The Beautiful

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead.

But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, it's also a safe haven after she's forced to flee her life in Paris. Quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its extravagant soirées and even its danger, she soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, and particularly the group known as La Cour des Lions.

But when a body is found in their lair, Celine is forced to battle her attraction for the group's enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain, and suspicions about his guilt, along with her own secrets.

As more bodies are discovered, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose - one who seems to have Celine in his sights. But when she finally takes matters into her own hands, she finds herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.

'Captivating . . . Ahdieh's darkest and most compelling novel yet' Culturess

'Murder, mystery, forbidden romance... what's not to love?' Culturefly

'A rich, vibrant world full of colour, and shadows, and dangerous attractions . . . Sumptuous and powerful' British Fantasy Society

Renee Ahdieh is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the author of The Flame in the Mist and The Wrath and the Dawn series'. In her spare time, she likes to dance salsa and collect shoes. The first few years of her life were spent in a high-rise in South Korea; consequently, Renée enjoys having her head in the clouds. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and their tiny overlord of a dog.