'Exceptional – you hear and smell and taste Victorian London' Sarah Hilary The headlines scream warnings about the 'Butcher of Berner Street!' and the journalist behind them – Leo Stanhope – is secretly thrilled to see the effect his words are having. Leo's previous work has largely been concentrated on more mundane issues but when an anonymous letter summons him to a club in East London, only for the owner of the club to be found murdered shortly afterwards, Leo sees a story worth pursuing. Not to mention an opportunity to make a name for himself.Yet the more Leo digs, the stranger the story becomes, taking him from the club to a nearby convent, and into the past of a very unusual woman. But he is not the only one hunting for a killer. And it seems Leo's newspaper reports may have put someone else in grave danger...From the author of the Richard and the Judy Book Club choice, The House on Half Moon Street

Leo Stanhope dreams of making a home with Maria, the prostitute he loves, and he dreams of a world where no one cares what is tucked between his legs. Because Leo has a secret, and in Queen Victoria's England, that secret could get him locked up for life or killed. But it's a prostitute who's killed instead, and Leo who becomes the prime suspect. To clear his name, will he give up his secret?

In two classic mysteries, an English teacher by profession discovers that sleuthing—of the strictly amateur variety—may be where her truest passions lie.   J. S. Borthwick’s debut novel, The Case of the Hook-Billed Kites, takes Sarah Deane, still a grad student at this point, out of her natural New England habitat and into the wilds of Texas, where her maybe-boyfriend is keen on a spot of birdwatching. But birds are not all that she spies through her binoculars, and so the adventures begin. In The Down East Murders, Sarah is glad to be back on home ground, but somebody, it appears, is not happy in any way at all, and Sarah is forced (and secretly thrilled) to put her newfound detecting skills to use again.  Praise for the first two mysteries featuring Sarah Deane   “Miss Borthwick has a keen eye and a sharp pen.” —The New York...

'Leo Stanhope is a wonderful creation, his world atmospheric and terrifying, and his own story as powerful and enthralling as the mysteries he investigates' Sam Blake The second book in the acclaimed new historical crime series following on from the Richard & Judy Book Club 2019 pick, The House on Half Moon StreetIt's been a year since Leo Stanhope lost the woman he loved, and came closing to losing his own life. Now, more than ever, he is determined to keep his head down and stay safe, without risking those he holds dear. But Leo's hopes for peace and security are shattered when the police unexpectedly arrive at his lodgings: a woman has been found murdered at a club for anarchists, and Leo's address is in her purse. When Leo is taken to the club by the police, he is shocked to discover there a man from his past, a man who knows Leo's birth identity. And if Leo does not provide him with an alibi for the night of the woman's...

Everyone has a secret... Only some lead to murder. Introducing Leo Stanhope: a Victorian transgender coroner's assistant who must uncover a killer without risking his own futureLeo Stanhope. Avid chess player; assistant to a London coroner; in love with Maria; and hiding a very big secret. For Leo was born Charlotte, the daughter of a respectable reverend. But knowing he was meant to be a man – despite the evidence of his body – and unable to cope with living a lie any longer, he fled his family home at just fifteen and has been living as Leo: his secret known to only a few trusted people. But then Maria is found dead and Leo is accused of her murder. Desperate to find her killer and under suspicion from all those around him, he stands to lose not just the woman he loves, but his freedom and, ultimately, his life.A wonderfully atmospheric debut, rich in character and setting, in The House on Half Moon Street Alex...