Alex Reeve Books In Order

Publication Order of Leo Stanhope Books

Author Alex Reeve is a university lecturer, working on a PhD, and lives in Buckinghamshire. He was born in Twickenham, and has a wife and two sons.

Alex has worked many jobs, including: teaching English as a foreign language while in Paris and working in a pub.

When he is not writing, Alex also enjoys spending time with his family and friends, sailing, and walking the dog.

He first wanted to write about a trans character while he was sitting on the train, staring at the empty seat next to one of his co-workers that was trans. The train was crowded with people standing in the corridor, but for some reason, nobody would sit in that seat. Until a teen on her phone came through the crowd and sat down.

The co-worker must have noticed the glances, but she didn’t say anything. Alex felt a burst of compassion and an inner rage. He noticed that she had to go through this every single day of her whole life. He felt even the most basic right we have as human beings is to pick who we are.

He was thinking about penning a historical novel for a bit of time and wondered if he could include a trans character in it. He thought he should do some research on it. He figured things must have improved over the past 150 years. Not by much, as it turns out. Many of the same issues existed then as they do now: misunderstanding, misinformation, societal disapproval, legal ambiguity, and physical and mental health issues.

A character appeared in his head just about fully formed at some point during Alex’s research process. The guy was in his mid-twenties and the kid of some small-town vicar, who left home at age fifteen in order to be Leo Stanhope. The guy was a bit of a romantic, who was innocent in a few ways, sure of himself but still amused by it. Alex started seeing everything through this man’s eyes and hearing as his voice explained, sometimes impatiently, how the world appeared to him. Leo wouldn’t leave his mind, Alex found, once he turned up.

The problem was, since Alex is not a trans man, he was unsure if he could write about him, even though Alex loves this character. He attempted all kinds of things, making Leo the sidekick, or a character that is barely in the story at all. Things just kept moving back toward Leo, who seemed to be hogging the focus like some attention-seeking toddler.

What he decided to do was just have the novel star a trans character, not have the story be about being trans. Alex had to get the perspective of somebody that is actually trans, so he showed a draft to Jane Hamlin, the President of The Beaumont Society (an organization for and by trans people), was who very patient and supportive.

Alex has a theme in mind and then creates a plan with all of the major scenes and beats in mind. That is when the story will take over and plays out in ways that he was not expecting, or Leo will react in some way he did not foresee, making Alex need to adapt. This can change the story entirely, but he will usually go with it if it feels right for the characters.

He does a lot of research for his work, and goes to a lot of trouble in order to get the details right. Alex has spent hours, even days just to make sure things are correct that will affect just a single sentence.

Alex imagined the process of writing a novel to be a solitary one, with a lone artist scribbling away. While there is a fair bit of this, it is more of a team effort, much to his own surprise. He has quite a few clever people that are able to turn his scruffy drafts into something publishable.

“House On Half Moon Street” is Alex’s debut novel and was released in the year 2018. It is from the historical mystery genre.

“House On Half Moon Street” is the first novel in the “Leo Stanhope” series of novels and was released in the year 2018. Everybody has got a secret, only some, however, lead to murder.

Leo Stanhope, who is the assistant to a coroner in London, in love with a woman named Maria, and hiding a gigantic secret.

Leo was born as Charlotte, but he knew he was meant to be a man, despite the evidence of his own body. He left his family home when he was only fifteen years old, and has lived as Leo since then. His original identity is known only to just a few trusted people.

Then Maria is found dead, with Leo getting accused of her murder. Desperate to locate her killer and being under suspicion from everybody around him, he is close to losing not only the woman he loves, but also his freedom and, ultimately, his own life.

Alex Reeve delivers a richly atmospheric debut novel, one that is strong with setting and character.

“The Anarchists’ Club” is the second novel in the “Leo Stanhope” series of novels and was released in the year 2019. A year has past since Leo Stanhope lost the woman he loved and got really close to losing his own life. He is determined to keep his head down and remain safe. Leo’s hopes to have peace get shattered when the cops show up unexpectedly show up: a woman was found killed at a club for anarchists, with Leo’s address inside her purse.

Leo is taken to the club by the cops and there is a guy there from his past who knows Leo’s real, birth identity. If Leo does not give him an alibi for the night of the murder, he will share this info with the authorities. Should Leo’s true identity becomes revealed, he is going to be tossed into an asylum, however if he lies, is he going to protect a killer?