A Morbid Passion: The Selby Bigge Mysteries

A gripping 1930s-set whodunnit and love letter to Golden Age crime, this sequel to A Queer Case features amateur sleuth Selby Bigge, who must solve a murder at Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball in London's Royal Albert Hall. Perfect for fans of Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey novels.

London 1930.

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.

Can Selby solve the crime or will this be his last dance?

Author: Robert Holtom
Publisher: Titan Books (UK)
Published: 06/23/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781835413197
ISBN10: 1835413196
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Hard-Boiled
- Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Historical
- Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Private Investigators

About the Author
Robert Holtom is an award-winning playwright and storytelling coach, based in London. Their play 'Dumbledore Is So Gay' won a VAULT Festival Origins Award for new work and an Offies Commendation. It has since played at the Pleasance and the Southwark Playhouse, receiving five stars from the Daily Express, Broadway World and Theatre Weekly. Robert also runs workshops in writing and communication skills. You can find Robert on Twitter/X at @Robert_Holtom; on Instagram at @robertholtomwriter and at their website robertholtom.co.uk.