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Twists and turns, red herrings and mistaken identities… are we talking about a mystery or a romance… or both?

While mysteries keep us on our toes, propelling us towards uncovering the truth, romance narratives also play with the tension of the unknown. The difference is, we usually know the ‘who’ in a romance, just not the ‘how’. It is tension of a different kind, but a tantalisingly complementary one.

We are lucky to be joined in this episode by a master of convoluted mystery and heartening romance, Freya Marske to talk to us about feelings and frame-ups. Not only does she put her lovers through the wringer, she forces them to solve confounding conundrums – in a historical fantasy setting!

…and I make zero apologies for my extended tangent about figure skating 😝

Texts and authors mentioned in this episode include:

• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
• Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
• Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• Natasha Pulley
• Agatha Christie
• A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
• Sarah MacLean
• Yuri on Ice

Freya Marske lives in Australia, where she is yet to be killed by any form of wildlife. She writes stories full of magic, blood, and as much kissing as she can get away with. Her hobbies include figure skating and discovering new art galleries, and she is on a quest to try all the gin in the world.

Her debut novel, the queer historical fantasy A MARVELLOUS LIGHT, was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. The follow-up, A RESTLESS TRUTH, is now out from Tordotcom Publishing and Tor UK.

Her short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Andromeda Spaceways, and several anthologies. She also co-hosted the Hugo Award-nominated Be The Serpent podcast along with two other red-headed fantasy authors. In 2020 she was awarded the Australian National SF (Ditmar) Award for Best New Talent.