This book. THIS BOOK.

Jeremy Kite is a murderer.
He killed Toby Feynsham.
Ask him why.

Death in the Spires opens in 1905 with Jem’s boss having received the above anonymous note. I love good foreshadowing, and I delight in being thoroughly SHOOK when an author lays the facts out early, in blatant black and white, and then delivers exactly that.

Obviously I’m not going to spoil, this is a murder mystery after all, but I was fully prepared for the possibility that the truth had been laid out on page one, and even so, by the end of the first chapter I knew that Jeremy Kite was a character that I already liked very, very much.

Honestly though, I should not have been surprised. I’ve never met a kjc MC that I didn’t like in their own book. I have certainly met some that I thought were utter shits when they were supporting cast (I’m looking at you, Stephen and Richard), but one of my favourite things about Charles’ writing is her capacity to draw me in and make me invest heavily in the story within a very short space of time. Death in the Spires does not disappoint.

It flips between then (1895) and now (1905), before Toby’s death and after, peeling back layer after layer, with every potential suspect - all of them friends, once - being exposed to have motive, and in many cases, opportunity.

He couldn’t go on like this, loving people and suspecting them at once. A human mind couldn’t do that without breaking.

Relationships grow and crumble, arms are forced, feelings are hurt, backs are stabbed, truths are exposed and eventually, space is made for healing. It’s just so fucking good.

I’m not very good at murder mysteries. When it comes to whodunnit, howdunnit, whydunnit, I pretty much fall for every red herring and believe the reasonable alibis and explanations of most suspects. I don’t think this is an indicator of how clever (or not) I am, I think it’s just that I love to fall into a world, simultaneously forgetting about the author and letting them carry me away. And oh how I love to be carried away by KJ Charles.

The writing is often moody and overcast, as is our narrator’s demeanour especially in the 1905 chapters (though I suppose the last ten years have been grief filled, lonely and isolating for Jem), with many allusions to Oxford weather. As far as *vibes* go, it reads like Alexis Hall’s Spires series, or Cat Sebastian’s We Could Be So Good, and whilst that might seem confusing given that (AJH) Spires is contemporary and WCBSG was set in the 50s, I think it highlights the timelessness of Oxford University (google tells me its students STILL wear robes for special occasions), and it’s progressive-ish approach at the turn of the century (People of Colour! Women! Oh my!).

Charles was my gateway to queer histroms and I am constantly in awe of her ability to create unique stories with unique characters, over and over again.

That said, Death in the Spires is - capital letters - NOT A ROMANCE. Charles has been blatantly clear about this, lest people fall into a hole of genre betrayal/confusion. It’s a murder mystery; her “stab at a detective novel”. I am happy (and not even remotely surprised) to report that this does not read like a dirty, inexperienced knife fight, rather a moody, agile, well executed stiletto to the heart with a very satisfying (and unexpected) clean up.

(…Also… through the blood runs romance, and I am NOT complaining.)

I was enormously lucky to receive an ARC from NetGalley and Storm Publishing. Death in the Spires is out April 11; go pre-order it now, or request it from your library. It’s so bloody good.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint!

I've read romances by KJ Charles before but am not typically a murder mystery fan. But I trust Charles's writing, even in a genre that is not typically my preference. I was so right to do so. This was a fantastic book, drawing me in from the first page and keeping me riveted until the very end. It is very much a dark academia story--fans of The Secret History and If We Were Villains will love this book.

Death in the Spires is a murder mystery based at Oxford. The main character, Jem, was a scholarship student at Oxford ten years prior to the start of the book. He became friends with a diverse and brilliant group of students known on campus as the Seven Wonders. Brought together by Toby Feynsham, a gregarious aristocrat, the friends become a close-knit, high achieving, high living and carousing group that commands attention..

Toby is murdered during their second year and their close bond shatters with that event.The friends lives diverge after that life altering event until Jem's boss receives a mysterious letter that hints at Jem's involvement in Toby's as yet unsolved murder. This letter sets off a sequence of events that lead Jem to revisit the murder but also his recollections, his friendships, and Oxford itself.

He sets off to reconnect with his old friends and discovers some things he dreaded yet expected and some things he did not expect or suspect at all. He wants to piece together the story of what happened to Toby but also what happened to them.

The story is densely plotted and Charles deftly handles the plot lines and threads of the story. Jem's investigation in 1905 is interspersed with flashbacks to his early days at Oxford, his first meeting with Toby, the coalescing friendship and bonds between the members of the Seven Wonders, and the events leading up to Toby's death.

It is a fast paced, compelling and riveting read. I could not put the book down. Jem is a sympathetic character, immediately engaging and so well written. His slow disclosure of information about his former friends and their times together keeps the tension ratcheting up and the pacing of the story is precisely plotted. Jem makes discoveries as he interacts with each old friend but their stories are layered, the red herrings plentiful, the flashbacks both illuminating and misleading.

The central characters are richly written and three dimensional. We get a feel for each of the seven friends. The diversity of the cast is also notable and the book intently touches on issues of disability, poverty, classism, racism, homophobia, and women's rights. The warm found friendship of their early days is poignant particularly with their later loss of that bond. Charles explores the depths of friendship, betrayal, loyalty and love as the story twists and turns and Jem pieces together the fragments of information to a cohesive whole.

This is primarily a murdery mystery, a dark academia setting, a cast of suspicious characters, each with motives and alibis. each with losses and scars from the experience. But there is also a love story woven through and it is deftly handled and achingly tender.

All in all this is an expertly paced, entertaining and heart-breaking story. It starts in a dim, dark place and ends with resolution and hope.

Highest recommendation. Five stars.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my personal opinion.

Pinnacle

I requested Death in the Spires based on the eerie cover and title suggesting a sinister undertone. I’m delighted to say that it exceeded expectations and then some.

Jeremy, known as Jem, is empathetic as a scholarship student hoping that attending the prestigious Oxford University will increase his future prospects. Being disabled, and from a small town, his future didn’t hold much promise otherwise.

Beginning in 1892, Jem attended among the blue stockings and nonchalantly entitled students. To his amazement, he was swept up in an elite friendship group eventually becoming celebrated as ‘The Seven Wonders’ both on and off campus. Then, one of the group is murdered and the killer never caught.

The storyline alternates between their college days at Oxford and ten years later when Jem attempts to investigate who killed their friend.

A nuanced tenor leaning toward melancholy and multi layered characters generated a singular reading experience apart from a standard who dunnit. There was a haunting quality and a morose feel which had me taking breaks here and there to bring some light in. I found it more emotive rather than the spooky atmosphere I’d anticipated.

Being unfamiliar with the author, I wasn’t aware that she’d built a following based on her romance titles so I want to clarify that this isn’t a romance but it does contain romance secondary to the murder mystery.

If you’re looking for a sophisticated thriller beyond the run of the mill you may love this as I did!

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and KJ Charles for my advance electronic copy due to be released on April 11, 2024

K.J. Charles's Death in the Spires begins in 1905, when our hero Jeremy (Jem) Kite is called into his boss's office. His boss has just received an anonymous letter accusing Jeremey of murder. Jem immediately knows what this is about, because it's something he's been living with for ten years. The REAL beginning of our story is in 1892, when Jem shows up at Oxford as a new student. He is quickly taken up into a group of seven friends, revolving about Toby Feynsham. So brilliant are these seven, both in sports and scholarship, that they become known among their contemporaries as the "seven wonders". Until 1895, when Toby was murdered. The other six know that the murderer had to be one of themselves. But the murder has not been solved.

Jem, prodded by the letter, is no longer able to let sleeping dogs lie, and begins to investigate. So it's a murder mystery with some of the usual elements common to most murder mysteries.

Two things about Death in the Spires stand out as different from genre murder mysteries. First, the usual mystery novel is passionless. The investigation is framed as an intellectual exercise, a game that the author plays with the reader. Indeed, Jem's boss alludes to this in his conversation with Jem. And, even more strangely, the murderers in genre mysteries are coldly rational actors, who plan their murders, and carefully think about the costs and benefits.

That is not the seven wonders at all. They are not coldly rational sociopaths. These are passionate, angry people (who, indeed, have much to be angry about). Death in the Spires is more emotionally powerful, and more believable as an account of murder, than most mystery novels.

The second thing that jumped out to me was, "This could not happen today." Charles has described Death in the Spires with these words

"It's also whatever the opposite of a love letter to Oxford University might be. Possibly hate mail."

But the message is addressed to late 19th century Oxford, not the 21st century university that some of us know. At one point in the novel Jem and Hugo tell each other:

‘It hasn’t changed, has it?’
‘Not much. Nothing here does.’*

But it does. If your time horizon is ten years, the change is imperceptible. But the Oxford of Death in the Spires is not 2024 Oxford.

The Oxford in which Dorothy Hodgkin could not become a full-fledged Oxford Don because she was a woman is gone. That would not happen today. The England that convicted Alan Turing of "gross indecency" is gone. Gone too is the Oxford that would greet a brilliant new student with public mockery because he had, through his own merit, won a competitive scholarship.

Now, to be sure, the prejudices that motivated those injustices are still alive and flourishing in some quarters. But, at the very least, the legal environment has changed. And it has changed for the better!

Death in the Spires is not a typical genre mystery -- it is something better than that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advance reader copy of Death in the Spires. Release date 11-Apr-2024.

*The quote is from an advance reader copy of Death in the Spires, and may change before publication. This review will be corrected on the release date if necessary.

Jeremy (Jem) Kite has been hiding from his failed life for a decade; mourning the loss of his friends from his Oxford days, after he realised they weren’t friends at all, but monsters of the worst kind. Now his job at Somerset House is under threat with the receipt of a letter, addressed to his boss, that points to Jem as a murderer. It refers to those hedonistic days in the 1890s when the Seven Wonders, as they styled themselves, caroused and partied flamboyantly; indulged themselves with selfish abandon; and Toby ended up dead. The murder of someone Jem thought of as a best friend remains unsolved and painful. Now, a decade after the event, Jem goes in search of those left behind. What he discovers isn’t necessarily what he wants to know, but he is determined to discover which of the remaining five is a murderer still at liberty.

Charles’ deftly plotted psychological thriller interweaves the contemporary story of Jem’s investigation in 1905, with flashbacks to the events in the hallowed halls of Oxford, leading up to Toby’s death. The author explores friendship, love and betrayal as relationships twist and turn, and secrets come to light. And then there’s those prickly questions about whether we ever really know someone, and whether murder can ever be justified. An excellent, fast-paced, stylish tale that I can highly recommend.

After his friend Toby was murdered a decade ago when they were students at Oxford, Jeremy Kite has never recovered. Things come to ahead when he receives an anonymous letter accusing him of being Toby's killer, and he decides that he will track down the person responsible.

Except it's not that simple. When Jem revisits their original friends' group - once known as the Seven Wonders - he finds that the others seem to be just as affected as him by what happened.

But by delving into this matter again so long after the event, Jem is putting himself firmly in the crosshairs of the real killer...

So, will the truth set him free - or put him six feet under?

This is a well written novel with an engaging story. Well worth checking out, especially if you like historical fiction. It gets 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Storm Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Death in the Spires swept me off my feet and broke my heart, then put it back together again.

I am a huge KJ Charles fan but I wasn't completely sure about this novel prior to reading as it's a departure from Charles' tried and true historical queer romances. Turns out, I needn't have worried for a second; Death in the Spires may be one of my favorite novels by Charles ever. Truth be told, this isn't all that different than anything else Charles has written in the past, except that the mystery is the primary focus rather than the romance (though there is still a healthy dose of what I would certainly call romance.) This romance, however, is much more nuanced than the arc of a typical genre romance, and therefore offers us very complex and deliciously aching relationships where the reader is just as much in the dark about what the truth is as the characters involved. One of Charles' greatest strengths has always been her characterization, and that certainly holds true for Death in the Spires. She is able to create such masterful connections between the characters as well as between the audience and the narrator that I think I would be moved by anything she wrote at all. That being said, to say I was "moved" would be an understatement for this novel. Death in the Spires basically destroyed me.

It perfectly captures the strange and unparalleled purgatory that is life as a college student: completely naive, full of so many hopes and fears, and the intense and intoxicating process of making friends and trying to find your people while on your own for the first time. I also especially applaud the way that this novel engages in really thoughtful and intentional critique of 20th century abortion laws/stigma and the resulting risks and .fatalities.

Everything about Charles' story-telling is always so organic that it should come as no surprise that I was immediately enthralled by the narrator and his quest to discover the answer to a decade-old murder mystery that implicated him and all of his dearest friends when they were 21, and that continues to haunt him as an adult. The mystery is so masterfully crafted that I did not lose interest for a moment, but instead found myself completely immersed in the flashbacks that follow the group of friends as they first become established and their subsequent rise to glory before their ultimate tragic demise. I knew every character in the friend group and was completely transported into their world and thus into Jem's search for justice. I desperately wanted him to find answers and a happy ending, and yet till the very end, I was on the edge of my seat with questions and completely unsure as to how Charles could wrap up everything up without breaking our hearts for good. But as readers, we are always in very good hands with KJ Charles. Death in the Spires did not disappoint; rather, it far exceeded my expectations and left me with a bit of a hangover that only comes from finishing the very best books, and extremely hopeful that Charles will continue to give us more mysteries in the future. She certainly has a talent for it.

I do not normally seek out murder mysteries, but I recently got back into reading and had read two other KJ Charles books this year and loved them so I figured I would give a murder mystery a go. I’m glad I did! I throughly enjoyed this story and the writing style is one of my favorites of any author I’ve read recently.

The story revolves around a group of seven friends Jem, Nicky, Ella, Hugo, Aaron, Prue, and Toby. The story bounces in time from their college years up to the murder of Toby (still unsolved) and 10 years later. The main character, Jem, receives a letter (one of many received over the years) blaming him for the murder. It results in him feeling forced to quit his job and Jem decides he has had enough of the letters and uncertainty ruining his life. He sets out to solve the murder himself, and he is certain that one of his estranged college friends was the murderer.

Jem reaches out to his former friends looking for clues and unravels much more than he expected. I won’t say much about this so as not to give anything away!

There is also a smidge of a romance which was a pleasant surprise to me as the description of the book didn’t allude to any at all.

It did not feel obvious to me who was the murder was, which is something I appreciate in a murder mystery. I appreciate finding out whodunnit at the same time as the characters in the book.

I throughly enjoyed this book and finished it quickly because I couldn’t put it down.

Time to go add the rest of KJ Charles books to my ever growing list of books to read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can't remember the last time I devoured a book this quickly.

Mystery isn't my go-to, but that's somewhat because many of my experiences in the genre haven't held this much personality. With a flawed and diverse list of characters, I was engaged from start to solved, and I would have enjoyed reading about them even without an alluring murder mystery.

But I'm quite glad that the mystery was afoot, because it was why I zipped through in one day. The setup contained so many Very Good Things — coming of age at the end of the 19th century, relationship dynamics both platonic and not, interpersonal tension, so much grey morality, ethical considerations, and found family, just for a start. The unfolding wasn't entirely unpredictable, but it still revealed some unforeseen curves — and I remained captivated despite the elements I saw coming.

In some cases, the characterization was a little scant, as might be expected with 7 primary characters over about 250 pages. I loved the ensemble cast that was assembled and wanted a deeper dive with them.

We KJC fans know how she loves to weave a juicy suspense into her romance novels (which this isn't, in case you haven't seen her disclaimer 😂). Maybe this genre shift is what she's been wanting to publish for a while, because she nailed it — the balance was chef's kiss. Definitely falls solely into historical mystery (NOT romance, yo), but still with the sexiness, wit, and tight prose that we love from her. I'm here for it and will snap up any future drops just as quickly as I do her romances. 4.25 stars.

** ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

K.J. Charles' Death in the Spires offers a solid example of one of my favorite mystery sub-genres: a queer, Oxford-based mystery set in the early 1900s. It has an interesting mix of central characters: five men, two women. The men range from very wealthy children of the peerage to a scholarship student acutely aware of the many ways he doesn't meet privileged Oxford norms, and another wealthy student, this one black, who can't blend in despite his wealth. The women both attend one of the non-degree-granting female colleges affiliated with Oxford at that time. One is wealthy (the twin sister of one of the men); the other is not.

The narrative moves between two timelines. There's the past part of the plot: this interestingly mixed crew spending time together at Oxford until one of them is murdered. The death remains unsolved and has broken all ties among the remaining six. In the present, we learn that all of the remaining six are hounded by those obsessed with the unsolved murder. Letter writers have suggested solutionsand made accusations. For several of the six such letters have also been sent to those who have the power to quickly alter the survivors' live for the worse—employers and a fiancee to be specific.

The gay male romance at the center of the novel satisfies. It's of the X only has eyes for Z, who only has eyes for Y with a freighted sexual relationship developing between X and Z. And those who appear welcoming and those who appear condescending are not necessarily what they seem.

I am very much hoping that this will be the start of a series. I would love to spend more time with these characters—especially as their renewed present day relationships develop.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

KJ Charles is an automatic-buy author for me. Her novels are meticulously researched and always provide a fascinating insight into the time period in which they are set (even the more fantastical of them), but it’s her characters that really shine. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her first murder mystery novel, but Death in the Spires did not disappoint. The book centers around a group of seven golden undergraduates at Oxford in the 1890’s. When one of their number is murdered, it changes the trajectory of each of their lives. The murder remains unsolved, but never forgotten, and ten years later, one of Seven Wonders, as they were called, decides to investigate what has become the defining moment of their lives. The deeper he delves into the past, the more secrets he uncovers, until he has to wonder whether he ever knew his best friends at all. This book caught my attention from page 1, and never let go. As it turns out, someone who excels at writing characters is eminently suited to writing mysteries. I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s a must buy.

Disclaimer: This was a new author for me. NetGalley did not note in any way that the author is a self-proclaimed writer of queer historical fiction. From the page describing the book, I thought I was selecting a “murder” book.

Death in the Spires is a well written novel set in 1905. The story begins at Oxford University. The description depicts the story as a mystery. However, as it develops, the focus shifts toward the intimate feelings, some unresolved, of a subgroup of men, within the ‘Seven Wonders’ friend group.

Note: As an American reader, it took some time to adjust to the writing style and some bits of lingo. At the point that I was able to connect better with what being said, it seemed like the focus had moved toward the relationships between the men and details of those interactions. Most of the men in the story seemed to have at least a subtle, if not overt, attraction to each other without prejudice. The women seemed to be depicted as bitter.

#deathinthespires #romanticmystery #historicalfiction

Take a decent whodunit, add a last-minute twist that was truly surprising, a startling sad and at the same time gorgeous second-chance romance, add grieving the loss of friendships and loved ones, and throw in heavy topics such as racism, bodily autonomy, rape, and abortion and you should have a really angry or a really sad book.

This being a KJ Charles book, of course, this makes you feel all of those things and still gives you and ending that leaves you feeling sad to see the protagonists go (except one of them...), ridiculously happy that they managed to work things out, AND happy knowing that they are going to be alright.

The murder and the mystery of "who of the group is the murderer" was not even what kept me glued to the pages. It was the beauty of all the ugliness, the grieving of friendships that fell apart, the hopefulness of coming to terms with what happened and finding a way to move on from there. After all, making us feel things is what KJ does best, and it makes no difference which genre she writes in.

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and author, K.J. Charles for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for April 11, 2024.

Full Disclosure: Death in the Spires is my first K.J. Charles read. After finishing this one last night, I trolled through my own tbr list to see if I had anything on it by this author, quietly sitting, awaiting my attention. I did. Slippery Creatures, the first book in the Will Darling Adventures, which I have now brought to the top of my list.

This book is my stab at a detective novel and I am terrified and excited. It's also whatever the opposite of a love letter to Oxford University might be. Possibly hate mail.
— KJ Charles

This brand-new historical mystery is hitting the shelves soon. Set on the grounds of Oxford University. Steeped in history, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, it can lay claim to nine centuries of continuous existence. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form as far back as 1096. With so much history to draw from, it's no surprise that Oxford has its fair share of ghosts.

The story opens in 1905 with Jem (Jeremy Kite) receiving a letter. The letter itself is nondescript, plain, but it's what is written on the paper that's disturbing. Jeremy Kite is a murderer, He killed Toby Feynsham, Ask him why. Receiving that letter is the catalyst for the series of events that happen next.

Oxford University, thirteen years earlier, and seven of its academic students - Toby Feynsham (History), Nicky Rook (English), Hugo Morley-Adams (History), Jeremy Kite (Mathematics), Aaron Oyede (Medicine), Prue and Ella (Hugo's sister) met during Michaelmas Term in the Autumn of 1892. The group became very close friends and soon were referred to jokingly on Campus as the "Seven Wonders". Well, right up until the close-knit group of seven became the fractured group of six, when Tony Feynsham was found dead. Murdered. His killer was never found.

Charles should be commended, because if this is the quality of a first attempt at writing in the historical mystery genre, I'm certainly sticking my hand up to read her next. Let's talk about:

🌟Atmosphere -✅ - it's oozing atmosphere. From the setting (Oxford University) to the characters (Toby Feynsham is the grandson and heir of a marquess).
🌟Characters - ✅ - there is a cast of wonderful characters - some are heroes, some are villains, ALL are suspects and you can't trust anyone!
🌟Writing - ✅ - the writing is clear-cut and rich in description. My only nay comment about the writing was that it was a little verbose in parts, especially at the end, when the killer was exposed.
🌟Plot - ✅ - I enjoyed the dual timeline and thought the transitions back and forth were done well. My only nay comment with the plot, NO, it's not really a 'nay' comment, it's more a personal preference… is that I would have liked the murder to have been investigated by someone from the constabulary. If you are going to describe your book as a detective novel, I would have liked to have seen one in the cast of characters. However, that is a very minor quibble, and I realise that Jem was the focus for the "detective" character in this story; but he is also a suspect, so his integrity is a cause for concern. But that did heighten the suspense, so there's that.
🌟Themes - ✅ - racism, social inequity, toxic relationships, jealousy, rivals, success and failure, unfaithfulness and resentment are just a few that stand out.

And the last word about our murder victim, Toby Feynsham. Did our Group's ringleader deserve to die? You'll have to read this and make up your own mind.

#DeathintheSpires #NetGalley #StormPublishing

I could write a long review, or I could simply say that as soon as I finished Death in the Spires, I got grumpy, and the reason I got grumpy was that I could no longer read Death in the Spires for the first time.

Twisty plot: check. Extraordinarily appealing detective with morally complicated love interest: check. Broody setting: check. Satisfying and unexpected form of justice: check.

At the end of the book mention is made of "K.J. Charles's next page-turning historical mystery." Show of hands for more of brave, big-hearted Jem? -- Yes, I thought so.

Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was absolutely brilliant. One of the best books I have read so far this year. The people and places all feel so real. Even though the setting is historical so many of the issues are ones that are completely relevant now just with a slightly different slant. I love the dash of queer romance and would have liked to see more of it although I know it’s not the genre of this book. I couldn’t put it down and finished it within just a couple of hours. Highly recommended and an easy 5 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.

What a surprise - another absolute stunner of a book from KJ Charles. Death in the Spires was very reminiscent of If We Were Villains, but with Charles’ incredible talent for historical settings, and her mastery of complex characters.

I’m a huge fan of KJ Charles and while this book was a departure for the work she’s more well known for, I truly loved the mystery that unravelled within this book, and the way the puzzle pieces came together. I’d seen warnings that this book isn’t a HEA ending, but I actually don’t find that at all. While it wasn’t a nearly wrapped up love story for our MC, it was a really positive and hopeful ending. I would love to see more of these characters!

A beautifully written and enthralling story about seven university friends. In 1895, one of their group was murdered. The murder was never solved, although the suspicion was that one of their group was responsible. Ten years later, Jem Kite decides, once and for all, that he is going to find out the truth. In doing so he reopens old wounds. Secrets and scandals are uncovered.
This is a mystery story but it is also a beautiful love story. I loved the character of Jem and was with him every painful step of the way. A very quick read, I couldn't put it down.
Highly recommended.

Thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC. This is a (mostly) unbiased review, as I am a huge K.J. Charles fan and probably would have loved this no matter what.

This is, in my humble opinion, the absolute best book K.J. Charles has written so far. I tore through it in two sittings. Freed from the tropes and beats of romance (which she writes with mastery), Charles absolutely nailed this mystery. I can't say much beyond the cover blurb without giving away the game, but fans of her previous work will not at all be disappointed.

I really admired how both historically accurate (as always) and freshly contemporary this book was. Rather than following a formulaic mystery path, Death in the Spires handles the murder mystery at its core with humanity, dipping back and forth between the past and present to show a cast of characters viewed through the shattered lens of a life once full of hope and promise, now ruined.

I loved all of the characters, particularly Jem and Nicky. Jem's determination to solve the decade old mystery that has haunted and ruined his life is filled with so much vulnerability, both physical and emotional, and he is a truly empathetic main character, warts and all.

I would love to see a novella or short story of the aftermath of Death in the Spires. I truly hated to leave this book at the end and hope very much Charles keeps writing mysteries like this.

This book was fantastic! I absolutely love KJ's historical romances, including the ones with a healthy serving of action or mystery, so I felt pretty confident I would enjoy her foray into the non-romance genre as well. And enjoy it I did! While the main focus of Death in the Spires is on the mystery, there is still a delightful dash of queer romance and friendship. As always, KJ's historical research is impeccable and I enjoy the mix of historical accuracy with a touch of progressive tone.

(This was a review of a free advanced review copy. Thanks to Storm, KJ Charles, and NetGalley for that privilege!)