A twisty, darkly seductive anti-hero origin story, starring a teenage killer whose trial in the Wild West is upended when her first victim, her husband, arrives alive with a story to tell.

Summer 1886--When nineteen-year-old Belle King turns herself in for murder, the last thing she expects to see is her abusive husband Reginald standing outside her Dodge City jail cell, impossibly alive. He's there to take her back, but Belle is not going without a fight. Reginald was the first man she ever meant to kill, but certainly not the last . . .

Now, while there are still bars between them, Belle is forced to resort to all the tricks in her arsenal to prevent her husband from ever being in control of her again. But in the 1880s, the last soul anyone will believe is a girl--even when she confesses to her own crimes.

With the seductive horror of a fairy tale, Lady or the Tiger is the dark, twisty story of how one mountain girl from Kentucky became the wickedest woman in the Wild West and an ode to girls with tigers in their hearts who can save themselves.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Published: 06/10/2025
ISBN: 9781984816733
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.25lbs

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2025