Genre:
Young Adult / New Adult
Themes:
Family Relationships
Femme / Femme
Found Family
Kidnapping / Disappearance
Murder / Crime / Serial Killer
Mystery / Suspense
Revenge
Secret Society
Sports
Heat Level:
Fade to Black (sex scenes are mostly implied and use euphemistic language)
Archetypes:
Student
Geographic Location:
United States: South
Setting:
Academic / School / University
Big City / Urban
Hotel / Inn
Manor House / Estate
Party
Restaurant / Diner / Food Truck
Sports Stadium / Gym
Sexual / Gender Identity:
Bi or Pansexual
Lesbian
Trigger/Content Warning:
Graphic Violence
Under the Gown
By Payton Frischhertz
These New Orleans debutantes are dressed to kill ... this season, maybe one will.
The Legacies meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, a YA thriller set during the glittery New Orleans debutante season where murder and mayhem reign, and every coveted secret comes at a cost.
On the night of Crescent Club’s presentation, twenty-five New Orleans debutantes dressed in white gowns and opera-length gloves are ready to make their debut to society.
Until one drops dead.
Another is a no-show.
And a mysterious Instagram account Under the Gown starts serving up the debs’ secrets, one scandalous post at a time.
While the incidents appear unfortunate, yet unrelated, overachiever college freshman Ainsley Clarke is determined to nab her dream summer internship during the season. That means she must find a way to be presented by the most exclusive club in the city—The Mystic Maskers—which, if you ask around . . . it doesn’t exist. But Ainsley knows that it does, and she plans to do whatever it takes to gain entry. Even if that means lying to best friends Piper, Eli, and budding love interest, Violet, a disgruntled deb from Texas with two closets full of skeletons.
As the season marches on with more decadent parties and posh presentations disasters continue to plague their events. When Ainsley is sent a sinister message at her luncheon and their friend is officially declared missing, she realizes someone’s going after this season’s debutantes with a vengeance. With a rising body count and her own secrets on the line, Ainsley must band together with her deb squad and a few plus-ones to hunt down a killer before another deb can fall.