The Beautiful

'Incredibly ornate [and] lush . . . nail-biting and swoony and satisfying and tense all at the same time' Sabaa TahirIn 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau it's a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by a convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamoured with the vibrant city, from the music to the food to the soirees and - especially - to the danger. After catching the eye of the enigmatic Sebastien Saint Germain, the leader of the notorious group Le Cour des Lions, she soon becomes she soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld. But when the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in their lair, Celine battles her suspicions and attraction, along with the shame of her own horrible secret.As more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer - one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld, which reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.