Preview - Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox
Pretty Dead Things
Kelsey Cox
Copyright 2026
319 Pages
Pretty Dead Things serves up exactly what the doctor ordered: good old‑fashioned Southern beauty‑pageant drama with a side of mystery, menace, and mama‑bear meltdowns. I mean… I pulled up a chair, I’m absolutely listening.
In Anhalt, Texas, the Lone Star Princess Pageant is basically a rite of passage — sequins, hairspray, and generational trauma all included. But this year’s event has a little extra seasoning: a 25‑year‑old missing‑person case. In 2000, Izzy vanished without a trace. Naturally, her twin sister Iggy bolted town the moment she was old enough, and now she’s back to care for her mother after her recent cancer diagnosis.
Reuniting with old friends and old enemies, Iggy finds herself time‑traveling emotionally as she watches this year’s pageant machine crank into motion.
And here’s the kicker: the contestants from the 2000 pageant? They’re now the moms of this year’s hopefuls. We’ve got the perfectly supportive mom, the overprotective stepmom, the “please let this be our bonding moment” mom, and of course the former crown‑holder who has trained her daughter for this since the ultrasound. The mom‑drama alone could fuel a miniseries.
But then Iggy gets a mysterious note — “I know what happened to your sister.” And suddenly the rhinestones aren’t the only things sparkling with danger. Because what better stage for secrets and guilt than a pageant, where the imperfect pretend to be perfect and the guilty pretend to be innocent?
I had a blast with this one. If you love mama drama, small‑town secrets, and a murder that’s more “fun‑chaotic‑fictional mess” than “traumatizing true crime,” this is your next read. A lighthearted murder? Absolutely. We can say that. It’s fiction. Don’t come for me.
And if you’re planning to grab the book, help a sister out — use my link below so I get a tiny commission at no extra cost to you.
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