Disney’s Villains meet Gotham in this gritty fairy tale-inspired crime series. Mary Elizabeth Heart is a high school senior by day, but by night she’s an intern at the Monarch City police department. She watches with envy from behind a desk as detectives come and go, trying to contain the city’s growing crime rate. For years, tension has simmered between the city’s wealthy elite, and their plans to gentrify the decaying neighborhood called the Scar—once upon a time the epicenter of all things magic. When the daughter of one of the city’s most powerful businessmen goes missing, Mary Elizabeth is thrilled when the Chief actually puts her on the case. But what begins as one missing person’s report soon multiplies, leading her down the rabbit hole of a city in turmoil. There she finds a girl with horns, a boyfriend with secrets, and what seems to be a sea monster lurking in a poison lake. As the mystery circles closer to home, Mary finds herself caught in the fight between those who once had magic, and those who will do anything to bring it back. This dark and edgy YA series explores the reimagined origins of Maleficent, Ursula, Captain Hook, and other infamous Disney Villains like you’ve never seen before.

In this sequel to City of Villains, return to the gritty, fairy tale–inspired crime series that reimagines the origins of the Disney Villains like you’ve never seen before. Everything in high school senior Mary Elizabeth Heart’s life changed in one horrifying night. After the Battle of Miracle Lake, she lost her prestigious internship at the Monarch City police department. Her best friend, Ursula, has become something tentacled and unrecognizable. Her classmate Maleficent has turned into a horned monster. And her first love, James, has replaced his hand with a menacing, gleaming hook . . . or so the rumor goes. She hasn’t seen any of them since that night. Her friends, now known across Monarch City as “the villains,” have become pawns in a game of political chess. Rallies and protests divide an already fractured city. More kids are disappearing from the Scar each day. And at the center of it all is Mary Elizabeth, who is torn between uncovering those responsible for the return of this Wrong Magic and saving her friends, whatever the cost. But the conspiracy she is unraveling may reach further than she could have imagined. And the deeper she goes, the more her own inner demons threaten to emerge. "Your favorite Villains in an entirely new light." —Serena Valentino, New York Times best-selling author of the Villains series

In this conclusion to the City of Villains trilogy—blending flavors of Once Upon a Time, Gotham, and Serena Valentino's Villains series—teen detective Mary Elizabeth embraces her villainous side . . . and the Disney Villains’ surprising origin stories are revealed. The Villains have taken over Monarch City, and Mary Elizabeth Heart has finally joined them. When different factions begin vying for the control of magic, Mary must question where her loyalties lie—and what everyone’s motives really are. As the Villains band together to wage one last epic battle against the corrupt forces who made them villains in the first place, the very fabric of the world starts to unravel. It soon becomes clear that Mary can’t hide from her demons, and that her real destiny as a fairy tale villain is only just beginning.