Dark academia is more than just a subgenre. To some it’s a subculture, playing on the idea that hidden away in the shadows of an ancient university lies the potential for both romance and murder. Crime author RL Heber’s upcoming novel Faculty of Liars pulls on both these threads but unlike many dark academia novels, it’s not impressionable students who are the victims and antagonists in the drama. Here we have a more practical take that focuses on the reputation of one of America’s oldest universities.
There’s a love affair. There’s a murder. There’s a whole lot getting swept under the rug. And at the centre of it is Elizabeth Harker, wife of the new president of the university, and lover of the deceased. Will she stay quiet? You’ll have to read it to find out.
This is RL Heber’s fourth novel, although her three previous thrillers were written under the name Rebecca Thornton. She goes by Bex and is a journalist writing for newspapers and magazines across a variety of topics. In the series of interviews she’s currently working on, entitled What Were You Thinking? Inside Other People’s Heads, she explores… well… how people think and how that makes them act.
And, she’s also worked in comms for a leading private school. So, the right background then for a mystery set in a university with plenty to hide. We decided to ask RL Heber for the inside track on Faculty of Liars, and this is what she told us…
What are crime fiction lovers going to love about Faculty of Liars?
That I pull back the fictional curtain on a world that is normally made inaccessible: the shadowy workings of one elite institution. I show readers what might happen when scandal threatens power and reputation, and just how far an institution could go, to protect a legacy that is hundreds of years old.
The university is hiding a secret that will destroy everything and I think readers will enjoy seeing things from a different perspective. Dark academia in fiction often centres on the students or the relationships between students and teacher – this goes right to the heart of what happens when a murder and a woman’s affair threatens an entire global name.
But it’s also anchored in something very identifiable and human: one woman’s life, her marriage and the mistakes she makes.
Who is Elizabeth Harker and what inspired the character?
Elizabeth Harker is married to the incoming President of America’s most powerful university.Elizabeth is torn between hiding her own mistakes – her intoxicating love affair – and doing the right thing. What is the right thing? When her lover is murdered she uncovers a greater scandal – who should she protect? Herself or the institution?
What inspired Elizabeth as a character, was when I discovered something about an elite institution that didn’t sit well with me despite how it ‘fronted’ itself.
I wanted to then excavate how a human might deal with that type of situation, so I ‘built’Elizabeth. So in effect, it was a fictional organisation that prompted her character. She’s brave and strong and also instinctively her body knows something isn’t right well before she discovers the deeper layers of what’s going on behind the public façade of this establishment.
What is she up against here?
Elizabeth is up against something pretty intangible – reputation and power – and the people working to uphold that reputation. She’s up against legacy. She’s up against money and bad deeds, layered by walls of silence. She’s up against a global powerhouse, reinforced by people willing to do absolutely anything to protect it.
Who are some of the other characters we’ll come across? It sounds like there are a lot of agendas, which will ramp up the intrigue.
Abraham, who is one of my favourite characters in any book I’ve ever written. Abraham is communications director of the university, meaning he’s in charge of all reputation managementand anything that threatens to destroy the powerful name and legacy of that age-old establishment. He’s shrewd. He plays people off against each other. He’s the guardian of the brand name of the university and the lengths he will go to, to keep things ‘clean’ are extraordinary. He’s manipulative. He can see across all facets of the University and I absolutely loved writing him.
We also come across Jeff, Elizabeth’s husband. I was interested in exploring characters that are perhaps put in positions of high power because they can be manipulated by the people behind the public coalface. And how they themselves play into that dynamic. Are they aware of it? How much do they know? And how much are they willing to look away, in order to touch that power.
What made you decide to write about the academic world and a university hierarchy in particular?
Because on the face of it, education presents itself as values-driven and nurturing. But behind the scenes, universities and elite institutions are complex organisations with reputations to protect, competing priorities and financial pressures. That gap between public image and the internal reality is what fascinated me and that’s where the story grew from.
Thankfully, most elite institutions in education don’t have literal bodies to bury. At least, I hope they don’t.
But every institution does have scandals and secrets they want out of the public domain…
Elizabeth faces a lot of peril here. A scandal is about to tip. What kind of tone and atmosphere did you aim to create for the readers? What did you want them to feel as they read?
I wanted them to feel the power of an elite institution bearing down on Elizabeth’s decision making. Could one woman fight anentire legacy? Elizabeth’s affair and the murder of her lover is what threatens to unleash a greater scandal at the heart of the university. Can she outwit the smart players behind this prestigious establishment? I wanted the reader to really root for Elizabeth – despite any mistakes she may have made. I wanted them to see the ‘macro’ through the micro.
What are the wider themes you wanted to explore, because this doesn’t sound like an average mystery?
I really wanted to explore reputation. How often, in this day and age particularly, reputation is an institution’s greatest asset. Especially if they cannot pivot towards our modern age. That pressure can sometimes lead to decisions that protect reputation over transparency. And I want people to question why elite institutions talk about the things they do – if their main messaging is around pastoral care, why would they need to do that? (Some stakeholders actively like this approach though –where reputation holds firm over and above everything. )
So many decisions behind these elite institutions are strategic. Parents think they’re being made for the good of the children. Often they are (particularly if a teacher is making them), but institutions are also balancing legal, financial and reputational challenges.
So in essence, Faculty of Liars is entirely fictional but I was inspired by reputation versus what’s going on behind closed doors.
I know of some incredible and clean places where the top people are just brilliant, though. I have friends who are making great changes in places, whilst upholding legacy and staying true to values.
But I have a feeling that not all of them are like this…
What other crime books and/or authors have inspired you most, and why? What are you reading at the moment?
I’m readinga book called Influencing Death: Reframing Dying for Better Living By Penny Hawkins Smith, a hospice nurse who I’m about to interview for my series What Were You Thinking? I’m going to be asking her what she’s learnt from the dying.
I’ve also just finished Not Like The Other Parents by Asia Mackay. She’s a dark comedy genius where every line I’m like – how did you think of that?!
Crime books I’ve loved: anything by Chris Whitaker. He takes crime and makes it so human. We Begin At The End is phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much. Ever! Still haven’t forgiven him for that.
Asia Mackay, I can’t often read fast enough for how much I want to gobble up the words she’s written.
What’s next for Elizabeth (if anything) and what’s next for RL Heber?
Both are lying on the cold floor in a dark room, wondering what they’ve just been through… and looking forward to when inspiration will next strike.
Faculty of Liars is released on 6 August 2026. Order a copy using the buttons below.