A Murder of Rogues

 By: Joe Heap  

Location: FIC HEA

Genre: Mystery

A compulsively entertaining historical YA novel that playfully blends dark academia with scandal, murder mystery and queer romance - like If We Were Villains meets Lex Croucher.

In Regency England, Cascabel Gray dreams of freedom - and disguises herself as a boy to secure a place at Oxford University. After all, she's as comfortable in breeches as she is in ballgowns.

Her plans are upended, however, when she receives a blackmail letter from Charles Lafleur, a member of infamous secret society the Rogues Club, threatening to expose her.

But when Lafleur is found dead, the plot thickens... and Cascabel becomes a prime suspect in his murder. She joins the Rogues Club to conduct an investigation of her own, and her life soon begins to spiral out of control.

To survive, she must switch between her male and female personas, attracting both fellow student William Grenville and a chambermaid known as Mouse - and even attending a ball with an Austrian prince. Can she find a way to balance her double life and clear her name, before she loses everything?

This book combines the genius ingredients of cosy crime, queer romance and dark academia, all wrapped up in a fast-paced, entertaining plot - perfect for fans of Agency for Scandal, Laura Steven and Lex Croucher.
A fierce, determined and irresistible protagonist who slips fluidly between two identities and genders as Cascabel and Pom.
All the period-drama appeal of a historical Regency setting, with a vibrant, modern sensibility and a sensitive handling of prejudice.

Review by Sifa

A MURDER OF ROGUES is a historical mystery centring queer lives.

This is a book that takes the "girl dressing as a boy to do something interesting forbidden to girls" trope and explores it through a gender queer lens. It's a book that looks at the queer lives that are so often deliberately overlooked or written out of the historical narrative.

All of this is wrapped up in a murder mystery in an era without finger printing or DNA tests. The murdered boy is deeply unpleasant, blackmailing several students. It gives the reader plenty of suspects, forcing Cascabel to join the infamous Rogues Club to expose the real killer before they're outed.

I appreciated the book had Cascabel spiralling the more they were involved in the Rogues Club. It showed how deeply they had fallen, trying to find out what happened. They get a little addicted to alcohol and used to morphine. It impacts their studies and relationships. This is not a nice club and it was nice to see this changing Cascabel's behaviours.

Lucy Walker-Evans narrates. There are three tones used for Cascabel - one that's very feminine, for when they're having to present as a young woman, one that's more masculine (when being their brother), and then one that's in the middle for when they're just being them. It's quite subtle, but a really nice way of exploring the difference between role playing and natural in the story.