Pretty Dead Things
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
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 Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it’s offering more than an annual dose of rhinestone heels and plunging necklines. Competition is stiffer than ever —and long standing grudges are about to resurface. 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.
Beauty dies. Secrets never do.
KELSEY COX'S NOVELS ARE:
"Riveting." —People
"Heart-pumping." —Nina Simon
"Jaw-dropping." —Amanda Eyre Ward
"Joins my auto-buy list forever." —Rachel Hawkins
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cox follows Party of Liars with a slow-burning mean-girl mystery set in the small town of Anhalt, Tex. Anhalt's annual Miss Lone Star Princess pageant is indicative of the area's conservative spirit: the event has had the same board of directors since its inception 25 years ago, and former winners regularly wear their sashes to town functions. The pageant's current director is Kennedy Claire Preston, who was the first person to win the title of Miss Lone Star Princess, and there's little question among the residents of Anhalt that her daughter, Sarah Lynn, will win the title in 2025. The typically unflappable Kennedy is shaken, however, when former Anhalt resident Ingrid Whitmore returns to town. Ingrid's twin sister, Isabelle, disappeared the night of Kennedy's win, and Ingrid has come back at the same time crews are digging up the site where Isabelle was last seen. Ingrid's return ripples outward to affect several Anhalt residents, including her former high school peers and the competitors in the 2025 pageant. The pacing is patient, but Cox builds to satisfying reveals and delivers well-honed critiques of pageant culture. Fans of suburban suspense will enjoy themselves.
