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A Beautiful and Terrible Murder
(2025)(The first book in the Irene Adler series)
A novel by Claire M Andrews
Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford's elite students in the All Souls class.
Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She's at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford's brightest minds. But her peers and professors don't know she's a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.
Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who's responsible for the deaths, Irene—as Isaac—teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene's own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.
Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite.
Irene's investigations continue in:
A Lovely and Deadly Dance (available August 2026!)
Don't miss the Daughter of Sparta series, also by Claire M. Andrews:
Daughter of Sparta
Blood of Troy
Storm of Olympus
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She's at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford's brightest minds. But her peers and professors don't know she's a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.
Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who's responsible for the deaths, Irene—as Isaac—teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene's own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.
Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite.
Irene's investigations continue in:
A Lovely and Deadly Dance (available August 2026!)
Don't miss the Daughter of Sparta series, also by Claire M. Andrews:
Daughter of Sparta
Blood of Troy
Storm of Olympus
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Praise for this book
"With its fast-paced plot to match its quick-thinking heroine, readers will be racing toward the last page, desperate to solve the mystery first. Claire M. Andrews has reimagined Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's world with a modern mix of romance, intrigue, and a dash of the diabolical. It's a story with more twists and turns than a Victorian London alley, and the most fun I've had reading in a long while!" - Lauren J A Bear
"A Beautiful and Terrible Murderhas all the makings of a YA classic: a beloved literary heroine made anew, a thrilling mystery, a breathtaking romance, and a finale of breakneck twists. I would follow Claire M. Andrews's riveting version of Irene Adler anywhere!" - Kika Hatzopoulou
"My favorite of her novels so far. Claire M. Andrews has written yet another compelling page-turner full of murder and intrigue. Irene is a wonderfully complex heroine, brilliant and headstrong, determined to prove herself, and impossible not to root for as she navigates the male-dominated All Souls class and the dark and deadly hallways of Oxford. A Beautiful and Terrible Murder will have you reading late into the night to discover the fate of Irene and her friends...and then desperately awaiting the sequel." - Lillie Lainoff
"This book truly has it all: dark academia, a murder mystery, and romantic tension all skillfully woven into a historical context. The story is compelling and propulsive, the atmosphere so thick you can feel it. This is a Sherlock Holmes reimagining as you've never seen it before - spearheaded by an ambitious, competent young woman ahead of her time." - M K Lobb
"Irene Adler is a compelling protagonist with a burning secret - and on a mission to catch a murderer. A Beautiful and Terrible Murder is a delightful read that plunges you into a mystery set at a supposedly haunted school full of adversaries and unlikely allies where no one is quite who they seem." - MacKenzie Reed
"A Beautiful and Terrible Murderhas all the makings of a YA classic: a beloved literary heroine made anew, a thrilling mystery, a breathtaking romance, and a finale of breakneck twists. I would follow Claire M. Andrews's riveting version of Irene Adler anywhere!" - Kika Hatzopoulou
"My favorite of her novels so far. Claire M. Andrews has written yet another compelling page-turner full of murder and intrigue. Irene is a wonderfully complex heroine, brilliant and headstrong, determined to prove herself, and impossible not to root for as she navigates the male-dominated All Souls class and the dark and deadly hallways of Oxford. A Beautiful and Terrible Murder will have you reading late into the night to discover the fate of Irene and her friends...and then desperately awaiting the sequel." - Lillie Lainoff
"This book truly has it all: dark academia, a murder mystery, and romantic tension all skillfully woven into a historical context. The story is compelling and propulsive, the atmosphere so thick you can feel it. This is a Sherlock Holmes reimagining as you've never seen it before - spearheaded by an ambitious, competent young woman ahead of her time." - M K Lobb
"Irene Adler is a compelling protagonist with a burning secret - and on a mission to catch a murderer. A Beautiful and Terrible Murder is a delightful read that plunges you into a mystery set at a supposedly haunted school full of adversaries and unlikely allies where no one is quite who they seem." - MacKenzie Reed
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