The court of miracles

Dixen again impresses in his second Vampyria thriller (after 2023's The Court of Shadows), set in an alternate reality in which Louis XIV has reigned for centuries as a vampire. Teenager Jeanne Froidelac's family was massacred by the king's forces, but she survived, assumed the identity of a baron's daughter, and gained access to Louis's inner circle as a royal squire. Her ongoing efforts to end his reign are complicated when Louis faces a challenge from a woman calling herself the Lady of Miracles, who claims to already rule Paris with an army of ghouls and demands that Louis make her vice-queen of the city, or be overthrown. Jeanne is asked to track down this rival for power, both by the king, and by a leader of the growing resistance to his rule, who fears that Louis could defeat the Lady and gain control over her ghouls, which would make him unstoppable. Dixen never lets the nail-biting plot overwhelm his nuanced characterizations, and heightens the stakes by making it clear that any character could die at any time. Series fans will not be disappointed. (July)