Leta Patton (YA Historical)

Author: Leta Patton (@ehsleeta)

Age Range: Young Adult

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Agent: Kaitlyn Johnson, Belcastro Agency

The Query Letter:

THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHAMPAGNE AND MURDER is a YA historical fiction standalone with fantastical elements, completed at 90,000 words. It will appeal to fans of books featuring historical kings and magic, like IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN by EM Castellan, as well as humorous books centered around family relationships. Think Schitt’s Creek, only with fewer shady motels, and more sprawling palaces.

In the glittering, rococo Paris of 1728, eighteen-year-old Olivier d’Aumont has a plethora of problems he’d rather not deal with, the most troublesome of which is his straight-laced and boring-to-tears older brother getting himself arrested for murder.

Olivier, convinced his brother has been framed, enlists the help of his twin sister to investigate the murder and prove their brother is innocent. But a mysterious clock magic that turns aristocrats into mind-altered puppets has been plaguing the city, and Olivier soon discovers both the sickness and the murder are part of a sinister plot to overthrow the king.

Teaming up with a teenage King Louis XV and a dagger-wielding female clockmaker, Olivier must push through his debilitating anxiety and stop the mastermind behind the plot. Time is ticking, and if Olivier doesn’t succeed, his brother will be hanged for a crime he didn’t commit—and the entirety of Paris will be overrun by deadly magic.

[Author bio redacted by Query101]