Arsenic #1

The first volume of this French true-crime series from Keraval and Monnerais opens with a quietly chilling cover: a figure shrouded in pale blue lies motionless in a darkened bed, while shattered crockery and a spilled liquid pool on the floor below — details that speak volumes about the fate of Hélène Jégado, the notorious 19th-century poisoner whose story unfolds here. The subtitle Ascension vers l'échafaud — "Rise to the Scaffold" — sets the tone perfectly, promising a measured, atmospheric account of one of France's most disturbing criminal cases. Sixto Éditions brought this haunting story to shelves in 2017, and the restrained, shadow-drenched artwork already signals that this won't be sensationalism but something far more unsettling.