Alex Reeve's THE HOUSE ON HALF MOON STREET belongs to a genre that I don't usually choose for myself, and because of that, it's always a real pleasure to discover an intriguing and well-written story that I otherwise may never have read.

This book tells the story of Leo Stanhope, who works in a hospital morgue in Victorian London. Born as a girl and having grown up as Lottie Pritchard, Leo now identifies and lives as a man, unbeknownst to most of his friends and colleagues. Only a precious few know of his secret, and Leo's world is rocked when the closest of those suddenly turns up in the morgue one night. From there unravels a mystery involving a brothel, a boat, two murders, a satchel and a seemingly useless item bearing a mysterious name. Leo is determined to solve the mystery and avenge the death of his loved one, even though danger lurks around every corner and the prospect of his secret falling into the wrong hands becomes riskier by the minute.

I found this book very readable and the character of Leo so sympathetic and endearing. The plot was mysterious without being unnecessarily twisty-turny (sometimes I find that ends up becoming too frustrating), and the setting of foggy Victorian London and the dark, tarry depths of the Thames were just perfect. I understand this book is the first in a planned series, which is great news.

If you don't tend to go for historical novels, I do recommend giving this one a try. The setting in time only lends character and atmosphere to the story, rather than bogging it down in what sometimes ends up being unnecessary detail. A great read.

I absolutely loved this book it is like nothing I’ve ever read before. I was in love with the story, the characters, just everything. It was absolutely just spot on. Leo is fascinating and his story needed to be told, did I say already I loved it?!

I loved that it was set in a time where there was no technology! I also loved there was very little police presence in the book. This book was solely about Leo and the murders, well until the police questioned Leo, then they reared their ugly heads.

The story behind the murders and the ways and hows of it all was heartbreaking. I mean that ending, I get it, I really do but when you read the book it’s not the ending you want but it makes the most sense. The thing is it made me love Leo more for it. A man of integrity.

I am so excited that there are more books in this series as I can’t wait to see what happens with Leo again. It is just such a fascinating story. I can’t spoil this for you in any way because I really did go in blind, I had no idea of the true story here. I thought it was just another murder mystery, which it is, but it is so so so much more than that!

I listened to the audiobook of this and I have to say the narrator was completely spot on! He got the characters, he knew just went to up the anty with the thrill of it all. He knew when to be sombre and fraught. It just all worked perfectly and was everything I wanted in a book and narration. There is a scene where Leo is hiding in someone’s house, and he can hear movement downstairs, the narrator got everything in this scene spot on. He made you sit up and stop what you were doing whilst holding your breath as you wait to see what Leo’s fate would be. This is not only a credit to the narrator but to Alex and the power he holds with his words, his writing is just sublime.

I really can’t express how much you need this book in your life! Leo deserves to be there. Just go in blind and enjoy the journey, which is exactly what I did. I won’t read the blurb for the next book, I am just going to jump in. If it has Leo’s name on the cover with Alex Reeve, I am there.

I truly just loved everything about it!

To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.

A wonderful reader of this blog emailed in and said they were looking to read this book. I took it as a “Isaiah, read this book too”. So I managed to get my hands on a copy of it.

I am skeptical of any cis author who has a trans lead character. I have been burned over and over again when it comes to this. Reeve actually said that he sought out trans people to help him tell a real story and went so far to sound like he would do a great job:

“so I gave myself a rule: this wouldn’t be a novel about being trans, it would be a novel about a man who happened to be trans.” (quote from the above linked article)

So I started to think that this book wouldn’t be a dumpster fire.

Reeves does not seem to understand that he literally made a trans character whose number one trait was being trans. He didn’t happen to be trans. He WAS trans. Leo IS trans. That is his whole thing. He is constantly talking about being trans. He is constantly thinking about his packer, sorry, “fake cock”. He constantly talks about his binder which is just bandages that cut him to pieces. Leo has been binding for a decade, you would think that he would have figured out a way to bind that caused less bleeding or he would have managed to build up calluses so he didn’t bleed. There was even a scene that explains how he liked having sex, spoiler it is a leather strap-on, which had no real relevancy on the plot at all. He really has no personality outside of being trans.

The characters that find out about him (since he really isn’t all that careful despite death being the result of being outed) tend to misgender him and constantly threaten to out him. Leo continues to hang out with these people. There is even a hint at a romance plot with one of the characters that calls him a woman. There is just constant “Leo is not a real man” commentary both from Leo and from everyone around him. Don’t worry, it get worse. Leo outs himself at one point to save someone else. He outs himself by saying he is really a woman and that the man should rape him instead. Then Leo is convinced he is pregnant and gets a douche that is supposed to act as an abortion.

Don’t worry, it can get worse. There is constant judgment on the sex worker characters. They are then deemed to be the only people who could ever love Leo, since remember Leo is not a real man. And even then, most of the sex workers wouldn’t pay attention to him. Since the book places sex workers at the very bottom of society, it is yet another way to show that being trans makes you scum since even the very worst people couldn’t love Leo.

It gets even worse. You should just assume at this point. Leo has to cross dress at one point. So he has to buy a wig and appear female in public. There are so many instances where Leo’s birth name comes up, it is literally in the description of the book, which really should have been my first hint that this would be a dumpster fire. There is just so much that makes me upset that this book exists and has so many great reviews as being a great representation of trans people. I am a trans man and this book is one of the worst I have read when it comes to trans representation. It was just a terrible cliche written by a cis person who has no idea what being trans is like so tells this story that it is all a disguise and a constant torture to be trans.

Wait, there is more! Leo explains at one point how he thinks that someone is into women based on how she reacted to his genitalia. Not that she was put off by him being a man, but that she liked to touch him. Ick, also I have literally only heard this nonsense from cis people who claim to have found their bisexuality after being with me because they don’t see me as male. Leo also refers to himself as being a virgin since he hadn’t been penetrated. What nonsense is this? He has had sex repeatedly, he had sex during the course of the book, but is a virgin? Nope. Done.

I haven’t even touched the plot of the murder mystery, because the murder mystery is such a secondary plot to Leo being trans that it didn’t feel like it actually mattered.

I received an uncorrected proof of House on Half Moon Street and although I don't read crime novels the plot summary was so interesting I couldn't pass up the opportunity.
I was particularly interested to see how Reeve would write our protagonist, Leo and his experiences as a transgender man living in Victorian London. I did find sometimes that there was a lot of focus on Leo being very conscious of hiding his body and not being found out which felt unnecessary. I did however find myself emotionally invested in Leo's story because this did make it more person. By the last page I felt that not only did we find out who our murderer is but we saw Leo go through significant personal development.
Aside from the above I found House on Half Moon Street a pretty easy read and what I imagine is your typical whodunnit. Leo meets a whole host of characters with alterior motives and also has to reevaluate the people who thinks he knows.
I would definitely recommend this to someone like me who doesn't read crime or historical fiction and would like something to get them started.

Content warning:
physical violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, abduction, rape and substance abuse.

I really enjoyed this book, and as a trans man, I was cautious to read it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the handling of the topic (more often than not it is handled badly), and I'll definitely be looking for the next ones, as it was simply incredible to read a book that featured a protagonist I could relate to so strongly. One thing I will say, is that the method of binding that Leo uses is not a safe method, and so if any trans people read it, I hope they also see this review and know not to copy him, there are safer ways to bind. All in all, a really good, enjoyable book. I read the first 300 pages in one sitting because I just couldn't tear myself away.

Exciting mystery with a great protagonist. Eager to read the sequel!