Girls Who Play Dead
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Two siblings investigate the murder of a friend only to unearth even more deadly mysteries in their small town in this page-turning young adult thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games.
When Mikky Graves left his small, stifling hometown of Prophets Lake to live with his estranged mother, he thought nothing could ever make him return for good.
Until his sister Kyla’s best friend, Erin, is murdered.
Mikky never worried about leaving Kyla behind at their family-owned funeral home so long as she had Erin. But when Mikky heads home, determined to help Kyla grieve, the sister he encounters barely resembles the one he remembers. Mikky decides, then and there, to do the one thing that seems even more impossible than returning: stay.
As Kyla spirals further into her rage and secrets, Mikky realizes the only thing that can help his sister is finding the truth about who killed Erin. But the more he investigates, the further he’s pulled into other ugly mysteries of Prophets Lake and the beauty brand that is its lifeblood. The town’s rot runs deep, and everyone has something to hide. Perhaps no one more than Kyla herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Black teenager works to uncover the truth behind a peer's death in this socially conscious murder mystery by Wellington (The Blonde Dies First). When Kyla's best friend, Erin, dies after being thrown off a cliff by an unknown assailant, Kyla's older brother Mikky returns to the siblings' hometown of Prophets Lake, Mass., to help her cope. Following an emotional breakdown three years ago, Mikky left to live with their estranged mother in Boston. He's therefore surprised to find that Kyla is nothing like the sister he remembers: she's secretive, sometimes cruel, and seems only interested in emulating Erin's beauty influencer persona. Mikky resolves to find out what happened to Erin, but the only clue he has to work from involves mysterious "Test Kitchens," which might be connected to the beauty products developed by Prophets Lake's most prominent business, Cook's Cosmetics. As Mikky dives deeper into the history surrounding Cook's, he stumbles across a conspiracy that threatens all of Prophets Lake. Penetrating interrogations of grief, mental health, and the role one's outward image plays in public perception elevate the overarching narrative, which Wellington presents with refreshing matter-of-factness across a sharp omniscient POV. Ages 14–up.
