My Dreadful Darling

The first installment in a series, this dark romance intertwines the stories of two college seniors whose lives were shaped by the same serial killer: one as his daughter and the other as the son of one of his victims.

Reverie Adams, born Charlotte D'Amour, is the daughter of Lionel D'Amour, a California car salesman convicted of murdering Katherine Sharpe, the mother of swimming prodigy Kellan "Dread" Sharpe. Lionel is widely suspected of being the Locksmith, a serial killer believed responsible for over a hundred murders of women in Northern California, though only 23 bodies were recovered. At Lionel's trial, eight-year-old Dread provided the testimony that convicted him, describing a distinctive tattoo behind Lionel's ear that proved Lionel had been at the Sharpe home the night Katherine disappeared. The public largely believed Dread fabricated his account, and when a copycat murderer emerged after Lionel's imprisonment, continuing the Locksmith's methods, opinion hardened further. Despite privately believing Dread told the truth, Reverie never publicly contradicted her family's claims that he was a liar.

The novel opens with a flashback to freshman year at Hollow Canyon University (HCU) in Colorado, where Reverie attempts to confront her fear of water, a phobia rooted in her mother, Regina D'Amour, trying to drown her at age four. Regina had postpartum psychosis after miscarrying a baby boy and blamed Reverie for the loss. Lionel saved Reverie that night and became her sole source of comfort. Dread appears at the pool and reveals he has enrolled at HCU to fulfill a childhood promise: to make Reverie suffer.

The story jumps to senior year, January 2025. FBI Special Agent Barry Jones, who arrested Lionel and has served as Reverie's surrogate father since she was 13, informs her the parole board has approved Lionel's release, set for February 5th. Reverie's character statement, in which she detailed witnessing Lionel commit a murder, was dismissed as the grudge of an estranged daughter. Reverie resolves to transfer to London before Lionel is freed.

Dread's torment escalates. With his swim teammates Rogue Cameron and Severen Fox, he stages a hyper-realistic dismembered dummy in Reverie's dorm room to mimic a Locksmith murder, then chains her to a flagpole during a blizzard. After she nearly succumbs to hypothermia, Dread carries her to his dorm and warms her. While she sleeps, he films her naked body and writes the dates of victims' disappearances on her skin, struggling with an attraction he considers a betrayal of his mother's memory. Reverie retaliates by spiking his Gatorade with crushed melatonin, forcing him to withdraw from a nationally televised swim meet.

On Reverie's birthday, which is also the anniversary of Regina's death by suicide, Dread hangs a noose from her ceiling fan and orchestrates a party where girls dress as Locksmith victims. In the woods, each girl throws dirt onto Reverie lying in a grave Dread dug, speaking the name of a victim. Dread throws the last handful, murmuring, "Rest in peace, Mom." Days later, Reverie meets Roxi Jenkins, a fellow senior who reveals she is Lionel's girlfriend of two years. Roxi and Lionel plan to start a family near Reverie after graduation, confirming that Lionel has been tracking Reverie and using Roxi as leverage to keep her from fleeing.

The dynamic shifts toward volatile attraction. After Reverie kisses Bryan Gate, the star quarterback, to provoke Dread, he carries her to the pool and throws her in. Amid her panicked thrashing, he kisses her. The kiss is intense and mutual before she slaps him, and they kiss again.

On Lionel's release day, Reverie finds a note and a pink barrette on her bed. The note references their relationship and announces a bedroom is ready for her arrival, language Reverie recognizes as Lionel's. Barry confirms Lionel is still in California, meaning someone else delivered the message. That night, Dread kidnaps Reverie by pulling the fire alarm and throwing her in his trunk. At a private pool facility, she reveals everything: Lionel's release, Roxi, the stolen parole letter. Dread gives her an ultimatum: sex or drowning. Reverie agrees. The encounter is intensely passionate. Afterward, Dread declares her his girlfriend, a strategic move to keep her close as bait for Lionel while also protecting her.

Dread posts an intimate photo of them on social media, igniting a media frenzy. Reverie's dorm is trashed again with another threatening note, a chunk of black curly hair, and her London transfer papers. Audio of Reverie and Dread having sex, recorded by a neighbor, is posted online. Reverie flees to a hotel, but Dread tracks her down and coerces her return.

Reverie then tells Dread the full truth: At age six, she walked into Lionel's shed during a night terror and witnessed him dismembering Georgia Farrell, the Locksmith's third known victim. Lionel threatened to kill both Regina and Reverie if she ever spoke. Dread is devastated: Had Reverie spoken up, his mother might still be alive. He shouts that he was a child who told the truth while the world called him a liar, while she stayed silent. Taking advice from his best friend, Olive Benderman, whose own mother was murdered by the Locksmith, Dread channels his fury into one final act of punishment at the funeral home where Reverie works. Afterward, he tells Reverie he no longer wants to be angry and that such cruelty will not happen again.

Reverie pieces together a disturbing pattern in Lionel's messages. Each time she defied his demand to come home, someone was harmed. Mindy Sackler disappeared on Lionel's release date; the pink barrette matches one Mindy wore. Jennifer Holbrook was murdered on Valentine's Day. Reverie receives photographs wrapped in blonde hair with follicles attached, linking Lionel to additional murders through deliberate, symbolic staging.

Dread takes Reverie to a mountain cottage where he planted his mother's ashes in a biodegradable urn that grew into a bleeding heart plant, Katherine's favorite flower. He tells Reverie he is in love with her. That night, a black box is thrown at Dread's dorm window containing two bloody eyeballs matching Mindy Sackler's green irises and a note: "I don't see you, Angel." Barry confirms both Lionel and the copycat were in California, meaning neither delivered the box. Conditioned by years of Dread's elaborate pranks involving fake body parts, Reverie suspects he orchestrated the box to break her heart. She accuses him, and he does not fight the accusation.

Barry delivers further news: DNA from the blonde hair matches Georgia Farrell, proving Lionel still possesses his "lockbox," a collection of hair trophies taken from his victims. This evidence could convict him of all his murders, but Barry cannot obtain a search warrant without probable cause. Barry also confirms that Roxi and the copycat have airtight alibis, meaning Lionel has an unknown accomplice operating in Colorado.

While Dread is at a national swim championship in Florida, Reverie and Severen return to his dorm to find Mindy Sackler's remains staged in a grotesque tableau: her severed head spinning from the ceiling fan, her skinless torso posed in the desk chair, and her skin spread across the mattress. Police arrive, and an officer, recognizing Reverie as Charlotte D'Amour, arrests her on the spot. The novel ends with Reverie in handcuffs and the identity of Lionel's accomplice unknown.