It was my absolute pleasure to hear Justin Myers speak at the Romance Festival in Manchester a few weeks ago where he was so witty and engaging. Consequently I was thrilled to receive a signed copy of his latest book, The Glorious Dead.
Published by Renegade on 18th September 2025, The Glorious Dead is available for purchase through the links here.
The Glorious Dead
Laurie Blount, enfant terrible of the West End, the voice of a generation, a shining star.
Also: dead. Very, very dead.
Killed in a car crash in the middle of the night, Laurie exited this world the way he lived his life – dramatically and dangerously.
Laurie ‘s husband Jo, best friend Vivi and goddaughter Rosy must step out from grief ‘s shadow and face life without him. Until rumours of Laurie ‘s unpublished memoir begin to haunt the group. Waspish, wicked and witty, these confessions reveal a side to Laurie nobody really knew . . . or would admit to knowing. But can the words of a dead man be trusted?
Laurie ‘s grieving loved ones are about to discover that comedy and tragedy are the same mistakes, made under different lighting. If Jo, Vivi and Rosy are ever to find peace in the future, they might need to lift the curtain on Laurie ‘s past – as well as their own.
Can a dead man shatter your life one chapter at a time?
My Review of The Glorious Dead
Jo’s husband Laurie has just died in a car crash.
The Glorious Dead was not the book I was expecting to read. I’d anticipated a rather light, gay romcom that served as an entertaining diversion from life. Those lighter elements are present, but The Glorious Dead is so, so much more.
There’s an intensity to the prose as husband Jo, Laurie’s best friend Vivi and her daughter Rosy, navigate their grief at Laurie’s death. It’s often the most prosaic moments when grief hits them, as it does in real life, so that The Glorious Dead is relatable and moving. With quite a reduced cast of characters too, the story feels intimate and confidential – especially when we have Laurie’s first person thread.
However, as well as surprisingly moving, I also found The Glorious Dead incredibly funny. Justin Myers writes with an acerbic wit that perfectly sums up society. The variety of sentence structure means that sarcasm, irony and humour weave through, balancing Jo’s grief (and, later, his guilt) to perfection. Whilst there are frequent expletives that can often feel misplaced in fiction, in The Glorious Dead there’s a fantastic sense of authorial voice leading the reader through the complexities of life beyond Laurie, making such vocabulary part of the realism and humour. It’s no exaggeration to say I kept thinking of Voltaire’s satirical writing as I read.
As the plot progresses, themes of friendship, lives after a death, relationships and loyalty swirl through, but there’s also unexpected mystery that elevates the narrative still further into an intriguing and thought-provoking read. And in amongst the pain, there’s hope too so that The Glorious Dead looks into the dark heart of humanity and finds there is also optimism, redemption and positivity.
The characters are fabulous. They are flawed, selfish, deceptive and, to be honest, thoroughly despicable on the whole. And yet they are warm, human and appealing. There’s an irony that the youngest, Rosy, is the most consistent – a kind of Shakespearean Touchstone. She is a wonderful contrast to the others, all of whom I loved and hated in equal measure. Given that the story opens with Laurie’s death in a car accident, I found him rather like a literary car crash. I didn’t always want to read his words, but I simply couldn’t look away! He really is the most appalling, fascinating and vivid character.
The Glorious Dead will entertain you royally. It is a love story. It’s a social commentary. It’s a mystery. It’s also more than the sum of its parts. It will also leave you wondering just how well you know those around you, and perhaps more profoundly, just how well you know yourself. Justin Myers shows us that life is complicated, messy and challenging and we navigate our way through it to the best (or sometimes worst) of our ability.
I thought The Glorious Dead was a remarkable story that delivered far, far more emotion and depth than I expected. I really recommend it.
About Justin Myers
Justin Myers is a writer and editor from Shipley, Yorkshire, who now lives in London. After years working in journalism, he began his popular, anonymous dating blog The Guyliner in 2010, spent five years as dating and advice columnist in Gay Times and is now a weekly columnist at British GQ. His work has appeared in a number of publications including the Guardian, BuzzFeed and the Irish Times, and his first novel The Last Romeo was published in 2018.
For further information, visit Justin’s website and follow him on X @theguyliner, Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.
English (US) · 