Pretty Dead Queens is a young adult mystery and thriller about two small town homecoming queens murdered fifty years apart and the teenage girl who tries to solve both cases.

Cecelia is the new girl in town after losing her mother and being forced to move in with her estranged grandmother, Maura. Maura is famous for her whodunnit mysteries with her first book being a retelling of a local murder of a homecoming queen over fifty years prior. Cecelia is immediately immersed into a new friend group, local rivalries of families that have known each other for generations and exciting romantic prospects. But the night of the homecoming game Cecelia finds another homecoming queen dead in an eerily similar way and she takes it on herself to solve the murder. But she’ll have to dig through fifty years of rumors, allegations and secrets to find out who in this small town could have killed both girls before they come after her or one of her new friends next.

Pretty Dead Queens is the perfect addition to the recent line up of young adult mysteries. It has the smart but fish-out-of-water main character and her group of new friends (and potential love interests) that may or may not be suspects. These aren’t your squeaky clean teens that some writers come up with and there is some drinking, marijuana use, reference to sexual hook-ups on the page but they (for most part) feel like realistic young people. The adults are equally scandalous with public outbursts, affairs, shady deals and old secrets. This makes for a fast paced and soapy mystery that is rarely dull. Despite all the juicy twists and turns there is also a heartfelt backstory of a girl who lost her mother and is still grieving.

Overall, this is a young adult mystery that has some entertaining twists and thrills. It’s not the most realistic or gritty of novels but I especially enjoyed the final chapters. I’m hoping this isn’t the end of Cecelia’s adventures and that there will be future books about her and her crime solving.

Book Review

Title: Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The opening to Pretty Dead Queens wasn’t that interesting but it does introduced you to what I assume is the main cast of characters. We are introduced to Cecelia Ellis who is moving from LA to California to live with her grandmother, Maura after the death of her mother since her father isn’t in the picture. Initially we are just following Cecelia as she tries to settle into this new place and her new school, Seaview High while dealing with her grief. It doesn’t help that Maura is a famous mystery author and the star of the town, but she does immediately fall in with the popular crowd by accident after being helped by Bronte and learns that one of her grandmother’s books is based on a real murder that happened in the town back when Maura would have been attending the school and that was the death of the prom queen. This seems like it is going to deal with murders in the present day a bit like One of Us is Lying but with more Nancy Drew elements rather than blackmail.

As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we continue to follow Cecelia as she tries to settle and fit into this new town. There are several other characters like Bronte, Ben and Gabriel who have all lost a parent so Cecelia doesn’t feel so isolated since there are others who understand what she is going through. Nothing has really happened at this point other than at Cecelia’s welcome party thrown by her grandmother where she ends up having a moment with Gabriel after the constant reminders of her mother become too much for her and he ends up giving her some advice on how to cope with that loss at little better and even advising therapy if she needs it. Gabriel is a love interest alongside Ben and while Cecelia seems more focused on Ben right now I prefer Gabriel. Ben comes off as a little self-centred since he did lose his mother and his grandfather is suing the mayor because of it causing some tension between the friend group but Cecelia doesn’t really care about this. Honestly, I am nearly 100 pages in and nothing but teenage drama has happened and I am being reminded of the reason I don’t read many young adults novels anymore but I am hoping it picks up soon.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, things finally begin to happen when a murder occurs and this one is a copycat almost the same as the murder in Maura’s book and the one that happened in real life over fifty years ago. The victim this time is Natalie, the Mayor’s daughter and Cecelia’s friend and Cecelia is the one that finds her body, and one thing that stood out to me during these scenes was how off the pacing was. One moment we have Natalie’s murder but we don’t linger on it or the aftermath at all we just jump right to the next day where Cecelia doesn’t seem affected at all and jumps straight into being Nancy Drew and wanting to solve the murder. I also feel the fight with Morgan before Natalie’s death makes her way too obvious to be the actual killer so there isn’t even any tension surrounding Morgan at the moment despite her being desperate to speak with Cecelia. Ben seems more like a potential killer for me since he had issues with Natalie’s family and she treated him quite badly any time they were seen together and since her murder took place in the halftime of a football game, Ben wouldn’t have been on the pitch as the mascot at the time but honestly it could have been anyone since Natalie doesn’t come across as a nice or likable person at all.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Cecelia is really stepping up to be a Nancy Drew but not in a good way since the pacing is off and everything seems way too convenient for there to be any real stakes involved. I just can’t believe that Cecelia accidently fell in with the most popular crowd who happening to be related to people like the Major and the Sheriff plus there are other who can get her access to information that they really shouldn’t all because she has known them for less than two weeks it just doesn’t make any sense to me. However, the dynamic between Gabriel, Ben and Cecelia makes sense since they have all lost a parent and it gives them something genuine to bond over but I still feel that Gabriel should be the main love interest since he just seems like the better choice for Cecelia than Ben. Cecelia is forming her own theories and suspects with the more information she collects but they are baseless right now since she doesn’t have any real evidence or any real skills or connections that she could use to her advantage like the others in the group. Going forward I am intrigued to find out who killed Natalie and why but the questions of whether or not I am going to like this book remained unanswered for now.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, Cecelia is learning more about the town and the murder of Caroline and how this events links back to the current murder and who could be responsible for it. Honestly, right now both Luke and Gabriel might be suspects since they weren’t in the locker room at halftime but Cecelia and Ben know the killer only had six minutes to kill Natalie and three of those were taken up by strangling her. I don’t think it is Gabriel since he has no reason to want to kill her and hasn’t shown any disturbing or out of character behaviour. While Luke has as he wasn’t willing to give the police his alibi originally even though this turned out to be hooking up with Morgan and he threatened Natalie in a text message the day she died but the motive isn’t clear at all right now but I also think that her father could be responsible since he has the motive and character for it. There are also several adults around town that seem shifty enough to commit murder but again it come down to motive and what reason they would have for targeting Natalie in particular other than she is the daughter of the Mayor and someone might want to get back at him.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, there are a lot of secrets about the town and its residents coming to light especially after Cecelia learns that Natalie was spying on her mother’s therapy patients and using that confidential information to blackmail a lot of them including Ben and Gabriel. Gabriel won’t tell Cecelia what he was doing for Natalie to blackmail him because he doesn’t know her well enough and I was relived that someone in this town has some sense. However, Cecelia is beginning to think that this might not be a copycat murder with some strange things happening but revenge for what happened to Joe, the man accused of the original murder. Grace, his sister, doesn’t believe he was responsible for killing Caroline even though everyone else does and from the evidence he looks extremely guilty. It seems like the author is keeping their options open for the ending like they weren’t sure how the book was going to end when they were writing it and it shows but I think I might end up enjoying it if the ending is satisfying without being cliché or rushed.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, everything seems to happen at once and while this was entertaining it didn’t really make for a satisfying ending. Honestly, I felt that if Alexa Donne used one of the red herrings as the actual killer the ending would have made a lot more sense than it actually did. I also felt there needed to be a lot more in the character development department since we didn’t care about most of the characters throughout the novel and the fact that Cecelia has known them less than a month also adds to this so it would have made more sense for the novel to span months and I think it could have benefitted from being a duology or series like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder which had similar themes and tropes but executed them 100x better than Pretty Dead Queens did. Despite this it was still a fairly quick and entertaining reads with likable and cute characters like Gabriel who I desperately wanted to see more of especially in the immediately aftermath of the ending and seeing how his friendship and relationship with Cecelia developed.

I really enjoyed this thriller! I think it was really well set up, tension was present throughout the story and the resolution was tense and thrilling. Overall the characters were distinguishable but didn't fall into stereotypes too much. Overall a really fun read!

Cecilia has lost her mother. Now she’s going to live with her super rich grandmother, Maura, the one her mother cut out of their lives years ago. Everyone in town knows Maura. Not only because everyone knows everyone in this small town, but because she’s a very successful author who got her start writing about a famous murder in the area. But now, someone else has died, and Cecilia was first on the scene. Cecilia wants to get to the bottom of the murder, and in amateur sleuth fashion, this is how the story unfolds.

So, last year, I bought The Ivies, and sadly, it got lost in my TBR, but I’m definitely moving it up the list. I like Cecilia, she’s funny, and she relates well to others. She’s assertive and not afraid to speak up when needed. I like the friends she’s making. It can be tough to start over in a new town, especially a small town where everyone has known each other their whole lives. But people are embracing her, even though she’s stirring up a bit of trouble with her investigation. I like Bronte; she’s a fun character that brings a lot to the story.

Pretty Dead Queens is an inclusive mystery that keeps you guessing the whole way through. The girls are supportive of each other, which had my heart immediately. We need more of that in fiction. I loved it all, from the characters to the setting, to the unraveling of the mystery, this is a super fun read. Thank you, Random House Children’s, and TBR Tours, for sending this along!

This was fine for what it was - a high school murder mystery. I can't say I really cared about any of the characters, but I don't think that was the point of this story. It was just a story to tie one old crime story in the town to a modern one.

It was fine, held my attention, but not one I'll think about again.

A perfect read for the season, this quick and interesting read is such a fun whodunit thriller. I loved all the characters, the setting of a small California town filled with secrets and lies was *chef's kiss*. The main character is relatable, strong, and inquisitive. She is not willing to let anything go until she gets to the bottom of it. It's interesting how so many people within the book are hiding something, from each other & ultimately from themselves. What could drive someone to murder the homecoming queen? Who is doing it again?

Cecelia moves in with her grandmother who she's never really had a relationship with after her mother passes away. All she knows about her is that her mother didn't have a relationship with her and she's a mystery author. As Cecelia settles in and starts making friends she learns the town may have some secrets they want kept hidden.

After Cecelia witnesses the murder of her friend, and homecoming queen, things start to take a deadly turn. I liked Cecelia's character. She followed her gut feeling that the murder she witnessed was just too similar to the one the town experienced 50 years prior. As she puts the pieces together, with the help of some of the town locals, she discovers she may be next. I thought Alexa did a great job or portraying the suspense and uncertainty Cecelia felt as she uncovered each clue to what happened.

This was an intense YA thriller with an unexpected ending. I thought I knew who the killer was but the twist at the end was a total surprise. It definitely kicked off the spooky season and I recommend it to anyone looking for their next thrilling read!

homecoming queen is dead. Cecelia throws herself headfirst into the investigation, bringing her grandmother’s mysteries to life.

Small town, big mansion, and a mystery from the past coming to life in the present. This book is right up my alley. For fans of Karen McManus and the Good Girls’ Guide series comes another teen sleuth trying to solve a murder. But in this case, not only one murder - one from the present and the past.

It may just be me, but the names did get confusing (who’s the victim from the past vs the one from the book vs the present), it’s a little hard to keep track of. I think it was because of this that I was slowed down a bit and didn’t quite get through as fast as I thought I would. But the mystery had my interest piqued and I enjoyed the read as the pieces to the puzzle were put together. And like a good mystery, I truly did not see how it would all come together which makes it all the more enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s and TBRandBeyondTours for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Full review to be posted on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts on Monday 10/10.

This was such a fun fall YA mystery! This book hooked me right from the beginning, starting with our main character Cecelia moving into her famous author/grandmother's creepy mansion in a small beach town - what could go wrong!!! The story follows the death of two homecoming queens in the town, over 50 years apart from each other, but dying in almost an identical manner- and leaves you with a laundry list of suspects throughout, basically questioning almost everyone at one point or another. Once you start suspecting everyone, this book was impossible for me to put down. While some twists were more predictable to me than others (this is a YA book after all and I am almost 28 LOL) it was still fun nonetheless. If you're feeling like reading something fun and easy for fall but also with small beach town and spooky high school homecoming vibes, I definitely recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book !

Cecelia moves in with her estranged Grandmother Maura after the death of her mother. Maura is a famous bestselling mystery writer, with a career built on a the real life murder of her friend back in high school. Not long after Cecelia arrives, another murder rocks the small town and nobody knows who might be next ...

This was such a brilliant murder mystery, with fantastic twists and an ending I didn't see coming! A really exceptional read.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Death follows Cecelia Ellis. She has had more than her fair share of people close to her dying. When her mother passes, Cecelia is sent to live w/ her estranged grandmother, Maura Weston, famous mystery author. Maura's first book was a smash hit and has made the town of Seaview, where she still lives, infamous. The book was based on the real-life murder of Caroline, doomed Homecoming Queen of 1970.
Unfortunately, Cecelia discovers the body of would-be queen, Natalie Bergen, seemingly killed in the same way as poor Caroline. Could there be a copy-cat murderer? Caroline's killer was caught ages ago. Or was he? Cecelia, with the help of Ben, Maura's intern, is determined to find out what happened to Natalie and Caroline all those years ago.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Crown for an e-arc of this novel.*

Cecelia Ellis has just moved to a very small coastal town to live with her famous, author grandmother after her mother passed away. Cecelia is now seventeen-years old and hasn't seen her grandmother (Maura) since she was a small girl when her mom and Maura has a severe falling out and they were estranged throughout all of her growing up. The dreaded new school, making new friends and stuck in a truly old fashioned town from the past, Cecelia wishes she could just flee and be on her own but from the first day things started looking up. Maura wasn't so bad either, then she made friends right away and even a possible romance down the road (maybe). Homecoming is around the corner and a couple of her friends are a shoe-in for Homecoming queen until one of them is murdered in the same manner that another queen was murdered over fifty years ago. Maura had based her first book on this murder so it was easy to see it was a copycat killing but why now?

Cecelia can't resist playing detective and needing to solve the crime not only because it was her friend but also it's a way for her to stop dwelling on her heartache and loneliness from missing her wonderful mom. The more digging Cecelia does the more other mysteries and secrets emerge bringing many individuals to the front of the suspect list. Before long Cecelia knows she is a target of the killer after suspicious incidents that seem to have her name name clearly spelled out and with almost everyone a suspect she knows she can't trust anyone and feels completely alone again for the second time in her young life.

This was a terrific YA mystery that was engaging, entertaining as well as fun. The author Alexa Donne did a wonderful job with the writing making it enjoyable for adults as well as a teenage audience and older. There was a lengthy list of characters which for me made the story that much more enjoyable and I had a hard time figuring out who the killer was. I read in several reviews where they stated the story fell flat at the end but I absolutely disagree. In my opinion the story really ramped up and had an exciting and unexpected finale. If any adult readers enjoyed the "Twighlight" series or "Pretty Little Liars" then you should enjoy this book as much as I did. I highly recommend this story and hope the author has much success with it and I will be looking forward to reading more of Alexa Donne's books!

I want to thank the publisher "Random House Children's" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this fun story a rating of 4 SCRUMPDiLYLICIOUS 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

This was a really fun ya murder mystery.
Cecelia goes to live with her Grandmother - a famous mystery writer whose first book was about a real life prom queen from their town that was killed in the 70’s - after her mom passes away from cancer. When history seems to repeat itself and another queen ends up dead, Cecelia’s the one to find the body and takes it upon herself to solve the murder.
Full of twists and turns, with a neat cast of characters, quick pacing, and an intense climax at the end, Pretty Dead Queens was a great mystery to dive into.

"Pretty Dead Queens" is not your typical high school drama, though there is plenty of that to satisfy. It's a sharply-paced thriller that will quickly get your heart pounding! There are many engaging characters, a realistic high school setting, and a good murder mystery to unravel.

Cecelia Ellis is a likable and sympathetic heroine. She's just lost her mother, reunited with her intimidating and somewhat off-putting grandmother, left behind the only home she's ever known, and now faces being the new girl during her senior year at a school where everyone else grew up together. She has no emotional support system, so it's pretty remarkable how well she handles everything thrown at her. It also makes her reactions later in the story so much more understandable. The cast of supporting characters is an interesting mix of personalities and problems, with all the teenage angst one could expect in a high-school-based story. The friends all have their secrets, and you suspect from the start that one of them is going to die. But who?

The story builds slowly and steadily. Cecelia does a pretty decent investigation on her own, with help from the friends' group at times. But the story picks up at a blazing pace when she realizes the shocking truth about why the homecoming queen was murdered. The resolution is riveting!

With its engaging heroine, realistic setting, and pulse-pounding action, I recommend PRETTY DEAD QUEENS to readers of YA mysteries and thrillers who would enjoy a plot involving a cold case murder, a possible copycat killer, a high school setting, or a northern California coastal setting.

Even in my 30's I can't say no to a YA homecoming queen murder story lol who can??! This is a good one and just in time for football and spooky season. The perfect atmosphere. I loved The Ivies by this author as well. Fans of Megan Miranda or Kara Thomas will enjoy both!

I received the ebook in advance in exchange for an honest review but waited for the audiobook because I noticed Phoebe Strole was narrating and she's my favorite. Fabulous as usual.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Prefect thriller for fall.

Cecelia is forced to move in with her famous author grandmother (whom she doesn’t really know) after her mother passes away from cancer. The town and her grandmother are most known for the murders that took place 50 years ago.

After making friends with the popular crowd at school she starts to see some lines being drawn between group. After a recent murder of their friend, that happens to copycat the original murder, Cecelia doesn’t know who to trust. Secrets start coming out. Most of her friends don’t have solid alibis for the night of the murder. Determined to find the killers though she won’t stop investigating.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Happy Pup Day to Pretty Dead Queens! I loved it! Who doesn't love a good YA story with a great mystery? SIgn me up!
The fact that it has a lot to do with copycat killer, even better! I read this book in 1 day because I was that sucked into it.. Faced pace and full of experiences that jogged my old memory!

Thank you so much #netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was so entertained by this YA Murder mystery, it was fast paced & full of thrills. The writing style was great- I don’t read too many YA books, but the writing never felt juvenile or too “easy” and I was hooked right away.

Just call Cecilia the modern day Nancy Drew…a teen determined to solve a past crime when a copycat killer rolls into town, her antics and plotting kept me reading. Glimpses of the past fill in the blanks and fueled her mission throughout her book so there was always something going on, making this one extra binge worthy!

This story had a pretty lengthy set of characters, and it took me a minute to know who was who- so many of their stories were intertwined, and added to the small town setting it definitely gave off “anyone could be guilty” vibes.

Clues were dropped along the way but I honestly didn’t guess how things would end. There were some good plot twists throughout, and when you think the book is all wrapped up…bam! You’re hit with more good stuff

If you are looking for a fast paced mystery that will leave you with no unanswered questions, definitely pick this one up! I can’t wait to check out more of Donne’s books!

I really enjoyed this small town murder mystery seeped in secrets from the past and present. It definitely gave me 80's scream queen vibes but I loved it! This is a great spooky season read and I think fans of 80's highschool horror and highschool murder mysteries will love this one!

This was a fun young adult murder mystery where two homecoming queens are murdered, 50 years apart, in almost the exact same way. With the original perpetrator in jail, is this a copycat murder or has the wrong person been punished all these years?

What I liked:
-The small town vibes. Everyone is under suspicion and they all have their own motives for murder.
-The main character, Cecilia. Although she’s the new girl in town, she makes friends with the popular kids easily. She’s also smart, capable, and headstrong.
-The dual investigations. Along with her murder mystery author grandmother, Maura, and love interest, Ben, Cecilia does her own amateur sleuthing on both murders. There are plenty of clues and red herrings that kept me guessing.
-The ending. I was definitely surprised by the motives for the killings and whodunnit, and there was a little twist that I wasn’t expecting.

While the mystery in this book was tied up nicely, there is potential for at least a sequel. I wouldn’t mind following along with Cecilia as she investigates the other crimes hinted at the end.