Beth Is Dead - by Katie Bernet (Paperback)

About the Book

Told in multiple perspectives, the March sisters discover Beth's body in the woods and work together to identify her killer, until they start to suspect each other.

Book Synopsis

For the first printing only! This paperback features red gilded edges while the special edition supply lasts.

A New York Times bestseller!
Sunnie Reads' Inaugural Book Club Pick--Sunnie Select!
Five starred reviews!

Beth March's sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer--until they begin to suspect each other--in this "brilliantly snappy...electrifying" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) debut thriller that's also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year's Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.

Suspects abound. There's the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg's manipulative best friend. Amy's flirtatious mentor. And Beth's lionhearted first love. But it doesn't take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she'll need money from her aunt--money that's always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn't dream of hurting her sister...but her boyfriend might have, and she'll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it's hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth's perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy's increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.

Review Quotes

A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND #1 INDIE BESTSELLER!
FIVE starred reviews!
Sunnie Reads' Inaugural Book Club Pick--Sunnie Select!
An Indie Next Pick!
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

"A delightful reboot of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women . . . well imagined and well executed."
--SLJ

"A killer good time . . . to die for."
--Cosmopolitan

"Bernet merges a beloved 19th-century family story with today's culture of fandoms and social media while staying true to Alcott's characters' personalities, making this accessible to fans of the original version as well as those meeting the March sisters for the first time."
--CCBC, starred review

"Even teens who don't know Little Women will be engaged by this fast-paced and suspense-filled page turner. A thrilling take on a beloved story that will keep readers riveted."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"If he didn't like the kind of lurid story Jo was turning out for the Volcano tabloid, chances are Bhaer also wouldn't have much use for the recently published Beth Is Dead, in which Katie Bernet reimagines Little Women as a young-adult murder mystery. It would be his loss."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Katie Bernet's audacious and astonishingly successful debut novel reimagines Little Women as a metafictional murder mystery."
--Shelf Awareness, starred review

"One need not be familiar with Louisa May Alcott's work to appreciate debut author Bernet's brilliantly snappy contemporary riff on Little Women . . . The cozy domesticity of the inspiration material is apparent throughout, and the girls' closely held--sometimes conflicting--desires and ambitions both honor Alcott's vision and add fuel to the fire of this electrifying whodunit."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Readers will be hooked from the first gripping, bloody chapter . . . This simmering page turner is a multilayered novel about sisterhood, dreams, independence and the pressures of modern culture, not to mention a superb tribute to the original."
--BookPage, starred review

"You'll want to keep reading not only to see whodunnit--but also to check out the clever ways the author weaves details from the classic into this thoroughly modern tale."
--Real Simple

About the Author

Katie Bernet lives in Dallas, Texas. As one of three sisters, she's a diehard fan of Little Women. Beth Is Dead is her debut novel.