Kingdom of the Wicked Book1: Kingdom of the Wicked

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco is a dark romantic fantasy and the first novel in the Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy. A witch investigating her twin’s murder seeks an alliance with a demon prince whose help may carry dangers of its own.

Kingdom of the Wicked: Emilia’s search for a killer

Emilia and Vittoria are twin sisters who practise witchcraft in secret. Their lives depend on concealment in a society where discovery could bring persecution. When Vittoria fails to return home, Emilia’s familiar world gives way to a devastating discovery: her sister has been brutally murdered.

Grief becomes a determination to find the person responsible. Emilia is prepared to use forbidden magic and enter territory she has been warned to avoid. Her investigation brings her into contact with Wrath, one of the princes of the Wicked, who says he is investigating a series of murders on the island.

Wrath offers a possible route towards answers, but his nature makes reliance on him troubling. Emilia has to assess information provided by someone whose motives she cannot take for granted. Her need to act and her reasons for caution remain in conflict, turning a murder investigation into a dangerous negotiation.

Witches, demon princes and uncertain alliances

The novel gives its fantasy plot a personal starting point. Emilia does not pursue the supernatural world out of abstract curiosity: she is looking for an explanation for a specific loss. That emotional purpose gives weight to choices that might otherwise seem reckless, while leaving their consequences uncertain.

The romantic tension develops within an alliance that is already unstable. Wrath can be helpful and unsettling at once, and the distinction between an ally and a source of danger is difficult to fix. Readers who like relationships shaped by suspicion will find that uncertainty connected directly to the mystery.

The secret existence of witches also makes knowledge a form of protection. Emilia must question inherited warnings without assuming they are meaningless. The result suits readers drawn to forbidden magic, revenge-driven heroines and fantasy in which powerful figures have their own agendas. The investigation matters as much for what it changes in Emilia as for what it might reveal about Vittoria.

Beginning Kerri Maniscalco’s trilogy

This English Hodderscape paperback opens the sequence continued in Kingdom of the Cursed and concluded in Kingdom of the Feared. It introduces Emilia, Wrath and the central mysteries that carry into those later books, so it is the natural place to begin.

The appeal lies in the combination of a recognisable emotional wound and an unfamiliar magical threat. A sister wants justice; obtaining it requires cooperation with someone she has every reason to fear. For readers seeking romantic fantasy with a murder mystery at its centre, Kingdom of the Wicked establishes a story where every apparent answer raises another question about whom to trust.