“New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead.” I noticed that a lot of other people, including reviewers that I really trust when it comes to what books I tend to read, rated this one a little lower than I expected. I was drawn to this one because of that absolutely stunning cover, and the fact that I wanted to read something a little different and darker – and the whole subject of vampires and late 1800’s New Orleans really intrigued me.

I have her other books, but I haven’t had the chance to read them yet. This is the first book by Renée Ahdieh that I have read. 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 reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.Īt once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful. and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose-one Celine is sure has set her in his sights. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and-especially-to the danger. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead.

The beautiful renee ahdieh