If We Were Villains

Autor: M L Rio

Dark academia thriller set at a prestigious Shakespearean conservatory, it follows a tight-knit group of acting students whose onstage tragedies begin to bleed into their reality, culminating in a mysterious death. The story is told through a frame narrative: Oliver Marks has just finished a 10-year prison sentence for a murder he may not have committed. Upon his release, he meets Detective Colborne, the man who arrested him, and finally agrees to tell the truth about what happened a decade ago at the Dellecher Classical Conservatory.  The core of the novel follows seven fourth-year students who are deeply immersed in Shakespeare. As their teachers shift their usual character typecasts, jealousies and rivalries explode. One of their own, Richard Stirling, is found dead in the conservatory’s lake. The survivors must use their acting skills to convince the police—and each other—of their innocence.