Author
M. L. Rio
Associated Country
United States
M. L. Rio is an American writer best known for her debut novel If We Were Villains, a dark, Shakespeare-inspired campus thriller that gained a strong following for its blend of literary fiction, mystery, and drama. She has a background in literature and performance, which strongly influences her focus on theatrical settings and characters shaped by art and identity.
Rio studied English literature and Shakespeare, and later earned graduate training in Shakespeare studies at King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe. Her academic work and deep familiarity with classical theater are central to her fiction, which often explores how performance, rivalry, and obsession shape human relationships.
In addition to If We Were Villains (2017), Rio has written short fiction and contributed essays and criticism. Her work is noted for its atmospheric storytelling, emotionally intense character dynamics, and close engagement with Shakespearean tragedy reframed in contemporary settings.
Rio studied English literature and Shakespeare, and later earned graduate training in Shakespeare studies at King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe. Her academic work and deep familiarity with classical theater are central to her fiction, which often explores how performance, rivalry, and obsession shape human relationships.
In addition to If We Were Villains (2017), Rio has written short fiction and contributed essays and criticism. Her work is noted for its atmospheric storytelling, emotionally intense character dynamics, and close engagement with Shakespearean tragedy reframed in contemporary settings.
Books
Twelve original dark academia stories from bestselling thriller writers – imagine darkened libraries, exclusive elite schools, looming Gothic towers, charismatic professors, illicit affairs, the tang...
Hot Wax 2025
Summer, 1989: ten-year-old Suzanne is drawn like a magnet to her father’s forbidden world of electric guitars and tricked-out cars. When her mother remarries, she jumps at the chance to tag along on...
Graveyard Shift 2024
Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that...
If We Were Villains 2017
Oliver Marks has just served ten years for the murder of one of his closest friends - a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the detective who put him in...