ARC Review: The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Expected publication: June 7th, 2022 

"There is something inexpressibly masculine about expecting to be believed."

I read the first book in this series, The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, last year and was left with a lot of questions by the way it ended. Where did Marian go? Where did Rob go? Why do Kit and Percy (the main characters from the first book) have Marian's baby??

Fortunately, this book answers many of those questions. The story begins in medias res and runs parallel to Kit Webb in a way that does not feel heavy-handed or repetitive of the events of the first book. I loved the use of the blackmail letters between Marian and Rob as a storytelling device to show the development of their relationship. It felt real that Marian would go to Rob and that Rob would see Marian as his equal (or better).

The book has several of my favorite tropes (only one bed! road trip! horses! larceny!) and really picks up steam as we travel around London with these two chaotic disaster bisexuals. My one major criticism is the plot from the first book is not propelled forward by this sequel as we are left in basically the same place we were at the end of Kit Webb albeit with slightly more of the gaps filled in. I also wish there was more crimes especially with the full group. Perhaps if there is a third book we will finally see the rise of this Robin Hood-steal-from-the-rich crime family.

That being said, the exploration of consent was interesting and well done for a historical with a female main character. It was a nicely executed subversion of the typical sexual dynamic in this genre. More specifically (mild spoilers for the book) (view spoiler)The result of this exploration is compelling sex scenes which developed their relationship even further.

Overall, I highly recommend this book even if you don't like historical or MF romance.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

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