At an elite theatre school, seven actors live and breathe Shakespeare — until one of them is murdered, and friendship turns into tragedy in this haunting literary thriller.
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio is a gripping literary mystery set in an elite arts conservatory where Shakespeare is both studied and lived.
The novel follows Oliver Marks, one of seven talented young actors whose lives revolve around performing Shakespeare’s tragedies. When one of their own is found dead, the lines between performance and reality blur — and the remaining friends must confront what truly happened that night.
Told through the structure of a Shakespearean play, this story explores jealousy, ambition, love, betrayal, and guilt, as well as the dark beauty of art and obsession. Both an homage to theatre and a haunting psychological thriller, If We Were Villains captures the danger of blurring art with life — and the cost of playing a role too well.
