Leo Stanhope

A transgender man in Victorian London investigates the murder of the prostitute he loved in this "intriguing debut" historical mystery (Historical Novel Society). Like half the young men in London, Leo Stanhope is rich in dreams but poor of pocket. He dreams of taking his beloved Maria away from the brothel and making a home with her. He dreams of a life far from the blood and stink of the morgue where he works. And he dreams of a world where no one cares what is tucked between his legs. Because Leo has a secret. And in Queen Victoria's England, that secret could get him locked up for life . . . if nobody kills him first. But when Maria is killed instead, Leo is not only devastated-he's also the prime suspect. Desperate to clear his name and find the murderer, Leo is forced to sacrifice his books, his job, his home. Will he give up his secret? How much is justice worth? You thought "trans" was a twenty-first–century construct? Think again. Half Moon Street was previously published as The House on Half Moon Street.

A blackmailer and a corpse found carrying his name and address stir up trouble for a transgender man living in Victorian London. It's tough to be a preacher's kid, and for Leo Stanhope it may be harder than for most. He was born Charlotte, and in the Reverend Pritchard's home-as in all of Victoria's England-there is little room for persons unwilling to know their place and stick to it. And things are about to get harder: There's a gentleman who knows the secret that could get Leo locked up for life, and this so-called gentleman is not above a spot of blackmail. There is a bright spot, though, in the form of two little kids who are teaching Leo's heart to open again after a wretched year. In warming to them, he realizes how much more he has to learn. Leo knows how to be a man. Now he must learn to be a father.