The Beautiful (the Beautiful, #1)

The first installment in a fantasy series, the novel is set in 1872 New Orleans during carnival season and follows seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, a French dressmaker harboring a deadly secret. Interspersed throughout are interludes from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, a self-described immortal orchestrating murders as part of a vendetta against a powerful vampire.

The story opens with this narrator reflecting on New Orleans as a city "ruled by the dead" (xiv). Celine arrives aboard the ship Aramis with her friend Pippa Montrose, a sixteen-year-old from Yorkshire. They are among seven young women sponsored by the Catholic Church to live at the Ursuline convent. Celine catches sight of a young man in a Panama hat who silently parts a crowd, and their eyes lock before he disappears. She reflects on why she fled Paris: She killed a man who attempted to rape her.

The first victim in the killer's pattern is lured to a pier at night and has her throat torn out. At the convent, Celine overhears gossip about this murder and learns that a secretive group called the Court may be responsible. Celine, Pippa, and Anabel, a fellow convent resident and redhead from Edinburgh, sell handmade goods in Jackson Square. An eccentric young woman named Odette Valmont, a member of the Court, purchases Celine's embroidered handkerchiefs, commissions a masquerade gown, and invites Celine to Jacques', a restaurant and gambling hall, that evening.

On the way to Jacques', Celine and Pippa witness a man being beaten in an alley. Celine confronts the attackers and recognizes the taller figure's Panama hat. He is Sébastien "Bastien" Saint Germain, known as Le Fantôme (the Ghost), the nephew of Le Comte de Saint Germain and de facto leader of the Court. His companion, Arjun Desai, a young man of East Indian heritage, subdues the beaten man with a single touch. Bastien dismisses Celine curtly.

At Jacques', Celine and Pippa are escorted to the second floor: La Cour des Lions (the Court of the Lions), a dimly lit gambling hall where people of all races congregate. Celine observes chess pieces moving on their own and other uncanny phenomena. Odette reveals she is a soothsayer and reads Celine's palm, calling her la dompteuse des bêtes (the tamer of beasts) before seeing something disturbing and pulling away. Odette discloses that Bastien is the nephew and sole heir of Le Comte de Saint Germain, who owns Jacques'. Bastien arrives, and he and Celine share a charged, hostile exchange.

The evening turns horrific when Celine, Pippa, and Odette discover Anabel's body behind a hidden door, her throat torn open and a bloody symbol beside her. Celine realizes the Mother Superior sent Anabel to spy on them. Detective Michael Grimaldi of the New Orleans Metropolitan Police investigates. Of mixed heritage, Michael is the grandson of a formerly enslaved person on his mother's side and of Sicilian immigrants on his father's. He and Bastien share obvious animosity. Arjun serves as the girls' legal counsel, and Michael reveals that Anabel was drained of all her blood.

The interludes reveal the killer's larger scheme: The narrator describes Anabel's death as a message aimed at Nicodemus Saint Germain, Bastien's uncle. The narrator identifies Celine as a tool to exploit Bastien's growing attachment, reasoning that his feelings make her a vulnerability.

During the police interview, Celine notices Bastien carries a butter-yellow handkerchief matching the ribbon missing from Anabel's hair. Arjun's warning glance discourages her from mentioning it. Michael shares Bastien's troubled history: His sister Émilie died at fifteen, his parents died shortly after, and he was expelled from West Point after beating a student he blamed for his roommate's death.

A connection deepens between Celine and Bastien. The Court members are revealed to be vampires when they feed on businessmen and erase the victims' memories. After dining with Odette at Jacques', Celine is stalked on the street by a creature that whispers her name and tells her to come to the heart of Chartres. Bastien chases it away, and the two attend a carnival parade, exchanging truths about their heritage. Bastien's mother was a free woman of color and his father Taíno, an Indigenous people of the Caribbean. Celine shares her mother's Far Eastern origins. They acknowledge their attraction but agree to keep their distance.

The violence escalates when the killer attacks Celine's cell at the convent, pinning her to the wall and marking her face with blood. Celine stabs the creature with her sewing shears. William, the convent's elderly gardener, is found dead, his throat torn out. Expelled from the convent, Celine resolves to stay and fight. She moves into the fortified top-floor suite of the Hotel Dumaine, Nicodemus' personal chambers.

At a Midsummer Night's soirée, Celine corners Bastien in a garden maze, demanding answers. He tells her to stay away from the Court but gives her a silver dagger. Their tension culminates in a kiss. They retreat to Nicodemus' suite, where their encounter is shattered when Celine spots the dismembered remains of Nigel Fitzroy, a Court member, displayed on the balcony above.

Michael sequesters Celine at police headquarters. Studying his chalkboard of clues, she realizes the killer's repeated reference to the heart of Chartres points to Saint Louis Cathedral on Rue de Chartres. When she tries to leave, Nicodemus Saint Germain intercepts her, appearing impossibly young. He parades his Court members before her, warning her to stay away from Bastien. Even Odette sides with Nicodemus. Nicodemus demands Celine reject Bastien, revealing he can erase memories. She negotiates: She will comply in exchange for a home and a dress shop, but she insists on telling Bastien herself at the masquerade ball.

Celine attends the ball in a black taffeta gown she fashioned from mourning fabric, defying the all-white dress code, with the silver dagger at her hip. On the terrace, Pippa confronts her about being shut out but affirms her love. After Pippa departs, the terrace empties unnaturally, guests filing inside with glazed eyes. Arms seize Celine from behind, and the killer bites into her neck.

She wakes bound on the altar of Saint Louis Cathedral. The killer reveals himself as Nigel Fitzroy, whose death was staged. Nigel explains that Nicodemus turned him into a vampire against his will, forcing him to guard Bastien as a servant for a decade. The symbols at each crime scene, he reveals, are written in the Carthaginian language. While he monologues, Celine frees her ankles from their bindings.

Bastien arrives, having deduced the location from Michael's clues. He lowers his revolver to negotiate, but Nigel lunges and bites Bastien's throat. Celine stabs Nigel with the silver dagger before Nigel hurls her into the pews. An unseen force snatches Nigel away. Bastien collapses, and Celine holds him, confessing she is falling in love with him. Nicodemus arrives, refusing to turn his nephew into a vampire, as he swore never to transform his human family. Celine offers a bargain: If Nicodemus saves Bastien by turning him, she will let Nicodemus erase all her memories of Bastien and the supernatural world. Nicodemus relents.

A final interlude reveals the true mastermind: Émilie Saint Germain, Bastien's sister, who did not die as believed. Turned into a member of the Brotherhood, the vampires' ancient enemies, she spent a decade plotting vengeance against Nicodemus and manipulated Nigel as her pawn. Celine wakes in a hospital bed with no memory of Bastien or the supernatural world. Michael sits beside her, reading Shakespeare's sonnets. The novel's final lines signal Bastien's awakening as a newly turned vampire, setting up the sequel.