Monstrum

When the body of Lukas von Keller, a third-year student at Veridien, a prestigious all-boys academy, is found at the bottom of a ravine on March 10th, 1986, life at the quiet elite institution is shaken to its core.

After months of investigation, the authorities are ready to rule the death a suicide. Detective Whitlock, however, is not. A chance to solve the case, now a personal nightmare, presents itself when Marius Vassier, a local private eye known for his sharp instincts and impeccable fashion, approaches him with a plan.

An unorthodox plan. One that involves Lawrence Garth, the detective’s nephew and a cadet in his final year at the police academy.

Intelligent, observant, and often underestimated because of his size and apparent clumsiness, Lawrence is the perfect undercover agent.

That is, until he comes face to face with the case’s prime suspect.

Bastien Hawthorne. Hauntingly beautiful, grieving, and heir to an empire powerful enough to justify a cover-up – should he be responsible for Lukas’s death.

Lawrence has never believed poetry served any real purpose beyond indulging the sentimental. But at Veridien, surrounded by beauty, ritual, and Bastien himself, he begins to understand its power.

Because if Bastien Hawthorne is a murderer, then Lawrence is falling for a monster.

Unless the word monster has a completely different meaning in the world beyond the gates of Veridien Academy.

Monstrum is an MM dark academia murder mystery and romantic suspense novel featuring an undercover investigation, an elite all-boys academy, forbidden attraction, class differences, morally complicated characters, hidden histories, dangerous secrets, and a slow-burn romance set against the shadowy elegance of 1980s Europe.