London, 1715, and Thomas True has left his home to find a new life in London. A life where he can be himself, and one night, lost in the darkest of the back streets, he finds himself in Mother Clap’s, a secret molly house where men of a certain persuasion can be themselves. Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death at this time, but behind the closed doors of the molly house, there is a sense of safety. At least there was, before a Rat arrived.

Gabriel Griffin, aka Lotty, the mollys’ guard, is struggling to hide his double life, but he finds himself tasked to unmask the Rat, both by Mother Clap herself and the town authorities, who have their own agenda. And a pair of murderous judges come ever closer, waiting to hear all of the secrets of the house from the Rat. And if Gabriel cannot find the Rat, then nobody will live to see another sunrise…

Well, that was certainly different. As I said in my last post, I heard A J West talk about this and his new book, The Deadly Inheritance Of Everest Macdonald, and he had me completely hooked. I’d just started this one, and the next day, I sat down and read the whole thing. It’s an absolutely fascinating book.

It’s a mystery, primarily concerning the identity of the Rat, which I thought was really well done. It’s more of a “that makes sense” rather than being particularly clued, but it’s a good reveal that really adds something to the finale. But it’s also a love story between two beautifully constructed characters – one that takes a while to form, so I’d stay away from the back cover, as it built up nicely when I didn’t know where it was going.

The whole story has a feel of unreality about it, as if it’s set in the next dimension over. There’s no real magic on display, but the Blackguard come pretty close to it – but there’s a vague sense of unreality about the whole thing that gives the tale such charm.

The Betrayal Of Thomes True won the CWA Historical Dagger, and I can see why. If you want to try something a little different, why not give this one a go?