Pretty Dead Things ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

Alt Cover

NetGalley About Summary

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.

This program features multicast narration.

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.

Genre: Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

The How/Why: Influenced on SM, NetGalley. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🎉 Overall Storytelling? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖ Not necessary

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Yes ➕

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? Google says: Phƴsicɐl Vi0lɇncɇ and MŪrdɇr, KidnaƤƤinᵷ and MiŞŞinᵷ Pɇrs0ns , Sɇxuɐl Assɐult.
Update: Removed KidnaƤƤinᵷ since that wasn't in the story.

🌶 Spice? Yes but probably just one 🌶 

🌪 Plot Twist? YES!

👟 Pace? Very good

💻 Tidbits ~ What I learned in Charm School, Lesson 1. Stand by and protect your friends no matter what. Be ruthless with your enemies. 
Apparently nothing has changed in the past 100 years or so!

We have the Mothers who were beauty pageant contestants in 2000.
Now their daughters are following in their high heeled footsteps 25 years later. 
Wardrobe, Hair, Makeup, Smile. ✅
Prim, Proper, Protective, Ruthless. ✅

In the year 2000 Izzy disappears. 25 years later it's still a cold case file. UNTIL... [insert suspenseful music] a construction crew starts digging up Sherman Ranch to transform it from private property to a housing development. 
Sherman Ranch has a creek and caves that served as a sanctuary hang out for the cool kids. 

This book explores the toxic pageant culture with small-town vibes. It's suspenseful and emotional. 

Marker Board Cheat Sheet is a must.
Mother: Cat. Daughter: Olivia. (Olivia's stepmother: Emily.)
Mother: Melanie. Daughter: Hannah.
Mother: Kennedy Claire. Daughter: Sara Lynn.
Twins: Isabelle (Izzy) missing for 25 years. Ingrid (Iggy) fled town and returns 25 years later to care for her sick mother.
Sherriff Campbell: Melanie's father, Hannah's grandfather.
Abel: Town's curmudgeon. Bitter but protective. His son Abel Jr, suspect in Izzy's disappearance. 
Ben: Izzy's boyfriend. Another potential suspect. 

Favorite Character: Iggy's Mom, battling her illness with grace. 

Favorite Quote: "Life isn't something that's meant to be planned. It's meant to be lived."
Note: not published yet so quote subject to change. 

Dual Timeline, Multiple POV's, Multiple Narrators. My favorite mash up! 

🎧 Narrator: Andrew Eiden; Brittany Pressley; Mia Wurgaft; Saskia Maarleveld; Stevi Incremona

🎧10.18 hours 🕮 336 pages

Not yet published. Expected July 7, 2026

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review.

26 and counting
Pageant Prep Check List
I created with Gemini AI

Five Star Highlights
I did the thought bubbles, Gemini AI did the background



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue *DNF*

Image
  When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow *DNF* The cover is the best part G👀dreads A glittering, glamorous portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them, from the award-winning author of The Plaza . The American department a palace of consumption that epitomized modern consumerism. Every wish could be met under one roof – afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled. Genre: NonFiction, History, Fashion, Biography. Circa early 1900's. I listened a little while I was puttering around in the casita in the morning. There is a part where she says the sales ladies would say "Oh Harriett" to warn another employee that a customer could not be pleased. Like a take off of modern day ...
Read more

Killers of a Certain Age ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Image
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn From Goodreads: Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon. They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death. Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really liked it a lot. It ho...
Read more

Home of the American Circus ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Image
Home of the American Circus by Allison Larken  G👀dreads After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as bartender in Maine and returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames—as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home. As they reconnect, Freya and Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house and come to terms with the devastating events that pulled them apart years ago. Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, and the complicated journey of finding home. Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Family Drama Dual Timeline: ETA: This is listed as dual timeline but I thought it was more like memory flashbacks. It's ...
Read more