Book picks similar to
The Ornamental Hermit by Olivier Bosman


mystery
historical
historical-fiction
lgbtq

The Copper


Bonnie Dee - 2016
     Lord Avery Wickersham wakes from a night’s debauchery at a bordello to police officers pounding on the bedroom door. During the vice raid, Constable Connor Tate is ready to arrest the lord and his two male sex partners when Avery’s glib tongue earns a reprieve for his friends if not for himself. From this grim beginning, men as opposite as summer and winter slowly work their way to an unexpected spring. Avery is ripe for a change in his aimless life, while Connor struggles between duty and desire. Overwhelming passion takes them by storm, but can a rush of lust evolve into love when their lives are so different? While Avery attempts altruism by volunteering at a charity mission, Connor uncovers government corruption and an evil man who brings torture and death to his victims. The duo join forces to try to stop the killer, but when one of the lovers faces peril, their time may run out. Warning: Contains a scene of abuse and torture.

The Gilded Scarab


Anna Butler - 2015
    Returning to London in late November 1899, he’s lost the skies he loved, has no place in a society ruled by an elite oligarchy of powerful Houses, and is hard up, homeless, and in desperate need of a new direction in life. Everything changes when he buys a coffeehouse near the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury, the haunt of Aegyptologists. For the first time in years, Rafe is free to be himself. In a city powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where powerful men use House assassins to target their rivals, Rafe must navigate dangerous politics, deal with a jealous and possessive ex-lover, learn to make the best coffee in Londinium, and fend off murder and kidnap attempts before he can find happiness with the man he loves.

Pull Back


J.D. Sampson - 2020
    But the script gets flipped when Morgan’s co-star, child actor Crystal Parish goes missing and Bodhi takes over the investigationDid Crystal run away from home? Was she abducted? Stage mothers, rival child stars, fanatical fans; Bodhi may have the investigative experience but it’s Morgan who understands the ins and outs of that business we call show.A perfect partnership in the public eye, but behind the scenes both men struggle with issues of trust. For Morgan, who spends his days fighting made-up monsters, it’s hard to give his heart to a man who carries a gun to work. While Bodhi is feeling pulled in two directions when it’s handcuffs all day and Hollywood all night. He loves the way Morgan makes him feel (especially when they’re sneaking in a quickie in a public place) but he’s not sure he can ever get past his jaded view of the world and live the life of a celebrity significant other.From stakeouts to steak dinners, robberies to the red carpet – the Crystal Parish mystery isn’t all that needs solving if the boys are going to have their own Hollywood Ending.Pull Back is the first book in the Hollywood Endings: MM Romantic Mystery series. Written in the style of some of your favorite TV bromances, it’s the perfect series for any fan who loves to ‘ship the two male leads.

Lily White Rose Red


Catt Ford - 2010
    It's 1948 in Las Vegas—the newborn Sin City—and he's just landed his first murder case. He's more at ease among the lowlifes, but his new client, a beautiful, wealthy woman, a real femme fatale, moves in the upper crust of society.Grey's hot on the trail of a killer, despite obstructive cops who don't want a private dick sniffing around and digging up secrets. And he starts getting close to the truth, but one of his suspects, Phillip Martin, AKA Mr. Big—AKA Mr. Beautiful—proves to be a man who could force Grey to reveal a dark secret of his own.

We Met in Dreams


Rowan McAllister - 2017
    To protect him from himself—and to protect others from him—he spends his days heavily medicated and locked in his rooms, and his nights in darkness and solitude, tormented by visions, until a stranger appears.This apparition is different. Fox says he’s a thief and not an entirely good sort of man, yet he returns night after night to ease Arthur’s loneliness without asking for anything in return. Fox might be the key that sets Arthur free, or he might deliver the final blow to Arthur’s tenuous grasp on sanity. Either way, real or imaginary, Arthur needs him too much to care.Fox is only one of the many secrets and specters haunting Campden House, and Arthur will have to face them all in order to live the life of his dreams.

Innocence and Carnality


J. Alan Veerkamp - 2015
    His parents see only one way to preserve their reputation amongst the other noble families: fit Nathan with a chastity belt to increase his value to a potential partner and marry him off as soon as possible.The recipient of that prize is Lord Rother Marsh Delaga III. After a hasty wedding, Rother whisks Nathan away to the strange and seductive land of Marisol, where Nathan will begin a new life, free to explore the pleasures of the marriage bed, though his life is still not his own.But Rother’s Delaga House is a place of secrets, dangers, and depravity Nathan can scarcely comprehend. Where friends are few and peril waits around every corner, Nathan must employ all the manipulation he learned from high society, along with his talent for clockwork. Most of all, Nathan must adapt, compromise to survive, and cast off the preconceptions of his homeland.Because only he can orchestrate his freedom, and it’ll come at a cost.

The Amethyst Cat Caper


Charlie Cochet - 2012
    Now the successful owner of The Purple Rose Tea House in Manhattan, Remi has come across the perfect addition to his business: a stunning amethyst cat. But Remi's acquired something else with his latest purchase: the attention of the notorious Gentleman Thief.Detective Stanley Hawk doesn't know the first thing about tea. He's strictly a java kind of guy. What he does know, is crime, and someone's just committed one. As a Pinkerton's, Hawk always gets his man, and when his investigations lead him straight to Remi, the words have never been truer. Can Remi and Hawk resist each other long enough to figure out who the thief is and what the heck is going on? Or will the Gentleman Thief get his hands on more than just the Amethyst Cat? From a quirky antique shop, to a high-society tea house, The Amethyst Cat Caper is a delightful little romp through 1930s New York. Whether you prefer tasty tea or steamy java, grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy

The Secretary and the Ghost


Gillian St. Kevern - 2019
    His sister’s marriage hinges on him staving off the family’s impending financial ruin by taking the job of secretary to Lord Cross, a reclusive man with a temper befitting his name. Developing a passion for his employer was not on the cards. Neither was getting caught up in the deep mystery surrounding Foxwood Court and its resident ghost, but Pip has never been one to shirk a duty. As Pip delves deeper into the past, he discovers that his only hope for a future with Cross may depend on a man long dead—a man with a curious resemblance to himself. Written for lovers of gothic romance and ghost stories, The Ghost and the Secretary is the first in a series of gay romance novellas. A Gothic Paranormal Romance.

First You Fall


Scott Sherman - 2008
    When his friend's death is ruled a suicide, Kevin Connor--a hustler by trade, sleuth by default--sets out to prove a case of murder. It doesn't help matters that the victim's grown children, who disapproved of their father's sexual orientation, are only concerned about their inheritance. But they are not Kevin's only problem. His high-strung mother has moved in with him--and she knows nothing about his questionable . . . job. Throw in his super-hot ex - now a New York City detective - and Kevin has more than his hands full. JA Konrath calls Sherman "the gay Janet Evanovich." You'll fall for this sexy, funny first mystery in the Kevin Connor series. Scott Sherman has written for Newsweek, Genre, Instinct, and The Washington Blade. The follow-up to First You Fall, Second You Sin was released by Kensington in October, 2011 in trade paperback and for the Kindle. The third book in the series will be coming out in 2012.

Wicklow's Odyssey


R. Cooper - 2014
    With an eye to not just winning the war, but to the future of the country, Alexander Rhoades convinces the Union government to let him run a team of remarkable spies as he pleases, mostly to plant brand-new electro-radio technology in Southern cities to aid the work of Northern agents. While on one of these missions, secret agent Wicklow Doyle’s safehouse is compromised and he’s on the run in enemy-controlled Charleston. The last thing he needs with him is the pampered rich man who runs his team, yet despite the danger, Alexander Rhoades refuses to leave his side. Wicklow doesn’t understand why, or why Rhoades’s very presence makes him tremble. A street rat-turned-soldier-turned-spy, there isn’t much that scares Wicklow. He’s used to men desiring him, but not wicked geniuses offering something he’s scared to name. Wicklow doesn’t understand love any more than he understands Rhoades’s noble causes. He’d rather focus on what needs to be done. The enemy is all around them and hiding a dangerous secret, the North still needs a victory, and Wicklow has to get Rhoades to safety. Of all the dangers in his path, that is the one that frightens him the most, and with every one of Rhoades’s soft kisses, he’s starting to realize why. But it might be too late. Wicklow may be a man of noble causes too, and he will do what it takes to fulfill his mission, save his team, the country, and Rhoades.

To Love a Traitor


J.L. Merrow - 2015
    Yet as he gets to know Matthew—an irrepressibly cheerful ad man whose missing arm hasn’t dimmed his smile—George begins to lose sight of his mission. As Matthew’s advances become ever harder to resist, George tries to convince himself his brother’s death was just the luck of the draw, and to forget he’s hiding a secret of his own. His true identity—and an act of conscience that shamed his family. But as their mutual attraction grows, so does George’s desperation to know the truth about what happened that day in Ypres. If only to prove Matthew innocent—even if it means losing the man he’s come to love. Warning: Contains larks in the snow, stiff upper lips, shadows of the Great War, and one man working undercover while another tries to lure him under the covers.

Maloney's Law


Anne Brooke - 2008
    It is the first book in the Maloney series.Paul Maloney, a small-time private investigator from London, reluctantly accepts a case from his married ex-lover, Dominic Allen. Before he knows it, Paul finds himself embroiled in the dark dealings of big business and the sordid world of international crime. The deeper he pushes, the closer he comes to losing everything he holds dear.Can he solve the mystery and protect those he loves before it's too late?Maloney's Law was shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2006 (for novels set in London) and the Royal Literary Fund Scheme, and longlisted for the Betty Bolingbroke-Kent Novel Award.

Light Up the Dark


Suki Fleet - 2016
    His only company, the cold man who promised to keep him safe from harm, Lance. But when Lance dies, Nicky’s assurance of safety disintegrates and his world suddenly becomes a lot more real and a lot more dangerous. Scared to leave the house, Nicky longs for daylight. He employs a gardener to clear the over-grown bushes and vines that have nearly swallowed Thorn Hall whole.The last thing Nicky expects a little light to do is show him something to fight for.Eighteen months in a young offenders’ institute has taught Cai two things: he occupies the playful puppy end of the How Dangerous Are You? spectrum, and he has an unfortunate knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Desperate for a job, he takes the first offer he gets. Even though Thorn Hall creeps the hell out of him and he barely knows one end of a pair of garden shears from the other.Things start to fall apart when Cai is drawn into Nicky’s strange world of sticky notes and secrets. Cai finds he is now a target, blamed for a crime he didn’t commit. Desperate not to go back to prison, he digs deep and risks all the good things in life to help Nicky run. But now Nicky has someone he wants to protect, he knows he can’t run any more.

The Road to Silver Plume


Tamara Allen - 2015
    When counterfeiter August McKee takes illegal advantage of a sinking silver market, his former confederate Darrow Gardiner shares that information with Agent Strickland so they can track down the once-friend who left Darrow to rot in prison.Promised his freedom in return, Darrow’s after something more. He wants possession of his best work, the flawless fifty dollar plates still in McKee’s hands. And with a little maneuvering, he’ll have the one thing a vengeful McKee may consider fair barter: the Secret Service operative whose testimony sent them both up the river.It seems an objective within Darrow’s reach after he rescues Emlyn from an assassin, earning a measure of his trust in the process. But on the cross-country journey in search of McKee, another attempt on their lives leaves operative and outlaw stranded miles from Denver, with no one to rely upon but each other. Beset by turncoat agents, angry miners, and the burgeoning threat of a wealthy and powerful McKee, Darrow and Emlyn discover that standing on opposite sides of the law doesn’t safeguard them from the dangers of friendship—or a deeper attraction that may force Darrow to choose between the real and the counterfeit as he’s never done before.

The Next


Rafe Haze - 2014
    A romance springs to life as two strangers merge with a common goal: to catch a killer they suspect occupies one of the apartments across the courtyard. But their romance must hurdle the main protagonist's suffocating, unresolved demons as well as encroaching, life threatening danger. But if they make it through, they can both bring life back to their lives.