Pretty Dead Things: A Novel

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox is the kind of thriller that doesn’t just keep you guessing—it rewires how you read every sentence. Five stars, no hesitation. Set in the tight-knit Texas town of Anhalt, where the Lone Star Princess Pageant is less a contest and more a generational religion, Cox threads together mothers and daughters, sisters and rivals, past and present with surgical precision. The multi-generational cast feels lived-in and specific: women who once competed under the same lights now watch their own daughters take the stage, old grudges simmering beneath rhinestones and perfect smiles. Every character carries the weight of the town’s unfinished history, especially the unsolved disappearance that still haunts Sherman Ranch twenty-five years later. What elevates this beyond standard small-town suspense is the pacing. Cox never rushes and never stalls. Short, sharp chapters click forward like a metronome while deeper currents of rivalry, grief, and buried guilt build beneath the surface. I spent the entire book certain I had the layers mapped—only to discover, page after page, that I was still standing on the outermost skin. The twists keep unfolding right to the final moments, each one earned and none of them telegraphed. By the time the power fails and everyone is trapped under one roof, the tension is almost physical. Beauty pageant glamour collides with something far colder and more personal. Cox understands that the prettiest surfaces often hide the deepest rot, and she peels them back with ruthless control. I finished the last page, sat still for a full minute, then flipped back to the beginning just to see how cleanly the traps had been set. That’s the highest compliment I can give. Pretty Dead Things is sharp, atmospheric, and wickedly clever. Highly recommended.

My Book Review: https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/08/pretty-dead-things-by-kelsey-cox-book.html

Everything is bigger in Texas... including the cast list.



The first part of this book felt like I was being introduced to the entire state of Texas one chapter at a time. I needed a flowchart, a corkboard, and probably one of those detective strings just to remember who belonged to which family, pageant, grudge, or decades-old secret.

But here's the thing: once everyone finally found their assigned seat in my brain, this story took off.

The alternating timelines kept the mystery moving, and the pageant setting added just the right amount of perfectly polished chaos. Small-town secrets, simmering rivalries, family drama, and a storm that traps everyone together? That's basically Murphy's Law wearing a rhinestone tiara.

The pacing really picks up in the second half, and I found myself flying through the pages to see how everything connected. The twists kept me guessing, and the ending delivered a satisfying payoff that made all those early introductions worth the effort.

If you enjoy psychological suspense with messy families, buried secrets, beauty queens, and enough drama to power a reality TV marathon (even after the power grid fails), Pretty Dead Things is well worth the ride.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this review copy.