The Blood Flower

'Don't be ordinary, Leo. Passion has its price.'

1883. Leo Stanhope, transgender journalist and amateur detective, and his wife Rosie have come to Portsmouth – but this is no simple seaside retreat. While Rosie’s sister expects them for dinner, two young people have been killed by the docks.

Having learned from experience, Leo wants to leave this to the police. When detectives dismiss the victims as only ‘molly-lads’ and misfits, though, he knows he has to help. But what connects the two victims, a boy from the streets and a young woman with a strange tattoo? And why is Leo himself being watched?

As he begins to uncover a web of theft and secrets surrounding the murders, Leo’s investigation draws him deeper into Portsmouth’s underground nightlife, the dangers of the Navy dockyard – and uncomfortably close to the in-laws he had just begun to get to know.

Can he find the truth without losing his chosen family? Just how much will he risk to bring the right people to justice?

PRAISE FOR ALEX REEVE

‘Highly original’ Guardian

‘Enthralling, exciting, extraordinary, and utterly convincing’ Sarah Hilary

‘An entertaining and ingenious psychological drama of gender identity enfolded within a dexterously plotted and deeply satisfying Victorian murder’ Rachel Holmes

‘Leo is a brilliant hero: clever and flawed, infuriating and at the same time someone I root for at every turn’ Stephanie Butland

‘One of the most inventive series out there’ i