Member Review

A solid mystery! I've been devouring KJ Charles' books all year, and this has elements of what I've come to expect - class conflict, gay panic, hiding feelings, and discussions of primogeniture and disability - but rather than this being a story of healing via finding love and acceptance, this delves deeply into the consequences of an unsolved murder, and what comes crawling out when someone starts overturning rocks to find out who committed the murder ten years prior.

The main character, Jeremy "Jem" Kite, has had his life thoroughly ruined and has spent the last ten years just, basically, going through the actions of living. Making enough money to get by, but without hopes or dreams of anything more. He loses his job, has a little bit of savings, and decides he's done living under the shadow of the infamous murder of his friend and find out what happened.

Jem's not a trained detective - he's read some fiction - and takes some truly astonishingly steps on his way to finding out the truth. His lack of self preservation serves him well, though, and he's able to reunite with his former-friends-maybe-murderers and learn more about what they knew and the truth of what happened their final year at Oxford.

The truth is painful, but in the end allows for healing and hopefully a better future for all who survive. Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC!