A historical mystery about a trans man working as a coroner’s assistant in Victorian London. I really wanted to like it, as it’s an excellent idea for a story, but the story structure and the characterisation were quite weak. Not a bad read if you fancy giving it a try but don’t have high expectations.

I can't recommend this book enough. It was an absolute pleasure to read. Such a great idea to set it in Victorian London, and the descriptions made the setting come alive. I felt I was there.
Leo makes a great hero, and I am delighted to hear it is going to be a series. He was so sensitively written and it showed an amazing understanding of what it must have been like to be a transgender person at the time. Leo risks arrest and incarceration for daring to be himself. I loved it and think everyone should read it. An excellent choice for men and women and adults of all ages. . #HouseOnHalfMoonStreet #NetGalley

The premise of transgender person in a time when it's illegal, in London, tracking down the murderer of his lover is intriguing. Her past becomes more and more a lie .. but he convinces himself it's all been for her to show true love.?And certainly engaging to see how he dodged problems of being out-ed to pursue career .. and the author explore that (a scene where he has to dress again as female is hilarious) .. the underground world of whores, and the spats and betrayals among them ; an unknown persons gets him out of prison... but a former head of brothel and the girls in it, know her secret. A surprising crook and lots of dead bodies keep rolling out. It got a bit confused,/drawn out and there were longueurs when it got a bit dull. But trekking on someone new ground. Courageous and refreshing ..

The House on Half Moon Street is a historical novel that blends mystery, the seedy criminal underbelly, and difficulties of identity. Leo Stanhope is a coroner's assistant, a chess player, and a trans man just trying to exist in Victorian London. He is in love with Maria, who works in a brothel owned by a shady businessman, and when Maria is found dead, Leo is drawn into the world of prostitutes, abortions, and abduction as he struggles to work out what happened to his beloved.

Though the novel has a driving narrative with a crime vibe, its real power is in its protagonist, who is determined and sometimes foolish, and its supporting characters, including charming gems like Leo's landlord's eleven-year-old daughter who tests Leo on the uses of various apothecary items. They are vivid and varied, with conflicted motivations and problems. The world in which they live is gritty and dangerous, full of misogyny and violence and abuse, and is well-depicted.

The narrative did at times seem to overdo the amount of description of Leo's discomfort with his body, which was presumably to try and get across his feelings to non-trans readers who perhaps haven't encountered many transgender characters before, and there was an unnecessarily detailed rape scene that it is worth warning about. Overall, however, the novel did seem to focus on the fact that Leo was just trying to live his life, even though ill-fated love and naivety helped draw him into a mysterious and criminal world.

The House on Half Moon Street is an atmospheric story with memorable characters that is an ideal read for historical crime and mystery fans.

Leo Stanhope has fallen in love with the wrong girl and hiding a big secret. He may dress and act as a man but he's a woman. Then the love of his life is found dead and he is accused of the crime. Can he find out the truth whilst keeping his own secrets.

This was a really interesting read with a clever plot. The story is detailed and atmospheric. The mystery is clever with many twists that keep you unsure until the end.

Leo is such a great lead character especially as he's a man in a woman's body. It's an interesting twist to the story and written so well. Plus I grew to love him as the book develops.

An interesting mystery with many twists along the way.

The main reason I wanted to read this novel was the protagonist, Leo, a man that was born in a woman's body. I mean how often do you encounter a transgender protagonist in historical fiction: not that often. I have read books where a woman dresses like a man to achieve an objective, but never a transgender person. As a whole, I thought this was a good mystery that held my attention, plenty of twists and turns. I had not expected the moments of violence, themes of abuse, child prostitution etc. in this book but that is my bad, when it says gritty on the tin, you can expect gritty within. At times, I wondered if the pacing could have not been tightened a little bit, but overall, I thought this was a great novel. I would really love to hear from some transgender people how they felt represented in this book.

The House on Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve

It is 1880 and Leo Stanhope, assistant to a coroner in London, is in love. It doesn’t matter to him that his love Maria works as a prostitute in Mrs Brafton’s brothel on Half Moon Street. Leo knows that Maria loves him and he has proof. She knows Leo as he really is – a man who was born a girl called Charlotte or Lottie. But Lottie grew up knowing that there was no future for Charlotte the woman. There could only be Leo the man. Very few know Leo’s secret, which is just as well because a woman dressed as a man is committing a criminal offence. But all of Leo’s hopes for the future are shattered when Maria is found dead, murdered, and Leo is a chief suspect. With his heart broken, Leo must discover the truth but in doing so he learns how little he really knew the love of his life.

At the heart of The House on Half Moon Street is its vulnerable and yet immensely courageous transgender hero, Leo Stanhope. He’s so easy to warm to, and fear for, as he lets us into his secrets, we watch him mould his body, suppress his appetite to remain unfeminine, meet with friends who could destroy him with one careless word. The narrative is in the first person and so we know only too well just how much he loves Maria while we also suspect that this relationship is never going to end well. And we worry for him when we watch him risk absolutely everything to chase her killer.

So on one level this is a Victorian murder mystery and it’s a very good one. But on another level it’s an emotional portrait of Leo Stanhope who lived at a time when there must have seemed little hope for someone like him. At times the narrative takes us into very dark places indeed and there is one moment in particular which I found difficult to cope with, that contrasted so sharply with the tone of much of the rest of the novel. And so at times the novel does seem to straddle different worlds. Inevitably, it also reminded me of the much loved Jem series by E.M. Thomson. But there is so much feeling in The House on Half Moon Street that it is impossible not to warm to Leo, who is so beautifully drawn and brought to life, and fear for his situation. But there is more to this novel than Leo’s situation. It also reflects on the situation of London’s poorest women, including its prostitutes.

The portrayal of Victorian London is fantastic. We move around a fair bit of it and I really enjoyed where it it takes us but the best of scenes are reserved for Mrs Brafton’s brothel as well as the evenings Leo spends playing chess with his closest friend. But I particularly liked the moments Leo spends with his landlord and his young daughter. There is such a life to these scenes, although the thought of the landlord practising his dentistry skills is not a comforting one. I loved the lightness and humour of these pages, which do a fine job, I think, of breaking up the darkness.

The House on Half Moon Street is a really enjoyable and at times quite intense portrayal of life in London in the 1880s for poor women and for those who challenged Victorian conceptions of sexuality and gender identity. Leo is an intriguing hero with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The House on Half Moon Street is Alex Reeve’s debut novel and is, I’m delighted to say, the first of a new series. I’m really pleased that Leo will return.

Thanks Netgalley, Publisher and the Author. I really enjoyed this historical novel which was nothing like my normal reading material. This was set in Victorian London and it had some interesting facts. Good read

The House On Half Moon Street was an atmospheric and emotive read – which is all about, really, it’s central character Leo, transgender, living in a time where the only way to live the truth is by living a lie…

Alex Reeve captures the sense of a gritty, Victorian London with a real literary flair and Leo is highly engaging and deeply layered. Misogyny abounds, even within Leo himself, I was fascinated by his journey and seeing his internal thoughts and struggles really made this novel for me.

The mystery element is well plotted, if rather secondary to the character drama and scene setting – the author uses Leo to explore the realities and vagaries of this period of history – especially with relation to the place of women in society, their limitations and realities – it is all highly thought provoking and often very hard hitting. The writing is beautiful, harsh occasionally and not afraid to tackle controversy – it all made for an addictive and immersive read.

Overall The House On Half Moon Street promises much – I’m happy to hear it is only the start for Leo as this is a premise that could run and run, so much more to explore within its themes and setting – this was an excellent start and I shall certainly be following along.

Recommended.

2.5 stars. This is a difficult book to review. There were things I liked and things I didn't. I picked it up as the description of a mystery story with a trans protagonist sounded interesting, but both the mystery and the character disappointed at different times. It dragged in bits and I was very tempted to give up. The only thing that made me read on was because I was curious about what would happen to Leo Stanhope. The mystery was intriguing enough, but it progressed so slowly that I lost interest. But I do feel the setting and characters have promise, and if the author turns this into a series, I might be convinced to give another book a go.

Of course, Stanhope was the reason I picked up the book. I wanted to see what the author made of a transman living in late 19th-century London. Certain aspects of his life were fascinating, terrifying, uplifting, heart-breaking. Somehow, however, I did not much like the character -- he came across as a stupid man, especially with regard to thinking that he was in love with sex worker (and she loved him back). It was difficult to build any empathy with him, and the only interesting thing about him was that he was transgender and was passing in a hostile society, having made a space for himself.

(Review copy received from NetGalley)

Leo Stanhope is definitely an interesting character. I really like historical fiction and I really enjoyed reading this book. I am so glad it is the start of a series. The characters are interesting and engaging and the plot was really good and well thought out,

I do like a good dose of historical fiction every so often. I especially like the cerebral investigative process rather than the main protagonist merely relying on technology. This book obviously has that as it is set in Victorian times, in London to be specific. But, what it also has is a main character who is transgender. I know that this practice was quite prevalent in these times due to woman needing to pose as men to gain employment or education, especially in certain circles, but here Leo is actually more comfortable and indeed identifies better as a man rather than the women he was born as. I found this to be quite illuminating, especially given the times, and some of his inner musings were quite eye opening too.
So, we have Leo who, at the start of our story, is working in a hospital morgue. He plays chess sometimes in the evenings and also has a standing weekly appointment with Maria, a lady of ill repute. She being one of the very few people who know the truth of his identity. They are in love. One day though they have an appointment outside of the brothel but she stands him up. Leo is devastated and thinks she could betray him but then she turns up at his place of work, dead. Due to her profession, the police find it hard to find out who murdered her and, clutching at straws, the finger soon points at Leo. Desperate to clear his name, and retain his true identity, and determined to find the killer, Leo takes it upon himself to investigate. But what secrets will he uncover and, in doing so, what harm will befall him?
Firstly, the book is set in the 1800s and so the values, opinions, laws, actions and attitudes are akin to this time. Pretty brutally in some places in the book. Some things were quite shocking by today's standards but it was totally what you would expect for the era in which the story is set.
Leo was a very interesting and obviously complex character. He plays his role to perfection however, even if some of the things he had to do were painful. He also developed well over the course of the book. Starting off as quite vulnerable and timid but blossoming into a fine upstanding man towards the end. We also got to hear his backstory in flashback. How he struggled with his identity as a child and the way he left the family home.
The rest of the cast were just as well described and all had their parts to play within the story, which they did, and very well too. I won't go into any further detail here as it is better to meet and get to know them as the author intended.
The plot was very well crafted and had me spinning around trying to get to the truth before Leo. I did manage to suss a few things out early but I think that's probably more due to the fact that I read far more mystery novels than Leo and thus have more experience than him!! You can't expect a character with his background to suddenly become a first class detective at his first outing; a fair dollop of floundering is only to be expected. I didn't get it all right all the time though and there were a fair few things that I really didn't see coming.
It doesn't mention it here that I can see but I have seen on other sites that this is actually the first in a series. This news excited me very much as I definitely though that Leo has a lot more to give as a character and I for one will be happy to continue that journey with him
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a thought provoking historical crime drama with Leo Stanhope, a transgender coroner's assistant, set in Victorian London. Born Charlotte Pritchard, he has 2 siblings, and feels an absolute conviction he is a man, cruelly made to live within the body of a woman, he leaves home at 15 years old, unable to live a lie any longer. He is estranged from his family and only connects with his sister, Jane, although she is not happy to see him. It begins with the arrival of the drowned body of Jack Flowers, a man deemed to be drunk who accidentally fell into the Thames. Leo is a frequent visitor to the brothel on Half Moon Street, to see the love of his life, Maria Milanes, who appears to reciprocate his feelings despite being a prostitute. Leo is horrified, shocked and griefstricken when Maria's dead body arrives at the coroner's office. He vows to find out how she died, unaware of where this will lead him and the danger it will place him in.

It does not take long for Leo to grasp that he barely knew Maria, a woman born Maria Mills into highly impoverished circumstances, which shapes her into a person who will do whatever it takes to survive. Her funeral gives Leo an opportunity to see and meet others from her life, including the brothel owner, James Bentinck, a man who claims family connections with the powerful Bentinck family and his bookkeeper, Miss Nancy Gainsford. Before long, Leo is arrested as the main suspect for Maria's murder by the police, but they are forced to release him after behind the scenes pressure is put on them. Leo encounters midwife and abortionist Madame Moreau, looks into other clients of Maria, feels betrayed, begins to glimpse the covert and depraved trade in human trafficking, and the misery and horror that it entails. As he begins to get closer to Rosie Flowers, pie maker extraordinaire, he begins to discern that there is a connection between Maria and Jack Flowers death. Leo is to be tested to the limits, whilst endeavouring to avoid being discovered as transgender, determined to discover the truth behind Maria's death.

Reeve writes a compelling piece of historical fiction, outlining the risks women have to endure and the powerless and precarious positions they face in Victorian London and creates a mesmerising central character in Leo. Reeve gives a psychological portrayal of the vulnerable Leo, having to live with the risks and dangers of being transgender in unenlightened times, it is scarcely much easier in today's world. Very few people know the real Leo, and he is forced to reinforce a self protective barrier between himself and the world. I should warn readers that they may find the brutality, abuse and rape outlined in the novel too much for them. One of my favourite parts of the novel is the growing close relationship between the strong and indomitable Rosie and Leo. A fantastic read which I recommend highly. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.

This is a well written book however it did not deliver what I had hoped. I feel the police involvement was not as true to the era as it should have been.
I will probably read the next book though.

Atmospheric and descriptive with a main character you really care for, this story as well written and likable. I was intrigued from the very start by it's twisty quirkiness and I especially liked Leo's (the MC) strong, narrative voice. I don't usually read books like this but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'd really like to read more to the series.

An atmospheric historical crime novel set in Victorian London. The protagonist is Leo Stanhope who is transgender and only a few trusted friends know. But Leo's world comes crashing down when the love of his life Maria is found dead and Leo is arrested and accused of her murder.
I really liked this, it reminded me of the Jem Flockhart series by E S Thomson. I
Will definitely read more in this series.

Leo Stanhope is a complex character and is warm and extremely likeable, I wanted him to thrive and do well. There is a vulnerability to him that is endearing. This take is atmospheric and beautifully depicts London in this time. The other characters are varied and well rounded and the book is well written, easily read and enjoyable. Looking forward to further in this series.

This is a unique spin on historical fiction! The main character is transgender which I’d never come across before in this type of novel and it was a very unique way of telling a story. The entire novel felt different and more dangerous as the world certainly was back then - for transgender people it must have been unimaginable!

There is a fair bit of sexual intrigue and misogynistic detail in the book which I didn’t always like - a bit too much of anything gets a bit repetitive - but on the whole, it was a unique story to tell.

Leo’s transgender identity makes for an intriguing novel. I don’t begin to understand the hopes, fears of someone like this and in the 1880s, this raises the tension and awkwardness in society. I got to like him and as a character, he’s someone I would definitely like to know more about.

With all this, there’s very much a good plot and great character development and the novel carries itself along with ease.

I wanted to read The House on Half Moon Street as the description of Leo Stanhope as a coroner’s assistant indicated that it would deal with Victorian forays into investigative policing, post mortem and the like. That’s not really the case and I was a bit disappointed when I realised this. However the book developed into a very good read with Leo Stanhope leading the cast of interesting and often beguiling characters. Leo is a complex character and his journey through the complex crime he is trying to solve is like one of his chess games. Such a great story and I look forward to reading a sequel as Leo deserves to live on! A great debut novel, very accomplished.

First of all, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The House on Half Moon Street has three fundamental sides to it: it's a crime novel, a historical novel, and a character study of its protagonist Leo all in one. This shouldn't feel revolutionary - after all, this combination isn't exactly unheard-of - but the fact that Leo is a transgender man means that the exploration of his character and identity is inextricably linked to the realities of living as a transgender individual, which is something that is, unfortunately, still quite rare in contemporary literary fiction, let alone crime OR historical fiction, much less any other novels which fit into both of those genres. It's so wonderful to see how much more diverse modern literature is becoming, and the variety of voices that are finally able to be heard because of it.

As a crime novel, The House on Half Moon Street constructs an undeniably dark, gritty vision of 1880s London. At first I was quite concerned by how misogynistic the world it depicts is, but as always, there is a world of difference between a misogynistic setting and a misogynistic narrative, and while the novel does use a few tropes I wish it didn't - specifically, the main character's love interest is fridged, and there's a scene involving sexual assault - on the whole, the novel usually steers clear of the latter. I actually found it very interesting how Leo initially harboured some misogynistic convictions of his own, which were challenged and changed over the course of the novel, and it made him a much more interesting, nuanced character. Plus, the supporting cast was absolutely packed with incredible, complex women - Rosie! Constance! Madame Moreau! Lilya! Mrs Brafton! Jane! Audrey! Nancy! - all of whom had their own stories to tell, and the novel was greatly enriched by their presence.

The mystery at the core of the novel is also well crafted - I was able to figure out some aspects of it before they were revealed, which always tickles my ego nicely, but not all of it, and it was very satisfying when the last pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. I would say that the pacing could have been a little sharper in the middle, when there are a few overly repetitive internal monologues as Leo tries to work out what's going on, but all in all it was a great effort for a debut author, and I thought that there was a nice balance of plot and character development throughout.

Finally, Leo himself is a wonderful protagonist with a very compelling narrative voice - I can't wait to see what other adventures he gets into in the future!