Secrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.
2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.
2025: The annual Lone Star Princess Pageant looms, bringing long-standing grudges to the surface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.
When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.
Some secrets are better left buried.
2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.
2025: The annual Lone Star Princess Pageant looms, bringing long-standing grudges to the surface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.
When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.
Some secrets are better left buried.
Title: Pretty Dead Things
Author: Kelsey Cox
Publisher: St Martin's Press/Minotaur/Macmillan Audio
Expected Publication Date: July 7., 2026
Review:
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read/listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I really enjoyed Cox's debut book, Party of Liars. I was really excited when I heard about this second title. I wanted to see the mysterious and suspenseful ride she would take me on with this story. And she did not disappoint. I will say she kept it mysterious right up until the very end! I was lucky enough to have both a digital and audio copy of this book to do an immersive read.
I absolutely adored all the narrators for the audio of this book. Andrew Eiden and Brittany Pressley were already favorites of mine but now I know to look for books narrated by Mia Wurgaft, Saskia Maarleveld, and Stevi Incremona. All the voices were excellent and kept me super engaged in the story.
25 years ago Isabelle Whitmore went missing. Assumed dead, killed by her childhood boyfriend, Ben Sherman. Ingrid, Izzy's twin sister, fled after her disappearance but has returned just as the town is gearing up for their annual beauty pageant. Reunited with her old friends, Izzy receives an invitation to the pageant with a mysterious note on the back claiming Ben did not kill her sister. The story slowly unfolds leading the reader on the dark path of what really did happen to Izzy. Along the way, others pop up dead, making everyone nervous that even 25 years later, the killer is still on the loose.
I really love Cox's writing. She develops her characters really well. Each with their own distinct personality. They are complex, compelling, and interesting. Cox easily shows the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters. and the emotional stakes that come along with them. As with her first book, she chose to do multiple points of view giving us a glimpse into all those involved with the deceased. She also uses two different time lines, giving us background into the friendships and family dynamics that shaped the characters as teens. Her characters definitely have morally gray qualities to them, keeping you on your toes throughout the story as you try to figure out who done it.
The pacing and plot fly along and I was on the edge of my seat throughout the book, anxious to keep turning pages to find out the mystery. The twits and turns this story took were convoluted enough that I just could not figure out the who or the why. Not until the very end when Cox finally reveals what truly happened to Izzy Whitemore. And to say I was surprised is an understatement. I definitely didn't see the twist coming.
Cox has solidified herself as a go to author for me. As with her first book, I flew through this one. Her knack for keeping her reader engaged is fantastic. I'm looking forward to what she will write in the future.
Author:
Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts. On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap.
No comments:
Post a Comment