If you read The Secret History and hated the characters, and the bleak ending made you feel terrible, this might be the book for you!
In her first non-romance, we’ve got K.J. Charles trying her hand (and succeeding) at a historical mystery, dark academia style. It’s 1905, and our main character is Jeremy “Jem” Kite, who has just been fired from his job when a letter accusing him of murder showed up in his employers’ mail. This is not the first or even the tenth such letter Jeremy has received, as he was part of a friend group at Oxford where one of the friends were murdered, a murder that was never solved, and the infamy has ruined his life. Jeremy was on scholarship to Oxford but was quickly absorbed into the prestigious friend group headed up by Toby Feynsham, who likes to “collect” interesting people. For two years, they lived the dream, and then things started to get complicated, and by the end of their third year, Toby was dead, two of their friend group had fled Oxford, and the rest did their best to pick up the pieces.
Losing this job is the last straw for Jem, who determines to stir things up with his old friends and find out who killed Toby—because he knows it was one of them.
I really liked Jem right away. He was a great way in to this story, as his outsider status made him the perfect observer. He also had the least to lose from digging out old secrets, because he’d already lost everything. The friend group is also full of really interesting characters that are explored with emotional nuance and an eye to social, racial, and gender differences (as per the usual for Charles). Two women scholars (who were rare), a black man, and two queer men make up Toby’s friend group (along with Toby and Hugo, both white, rich, straight men). The clashes between their differences make for a really tense storyline.
I was also actively trying to solve the mystery, and I failed—the author used my emotions against me, and though there isn’t a twist here, the story took a turn I wasn’t really expecting at the end. But mainly this book had a fantastic resolution that not only resolved the mystery but also sent me on way emotionally satisfied.
If you like mysteries or historical fiction, I do highly recommend this one. (And all of K.J. Charles’s romances as well.) I hope she writes more mysteries going forward.
[4.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2025: Read a queer mystery.