A Queer Case
The Selby Bigge Mysteries series
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A gripping 1920s-set whodunnit, this debut features a queer sleuth who must solve a murder in a mansion on London’s Hampstead Heath without revealing his sexuality, lest he be arrested as a criminal.
The Selby Bigge mysteries series debut, it will leave readers eager for the next installment. Perfect for fans of Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey novels.
London, 1929.
Selby Bigge is a bank clerk by day and a denizen of the capital’s queer underworld by night, but he yearns for a life that will take him away from his ledgers, loveless trysts and dreary bedsit in in which his every move is scrutinised by a nosy landlady. So when he meets Patrick, son of knight of the realm and banking millionaire Sir Lionel Duker, he is delighted to find himself catapulted into a world of dinners at The Ritz and birthday parties at his new friend’s family mansion on Hampstead Heath.
But money, it seems, can’t buy happiness. Sir Lionel is being slandered in the press, his new young wife Lucinda is being harassed by an embittered journalist and Patrick is worried he’ll lose his inheritance to his gold-digging stepmother. And when someone is found strangled on the billiards room floor after a party it doesn’t take long for Selby to realise everyone has a motive for murder.
Can Selby uncover the truth while keeping his own secrets buried?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Holtom debuts with an enthralling Golden Age–style whodunit set in 1929 England. Selby Bigge is a gay bank clerk who spends his nights discreetly touring London's underground queer bars. One evening in Hampstead Heath, he spots Patrick Duker, a handsome old acquaintance from Oxford. The two reconnect, and Bigge gladly accepts an invitation to join Patrick at what promises to be an awkward family dinner with Patrick's millionaire father, Sir Lionel, and Lionel's second, much younger wife, Lucinda. Patrick hopes Bigge will help him dig up some dirt on Lucinda that might convince his father to divorce her. The dinner goes so well that Patrick invites Bigge back for a second get-together, which takes a disastrous turn when a member of the household is found strangled in the billiard room. Bigge leaps into the role of detective, tasked with finding the killer—and keeping his sexuality hidden—if he wants to keep his new place among London's upper crust. Holtom enhances the whip-smart plot with a keen sense of humor, best displayed in scenes where Bigge fakes familiarity with the work of an Agatha Christie–like author who's a guest of the Dukers. Fair-play mystery fans will be eager for the sequel.
