Robert Holtom

A gripping 1930s-set whodunnit and love letter to Golden Age crime, this sequel to A Queer Case once again features amateur sleuth Selby Bigge.

Selby Bigge and his aristocratic sidekick Theodora Smythe are invited to dine with Doctor Hector Fortescue and his family. While the Victorians might have defined heterosexuality and homosexuality as perversions, the doctor believes the former can be redeemed and the latter cured.

Later that evening Theodora becomes Theo and attends the Servants’ Ball with Selby – a fancy-dress dance for servants, which attracts queers of all classes. There they meet the impossibly glamorous singer Lady Splendid and various members of the Fortescue household, including the doctor’s handsome son, Lancelot. Before the night is out Selby and Theo will have another murder to solve.

Digging deeper, the duo discover that secrets abound both above and below stairs in the Kensington home of the Fortescue family. And the stakes get even higher when Selby encounters policemen he’s met before – ones who’d love to arrest him for being queer.

Robert Holtom is a novelist, playwright and storytelling coach. Their debut novel A Queer Case is a finalist for the LGBTQ+ Mystery Lambda Literary Award and their play Dumbledore Is So Gay won a VAULT Festival Origins Award. They run workshops and coaching in storytelling and writing skills.

The conversation will be led by Stuart Eggleton, a writer and playwright whose work explores history and identity.

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.