes with friends, the story moves at a steady clip while exploring identity, legacy, art, and the bonds that hold a community together. Helena is a brilliant protagonist, always changing, always thinking ahead, and always fiercely committed to the town and people she loves.

Filled with intrigue, wit, and unforgettable characters, The Distance Between Us is LGBTQ fiction that explores identity, art, and the power of community outside the mainstream. This second book in The HomePort Chronicles builds richly on the world established in The HomePort Journals, though it can also be read and enjoyed on its own terms.