I had heard people talking about this book here and there since it was first published in 2017. The buzz around it is deserved and I believe I heard it’s being adapted to a series.

M.L. Rio creates a fantastic dark academia murder mystery with compelling characters while beating you over the head with Shakespeare quotes and all the atmosphere of a behind the scenes play. There is a distinct ambience that reminds me of working on plays when I was young and stupid and did such things.

Bright is the word that comes to mind. There’s a refreshing easiness about the writing style, pacing, and course of the story. Everything feels as though it comes together the way that it should. That’s what you’re shooting for in a good murder mystery, no sense of doubt in the reader that things could have had a different outcome.

Early on while reading it I had texted my sister trying to plug in my assumptions before I finished reading the book, so I could adequately call it. That’s another goal of writing a good murder, I think. You want the audience to engage as much as they can.

The pacing is fast, tight, and flows in a way that mirrors the play structure and sets the reader clearly as a distinct audience much in that way good Shakespeare should. I cannot fathom the research that went into this because each scene is so well crafted and mirrors the Shakespeare well.